kindergarten help

[THEMOMMYLAdy]

hi, im not a teacher but rather a frustrated parent. My 6 year old has just started kindergarten this September and I have come to realize how much the curriculum has changed...It is required by my child to be able to read a 5 page(4 words per page) book by the end of the school year. He is learning how to read and write but I dont agree with how they want me to teach him...For example , if he were to write GET.. they want him to write it as he hears it..ex: g-eh-t. I find it very difficult to teach my child this way of writing especially since when he gets to 1st grade he will have to learn the correct spelling. I think it is very confusing for a child who has to transition form being home all the time to now going to school,with what he says, a bunch of strangers. I am teaching him correct spelling and it is takin a little more time, but he is getting it. I was wondering if anyone has a method of helping me help him to putting the words together. For example if he spells GET, when he sounds it out in reading the words back, he doesnt realize what the word is. He sounds out fine but cant associate the sounding out with what word it becomes...sigh...I'm very frustrated. this is far from when my now 10 year old had kindergarten and was learning the basic abs and 123's. Since i refuse to teach, what i call "furby language", where my child is spelling the word g-eh-t and then when he goes to 1st grade he will be told that is not how to spell it, i figured i'd do it the right way..any suggestions would be appreciated.

DENISE

[Unregistered]

I'm not a professional, but if you want him to know what word it is he's spelling why not ask him first... Like say for example the word is 'get'... Ask him what does get mean.. or what does it mean to get something.. something along those lines so he is understanding the meaing of the word.. then say ok now spell it... thats just my opinion on how to go about it since you said the problem is that he doesnt know what he's spelling

[Unregistered]

I am a parent and currently studying to be a kindergarten teacher. My first child did not have to read in kinder, and by the time my second entered, she did have to learn in kinder. So I have done it both ways. My first I attempted to teach properly. I pretty much spelled most out for him. He is now 15. My second is in 3rd grade; she learned how your child is learning, which is called phonetically. It is hard for us parents to step back and let them do so. One thing - rest assured, they will not all of the sudden teach them the correct spelling in first grade. My dd continued to phonetically spell through first and and second. By first grade they start to spell correctly much on their own, because teachers do start teaching them common words consistently, which helps them start phonetically spelling their own words correctly. You'll find that mostly they have their misspells in their writing journals. Although it is difficult, I would let your child try to spell on their own, and do not worry too much. My dd now spells correctly nearly correctly all of the time and when she can't spell a word, we sound it out and she gets it all the time. That being said, I did see a method from another teacher that I thought was very useful. You can teach your child very common words already by sight; this teacher made a "dictionary" for her kids that had all the easy words such as can, do, I, see, that, the, ect. and when her kids had to write in their journal, she helped them utilize the dictionary, so they memorized them after a bit. Just a thought. I hope I didn't offend you, just thought I'd offer some thoughts. I have two more to go into school yet, and I am going to try this dictionary idea, because I was just so impressed by it. Good luck!

Viv

[Unregistered]

It sounds like your child is learning to read and write from a whole language approach. Some children learn well with this approach, but I would suggest that most do not. I am a teacher of 17 years and taught my own 3 children how to read with the use of the book, Teaching Your Child to Read in a 100 Easy Lessons. This book is based on a phonetic approach. It offers reading and writing exercises in each lesson. It is an inexpensive book that you should be able to find at Barnes & Noble or other book distributors.

I agree with you regarding the change in kindergarten. As a preschool teacher, I tell my parents at the beginning of the year that preschool is now what kindergarten use to be. Good or bad, that is just the way it is.

[feltsmart]

I'm a kindergarten teacher. Children should be trying to spell phonemically at this level...however, if your child is wanting to know the correct way to spell things by all means tell him/her. When we write in our classroom the children spell everything out on their own. I tell them to stretch out the word and listen for all the sounds and write what they hear. We want children to take risks and try...we don't want them to be afraid to be wrong. (research shows that children that take risks are better readers.) After, the child has done the writing I have him/her read it to me and I scribe what he she says. This way, I can conference with him/her about the writing depending on each child's individual needs. If a child is spelling most words correctly but not getting the "sneaky silent e" rule then I will discuss that with him/her...if he she is not leaving spaces then I discuss that. Again, it's a developmental stage that each child needs to go through...spelling phonemically. Encourage your child to write it and then you can point out the great ideas, or that he/she started on the right and went to the left...whatever he/she is doing well; then you can gently show the correct spelling. The dictionary idea is a wonderful one as well. I make mini-word walls inside file folders for my kids to use during writing. We write words that they use often on their own word walls. Hope this helps!

[Unregistered]

Hi! I am a kindergarten teacher who loves teaching in a full day program, but I do have mixed emotions about the expeted curriculum outcomes. I have a wonderful resources that I suggest to all my parents. It is the leap frog video series. They are awesome!!! It sounds like your son is ready for 2 & 3, Code word caper. I promise you it is worth the $25!!! Your son will have all of his letter sounds memorized and building cvc and cvvc words after the first time! good luck
Julia

[Unregistered]

I do not get the g-eh-t. I have taught kindergardeners to read through phonics methods, (and learning disabled, or what ever they call them now). And e says 'e', not 'eh' nor is it spelled eh. Use the book mentioned '100 easy lessons' or just help him sound out words with out adding any other sounds to the word as he stretches it out. get has 3 sounds and is spelled that way g-e-t. If he is having trouble knowing what the word is after he sounds it out and blends the sounds have him try it again louder and train his ear to hear what he is sounding out; or he is sounding out words with out reading them, which includes comprehending what they are or mean or how they are used.

Have him spell the best he can and if he asks help him, by helping him sound out the word to hear the sounds in the word he wants to write. Guide him to recall the letters that make those sounds. If he picks the wrong letter- t instead of d. have him write the word and then blend the sounds he wrote to see if it is the word he wanted. This process is very difficult for some in kindergarden, because they know by seeing what they write that they are not spelling things correctly and it may frustrate them. Let him do his best, and encourage him that in doing his best at trying to write the words himself, he will learn to spell better and quicker than if you tell him again and again. He will teach himself much better than he will learn from being told the answer. That said this spelling should not be accepted as the correct one, but his best atempt at spwelling it. Not all words are spelled the way they sound or he does not know the phonics to spell them yet.

Hope some of these replies help.

Keep positve.

[Unregistered]

Think of your child as when you were learning to cook. You knew what ingredients to use and how to us the oven, but it takes trial and errors to prefect that favorite meal. As your child is taught long vowels, short vowels, and blends and so forth he will learn to prefect his spelling. If he continues to have problems, consider having his hearing checked. There may be an audio-visual problem.

[Unregistered]

Please try to remember that it takes at least five years to learn how to educate youngsters. This is intensive training, and the professional's journey keeps going as he/she works in the classroom. As a parent, you have been to school and are obviously a very concerned parent, but, as you admited, are not an educator. Your child's teacher is correctly teaching your child the beginning phases of reading and writing. Try to be supportive of him/her as a professional. I fear that your lack of expertise in the field may end up confusing your child and make learning even more difficult. Have faith in the teacher as a professional and continue to support the teaching that is being done in the classroom. I am an educator of 36 years and fully support the way your child is being taught. As children learn each individual phoneme, they then begin building their reading and writing skills through connecting graphemes to the phonemes, and your child seems to be coming right along just fine. Have faith and relax!

[the good teacher]

THE LIL KIDS think kindergaten is hard!!!! HELP ME PLAESE I WANT TO QUIT SO HELP ME OUT TEACHERS

[Unregistered]

I am a kindergarten teacher and I disagree with your teacher. You have to teach correct spellings and read with your child every night. Your child will read and bring reading material home, but the child needs to hear you read, please, let your child be a child and you can do both. Your child will need to know letter, sounds, numbers 1-30 and maybe 30-50 words and he/she will be fine. I feel exposure is critical, like going to musuems, quality time with you, socialization and anywhere where your child can learn which will develop vocabulary and ideas. I taught first grade for 7 years and you are doing the right thing, open court has really made many children academically lower.

[Unregistered]

I am the mother of a kindergartener. We practice with flash cards every night and he comes home with great papers and we discuss them etc. When I run through everything with him at home he gets it no problem and even at the babysitter. What I'm hearing from his teachers is completely opposite. He is in a literacy class to understand the beginning sounds of words. He comes home and we run through that as well and he gets it no problem. His teacher tells me opposite. I'm frustrated because he is telling me everything at home but then doesn't go to school and show his teachers that he knows. I have told the teachers this but they don't seem to believe me. They believe that he is truly struggling with just about everything in Kindergarten. There are some things he is having a hard time with, such as rhyming words and a few letters of the alphabet which are similar. They told me this pretty normal however but then tell me they are concerned. HELP!!! What can I do to get my child to show the teachers that he does know and understand the info they are teaching? Is this normal for kids? Could it be a new environment and he's just not feeling comfortable yet? Does anyone have any suggestions?