Any Kindergarten teachers out there?

Looking for advice here...

You may or may not have seen my post a couple of weeks ago regarding "Kindergarten Readiness" for my 4 year old DD who will turn 5 in July.

Basically after speaking with her 3 preschool teachers they all agree that my DD is academically ready for K. They also agree she's very social, but to a point where it can be a distraction....she needs to be constantly reminded to stay focused on the task at hand, sit still, etc. etc. Apparently she's very aware of what everyone else is doing in the class to the point it becomes distracting, constantly looking around, gets up and moves around, etc.

1 teacher feels I should hold her back, the other 2 are on the fence.

What i'm trying to understand is what the expectations are of a child in K. Is it part of the K teacher's job to teach my child how to stay focused and to help her work through these "issues"? Or is she expected to know how to do this before K starts? Will she be a distraction for the other kids? Could this inturn cause her academic problems?

Her preschool teachers fear that because this is a really competitive school district ("K is the new 1st grade" as some people say), that this could cause problems for her in K.

Our district has a 9/1 cutoff and its pretty trendy to hold summer bdays back.

Not a K teacher...but one suggestion. Most schools won't let you pick a teacher, but may let you pick a skill set you think would work well with your daughter's "issues" (which I use lightly).

Suggest you call the school and see if it's possible to get the most structured teacher. IMHO, all kids need structure - but it's especially helpful to have a routine, and standard consequences, for kids who are interested in what's going on, what everyone else is doing, etc. If she already knows most of it (ie because it follows some sort of pattern) it will likely be less distracting to both her and to others in the class.

Also in the FWIW category, they spent a lot of time in K working on appropriate behavior, following instructions, completing work, etc. They use a red/yellow/green card system for behavior 'infractions'. (Start on green, turn to yellow for inappropriate behavior, turn to red if behavior continues or something totally unacceptable is done.) In my experience, this kind of system works well with some kids - but *if* she has more significant challenges, may not work - she may constantly be on yellow/red which isn't helpful. You might want to ask what behavior management tool(s) are used at your school, and evaluate how you think they would/wouldn't help with DD.

Just my two cents...

I'm not a K teacher.

In preschool, I was convinced my son would be diagnosed ADHD in the not too far future. I was wrong. By the time K started, he had no problems focusing and staying seated. I do credit martial arts with a lot of that development, but I also think kids mature a lot around that age.

I've taught K but it would be hard to give you much input, not knowing your DD or the school district. My DD is an April birthday which I never considered late, but she is the youngest in her kinder class! Kids were having their 6th birthday the first week of school-in August, before the sept.1 cutoff. I think in general though, unless you think she'll be especially bored in pre-k another year, there are not many disadvantages to holding her back.

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What i'm trying to understand is what the expectations are of a child in K. Is it part of the K teacher's job to teach my child how to stay focused and to help her work through these "issues"? Or is she expected to know how to do this before K starts? Will she be a distraction for the other kids? Could this inturn cause her academic problems?

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I think it really depends so much on the particular district. There are some districts that are more "competitive." The behavior standards there may be higher. Also, if you're in a district where the majority of parents redshirt their kids, your on-time child is going to be with kids that simply have more developmental skills in place because of their age. There's no easy answer. It's a decision I agonized about with my DS. Four years later I still wonder if I made the right decision.

My daughter is in kindergarten now and she is a May birthday. Her teacher indicated that as the year has progressed she has gotten better about being focused. The first day her seat was next to the book corner and she went over to look at them vs doing what the other kids were. Teacher moved her seat problem stopped. I think there are all levels of the ability to focus in that grade. I see it now in that working on homework, spelling and reading is not as exciting as watching scooby doo but we work through it. Just our experience!

K teacher (well, K-3 for 12 years with a master's in counseling also) and in every "decision" I've been a part of, the bottom line was to give the child the benefit of the doubt. I say to let her go, then support her well in the environment. Talk to the administrators, counselor, etc. who do the placement or write a letter noting what the preschool teachers say AT THE END of the year in regards to what kind of environment would work best for her. I feel like mid-way through the 4yo preschool year is way too early to predict if a child is going to be competent at the END of Kindergarten. Truly, there are such a range of personalities, abilities, attention-levels in every class. I'm pretty certain there are not going to be 20 shining stars in the class and your DD who bops around checking out the others' drawings.

Give her the benefit of the doubt.

I work in the schools and go into K classes regularly. Could you call the school and ask to meet with a K teacher and discuss your concerns? or even ask if you could email the teacher and see what their suggestions are?

I had been advised to hold back my summer-born DS1 by the K teachers I work with, but not by his preschool teachers (they felt he'd be okay). I did hold him back and am extremely relieved that I did.