Need Advice KG Programs YOU Recommend

My daughter will be 5 yrs old early Oct and we are considering to enroll her in KG program. Since, the LCPS wouldn't take her into their KG program as she doesn't make the Sept 30th cut-off what other options do you recommend. I am looking for a private school where she does her KG program and will be eligible for the next grade in public school in the following year/s. She currently goes to Beantree and are extremely happy with it. But BT is not accredited and so she doing her KG at BT will not guarantee her acceptance into the next grade at public school.

I really appreciate your input and thanks in advance.

 

If I read your post correctly, you're asking for a private KG since your child misses the 9/30 cut off, so that the following year your child can enter 1st grade? I will tell you that this won't happen... they don't care if your child has had private (or any) KG. They are extremely strict with their birthday deadlines and your child would be placed in KG the following year, not first grade as you're asking. That said, I've seen children start KG and in a few months it is determined that they do indeed need to be bumped up to first grade.

But I would check with your school to make sure your expectations are accurate and then go from there!

 

Interesting. I don't have any personal experience with this in my own children but did have a personal conversation with the principal of Mill Run about this. He very clearly said that they don't care if the child misses the cut off by one day and has had 2 years of all day private KG. They don't make exceptions, he said. Maybe it varies by school? I don't know... but I guess the point is that Kal needs to check with his/her school and make sure the expectations are in line.

 

You both are correct. They don't care what age or experience your child has. The child will be placed in the appropriate grade. As sharse said, they will test your child if the teacher feels as if it the child's progress warrants it, but that testing would not take place for a few months to get the child acclimated to the school and routine.

This was from a conversation I had with the principal as well as with someone on the school board.

 

The LCPS website does say that for kids born between OCt 1st and Dec, they do an assessment and if the child is up to it, will transfer them to the next grade. But, not sure how easy the process is and how strict the public school is with this. That said, there are a few schools that are accredited to LCPS (like CFS, St Theresas, Boyds etc) and once your child completes KG or any grade over there then they are automatically eligible for the next grade in public school. Currently, Boyds is one option that we have that are willing to enroll my daughter in their KG program where they will assess my child in Jan and march and then tell us if she is ready for the next grade or if she has to repeat the current grade. BTW, my daughter will be going to Mill Run itself.

 

With 25 kids in all of the K classes at Dominion Trail I don't see how the teacher could tell if a child's progresses warrants it. It doesn't seem like with so many kids in the classes that the teachers have the opportunity to notice any one child. That's a fairly generalized statement and I don't know if it's actually true but it sure seems that way when I visit my child's classroom.

 

Villager, it absolutely happens. Last year when my child was in KG, a child in the class was bumped up to 1st grade in November. I think they stand out. Even in my limited time in that class I could see that her writing ability was WAY WAY WAY above and beyond KG level. I'd guess that her reading ability was off the charts too. She was placed in KG because of her birthday, but they noticed pretty quickly that wasn't the right place for her and they moved her up.

 

I'm happy to hear that. I don't feel like my child is learning much in K so far and she has an October birthday. I haven't made any attempt to have her moved up, though. I hope she is challenged more next year.

 

With Kindergarten it really depends on the teacher. My son's teacher is really challenging him this year and can tell he needsi. She has him reading chapter books at school. Kindergarten is sometimes frustrating because there are kids across the board.

If you do send your child to private K, you need to be their advocate if ou want to get them in first grade. By then, they have seprate reading groups which makes it soooooo much better for the teachers and the students.

Good Luck

 

My October baby (who is in 6th grade now) went to full day KG at Golden Pond on the recommendation of his pediatrician (based on his personality, skills and maturity level for a 4 yr old.) LOVED it, he did fantastic there. the teacher he had is no longer there and admin has changed, so i can't say what GP is like NOw, but 6 years ago it was fantastic.

I won't go into details about why I was so disgusted- I mean- dissatisfied with the public school test so he could go into first grade, but suffice it to say it did not go well so we chose private school for 1st grade.

he was tested at Christian Fellowship and showed that academically and socially he was easily ready for 1st grade. straight As. we were so happy with the teachers and cirriculum we kept him there for 2nd grade. straight As.

He then went to Hillside for 3rd - 5th grade, he has always pulled A's with maybe one or 2 B's in a tough quarter.

Academically he's doing GREAT- rarely is he challenged by assisgnments- organization and sloppy penmanship account for more B's than anything else. Socially- the fact that he's typically the youngest in class doesn't matter since he's the same size as the other kids, and he's pretty mature for his age.

Christian Fellowship was not accredited when G went there- not sure of their status now. But now that he's in 6th grade and on track for almost all A's again (one sticky B!) I'm not sure why I cared about that in the first place for the earlier grades... we always new he'd be back at public school for middle and high school.

 

correct if you mean AGE appropriate for the LoCo PS- NOT necessarily appropriate for the child...