While in Canada, my dad brought out a box of books from when Scott and I were kids. Ben delved right into them and read to us Ten Apples Up on Top! that evening. We don't own the book, he had never seen it before, yet he read it to us that first sitting.
Ben turned 5 in August. In Texas, the kindergarten cut off is September 1st, so technically, he is old enough to be in kindergarten in a regular school. But in our suburban Dallas community, the idea of sending a just turned 5 year old boy to school is often viewed as akin to sending them off to sunny downtown Baghdad to run an errand. Conventional wisdom says that summer birthday boys are simply too young, too immature, and just not ready for kindergarten.
However, we homeschool, and set our own schedule, and Ben could not wait to start kindergarten work. He knew his letters and sounds, but was not reading in August. Since then, we spend 3-4 days a week on schoolwork, no more than 2 hours per day. With just one little kindergartner, I can cut all the excess time wasters, and we can spend a little while focusing on the academic work. Then, he can run and play and ride his scooter outside and build with Legos and all the other things that little 5 year old boys should do.
He's halfway through Saxon Math 1 and loved doing the timed facts tests of all things, he *has* to score 20/20 in two minutes to be happy with it. We finished all our kindergarten phonics books, so I had to buy him a first grade one. He has read the first two boxes of the Bob books, both of Faith's sets of kindergarten Saxon readers, as well as Hop on Pop, and now Ten Apples Up On Top. Thanks to Pastor Scott, and a really awesome song, he has memorized all 66 books of the Bible, and thanks to Daddy & Mr. Doug, he has learned several memory verses from Wednesday night Adventure Champs at church.
We've done fun science experiments, we've learned some history, he even takes taekwondo several times a week. He just received his advanced green belt and can show the patterns for each of the four lower levels, as well as his current one (an awful lot of the older kids in his class can't do that). He builds amazing creations with his Legos and Trios, and creates awesome worlds and stories with his Playmobil pirates. He loves to ride his bike and has figured out his brand new scooter too.
So too young/immature for kindergarten? Or maybe just too young to be cooped up in a small room and expected to sit still on someone else's schedule for 7 hours a day? Somehow, I think it's the latter.
Other recent posts from me:
The Kids Cook Monday - Layered Salad by Ben
On the Road Lunch Bento
Ben turned 5 in August. In Texas, the kindergarten cut off is September 1st, so technically, he is old enough to be in kindergarten in a regular school. But in our suburban Dallas community, the idea of sending a just turned 5 year old boy to school is often viewed as akin to sending them off to sunny downtown Baghdad to run an errand. Conventional wisdom says that summer birthday boys are simply too young, too immature, and just not ready for kindergarten.
However, we homeschool, and set our own schedule, and Ben could not wait to start kindergarten work. He knew his letters and sounds, but was not reading in August. Since then, we spend 3-4 days a week on schoolwork, no more than 2 hours per day. With just one little kindergartner, I can cut all the excess time wasters, and we can spend a little while focusing on the academic work. Then, he can run and play and ride his scooter outside and build with Legos and all the other things that little 5 year old boys should do.
He's halfway through Saxon Math 1 and loved doing the timed facts tests of all things, he *has* to score 20/20 in two minutes to be happy with it. We finished all our kindergarten phonics books, so I had to buy him a first grade one. He has read the first two boxes of the Bob books, both of Faith's sets of kindergarten Saxon readers, as well as Hop on Pop, and now Ten Apples Up On Top. Thanks to Pastor Scott, and a really awesome song, he has memorized all 66 books of the Bible, and thanks to Daddy & Mr. Doug, he has learned several memory verses from Wednesday night Adventure Champs at church.
We've done fun science experiments, we've learned some history, he even takes taekwondo several times a week. He just received his advanced green belt and can show the patterns for each of the four lower levels, as well as his current one (an awful lot of the older kids in his class can't do that). He builds amazing creations with his Legos and Trios, and creates awesome worlds and stories with his Playmobil pirates. He loves to ride his bike and has figured out his brand new scooter too.
So too young/immature for kindergarten? Or maybe just too young to be cooped up in a small room and expected to sit still on someone else's schedule for 7 hours a day? Somehow, I think it's the latter.
Other recent posts from me:
The Kids Cook Monday - Layered Salad by Ben
On the Road Lunch Bento
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