Transition class - yay or nay

amother

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 3:20 pm

Not sure of this is something in my community, but a lot of kids do transition class between kindergarten and pre-1-a. My school is telling me its my decision. Initially, teacher said transition, but now after speaking to the director, she said
my child could really go either way. I don't want my kid to fall behind. But I don't need an extra year for nothing. How do I know if my kid is really ready for pre-1-a?

amother

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 4:05 pm

mha3484 wrote:

What does last years teacher think?

Teacher said transition. Her concern is that child doesn't follow rules very well, but her class is not run military style. Whichever class child goes to next year will be a more strict class.

amother

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 4:06 pm

mha3484 wrote:

Also is this a boy or girl school and is there Sundays in pre1a?

No Sundays. But every day is till 3:45 instead of 2:45.

mha3484

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 4:15 pm

My first 3 were boys in a school with Sundays starting in pre1a with a very fast moving curriculum. I have a boy who just finished second and a good friend has a girl the same age. In second grade my son learned 5 parshios her daughter learned 2. Its a huge difference.

I think the expectations of the school, how fast does the curriculum move, are they learning kriah and English reading together. What type of discipline do they use? These are all the questions I would ask the school before I made a decision. If your child can academically meet your schools expectations but the only issue is some issues with following rules you can do some sessions with a therapist to learn the missing skills. It may be more helpful in the long run.

amother

Oldlace

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 4:17 pm

IMHO put the child in transition a child only gains by having an extra year to play.
If in the future he will struggle you will regret it.

amother

Lemon

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 4:25 pm

Questions to think about
How old is the child? In other words youngest or oldest in prek?
What is child’s maturity level?
Does child need more structured classroom?
What is child’s scholastic level?

mha3484

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 4:35 pm

amother Oldlace wrote:

IMHO put the child in transition a child only gains by having an extra year to play.
If in the future he will struggle you will regret it.

I agree with you and my boys did an extra year of playgroup so were 5 turning 6 in pre1a instead of 4 turning 5. But OP didnt say how old her child is. Also if its a boy which she didnt say when they get older and have certain milestones way before everyone else its also complicated. So its not so simple to say you only gain.

amother

Oldlace

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 4:42 pm

mha3484 wrote:

Your right, I am not american so not exactly sure how the system works...
I guess it also depends when in the year the child is born, if its at the end it makes less of a difference.

mha3484

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 4:48 pm

My son has a grade mate who repeated pre1a so he had his bar mitzvah winter of 6th grade way before anyone else. He was wearing tefillin, a white shirt, has obligations his friends don't have yet, also way taller.

I'm not knocking repeating I promise! Just saying that this is stuff that we don't always think about when our kid is 4 but its really important to weigh the pros and cons because it could matter to them a lot when they get to that stage.

amother

Powderblue

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 5:10 pm

I'd look at the academic skills of the child first. Can they read in Hebrew and or English..... can they add and subtract single digits.... if so they'll likely not benefit from the extra year.

amother

Thu, Aug 17 2023, 5:35 pm

Child will be 5 in September, iyh. So def good age for pre-1-a. If child goes to pre-1-a, will be youngest in the class. If transition, will be oldest. There are dis/advantages to both. I think my child will learn to follow the rules. Child is pretty much up to par academically.