Grades in Preschool

If they are indeed grading him, switch preschools now. my children are in 2nd and 5th grade and still don't get grades. good luck

Grades in preschool? Are you serious??? Where do you send him? Preschool is about adjusting to going to school and being away from mom. It is more social than academic. At my son's preschool it is letters, numbers and God. Nothing over the top. They would never grade anything and risk his self esteem.

Good luck. I say let your son lead you. I bet he would be fine in Kindergarten!

Never heard of grading in pre-school and all three of ours went here in Lake Villa

I've never heard of grades in preschool either. In fact, my daughter's kindergarten doesn't grade either. She comes home with stars on her class work & homework.

If you're worried, talk to the preschool teachers. Maybe there's another system in place that you're not aware of? No clue here.

Good luck!
M.

I've never heard of grades in preschool either. And even in grade school in our district the grades aren't letter grades until later - the report cards report on several areas, but in academics, it's needs improvement, at grade level, or above grade level.

Hi L.!

In the district where I taught we didn't give letter grades until 3rd grade. Before that we gave either check lists of skills or areas that the students were working on, achieved, or exceeded. There were also separate areas for effort and behavior as well. Giving letter grades to preschool and primary students does not achieve any goals or have any positive purpose for the primary grade levels. I think you need to speak with the preschool director and have him/her give you reasons for the letter grades. I can't imaging a professional educator supporting this practice. If he/she does you may want to look elsewhere for a preschool. Keep us posted on what you find - and good luck - I'm sure there are lots of moms in your corner!

My daughter never got graded in preschool, just stars and stickers. Same in kindergarten so far. Just smileys and "wow"'s. I would ask the teacher.

As an educator I think this is absolutely unacceptable. I would speak with the teachers and principal and if this is part of their practice then I would look for another preschool. "Grading" in preschool goes against everything we learn as Early Childhood Educators! Please keep us posted.

Yep. For my youngest who is now 5 and in kindergarten he got graded. We had parent teacher conferences. It is kind of a two sided thing. He is now in kindergarten reading at a 3rd grade level. They pushed him that hard. All the lil ones in his preschool class are above in reading and math.

I've never heard of letter grades in preschool. I teach second grade and we only give 1, 2, and 3's. We don;t start letter grades until 4th grade.

As a preschool teacher and having a 2 & 3 year old of my own, I believe that letter grades in preschool is absolutely ridiculous...especially giving out a C or D!! I totally agree with Lara that it serves no beneficial purpose to give letter grades to a preschool child. I too would surely talk to the teacher and/or director/principal about it. That would not fly with me either! Like somebody else mentioned, something like needs practice, at grade level, or above grade level in particular areas would make sense, but NOT a letter grade. Best wishes to you, as I'm sure it's a very frustrating situation!!

i have never heard of that before. both of my kids went to pre-k,my son right now. they have never graded the kids. if there is a peoblem the teachers talk with the parents. they have told me that a child seeing poor grades does nothing for their self-esteem and what not. i would talk to the teachers. if it were my children i would be looking for a new school. good luck.

Giving any kind of grades in pre-school just seems ridiculous! Come on already...can't we let our kids be kids for awhile?? Next thing we know, our infants will be getting "grades" at the doctors office for who which baby rolls over the best and which one holds their head up best and which one tolerates tummy time best. Absolutely insane.

I'm very confused. What sort of preschool is this? And what sort of "papers" are you talking about? The only "papers" my daughter brings home are arts and crafts related or things for me to read/sign.

This is not the kind of preschool that a toddler should attend. Isn't life competitive enough already?

One more thing-- could a "c" on a paper mean "correct"?

Last year my daugher was in PK3 at a Catholic school in Denver where
we received a report card 4 times during the year which I found ridiculous. The catagories were traditional grading catagories: math, science, etc. I thought this was odd. And then they told me "they didn't hold back" kids - my daughter is a September birthday and I assumed she would spend 3 years in pre-school. So 2 months after school started I was looking for a different school. We switched to another Catholic school in Denver for PK4. The philosophy of the new preschool teacher is radically different (and she often does hold Sept. birthdays 2 years in PK4) and focuses on self confidence, socialization, emotional well-being, as well as "academics" like pre-reading and pre-math. We've only been at the new school 2 weeks and I can't tell you how much better we all feel about it. My daughter is having an easier adjustment and I feel confident in her new teacher and the preschool program. Talk to the teachers extensively before enrolling in a PK program (and if they don't seem to want to talk to you then it's probably not a great sign) - and trust your instincts. If it doesn't feel right it probably isn't.