Single parent, kindergarten woes. Help!

daystar

I have a problem.

We just moved to Plano, Texas, where we know no one. My son just started Kindergarten. Now, Plano ISD is one of those school districts that gets a large amount of funding through high test scores and through high property values. They administered a test very early this year to see where the Kindergarteners are. His teacher said they've not done this in the past and she thinks it's too soon, but anyway, there it is. In January there will be another test. There are some things she says my son should work on, such as phonograms, letter/sound correlaton, etc. She recommended tutoring. (!!)

My first reaction was... "tutoring?! In Kindergarten?!" But yes. Now, the teacher understands that I'm the primary caregiver for my son. It's just me and him. After school, he is picked up and taken to an after school program. The tutoring would be two days a week, right after school. His after school care will not make a special trip to pick just him up. (The school and after-school facilities are only three blocks or so from each other. I work 25 minutes away.) And I can't leave my work early two days a week to make that special trip. Well, I've mentioned it, but it's nearly impossible, unless I telecommute. Not very likely that.

Now, it may be adequate that I tutor him at home. We can do this more than twice a week and it may be better for him. But then again, it puts a lot more stress on me in an already pretty stressful situation.

I'm looking for recommendation here. I'm looking for help. I'm looking for anything. I'm going to be talking with the teacher this afternoon to suggest the home tutoring by me. I've brainstormed myself, but I just cannot come up with any other options.

BlackSwan of Memphis

Well thankfuly it's Kindegarten he needs tutoring and not 12th grad calculus .

I have a four year old who loves to do activity books.

If you think the only way you can do this is to tutor him yourself, I don't see why you can't.

I can pm you in a little bit with some links that might help as well as the name of a few good books.

My daughter is having a tough time with the phonics and letter/sound correlation, so that's something we've been working on.

Give me just a bit and I'll get the info to you.

troubled mind

Have the teacher demonstrate the things your son needs to work on, and also suggestions on things you can use at home to help him . This does not need to become some added burden on you ,but actually is just the begining of what schooling is all about . For his age the exercises he needs could be done in the car on the way home , or as your giving him a bath , or while your doing supper . It is a great time to bond with your child , next year it will be beginning readers that he will need to read aloud to you every night . Each year it advances to something else , plan on homework time every night . It sounds like stress to your already busy day , but it can be managed and even enjoyable if you consider it something the two of you will share .

daystar

Well thankfuly it's Kindegarten he needs tutoring and not 12th grad calculus .

LOL! Yes, there is that. I don't think I'd be much help there. Thank you so very much, blackswan, for anything you've got. I've checked out a number of online homeschooling sites, which is where I've gotten some of the stuff I've already begun working on him with.

When I speak with his teacher today, I'll be asking for help with a curriculum I can follow at home.

BlackSwan of Memphis

Hey Daystar,

I'm just going to go ahead and post it here so that clicking on the links will be a bit easier for you.

The first is for Holcombs, it's resource for teachers and parents. They have a pretty good supply of tutoring and teaching aides.

http://www.holcombscatalog.com/

Then this one is for School Zone:

http://www.schoolzone.com/

The next two are for Nick Jr and PBS:

http://www.noggin.com/games/index.php

http://www.nickjr.com/

Both have downloadable and printable activites for prek and K.

I gotta go but I will geet more together later.

good luck

bsom

JWdaughter

Remember, the most important things they learn in kindergarten have nothing to do with phonetics. You help him, have fun spending a little extra time with him and don't stress on the 'tutoring'. Plano used to be a great district-I am sure it still is and he will get a good education there. He is going to learn SO much this year and you will have a great opportunity as a parent to learn what really matters for your child, his school and his education. My son is in first grade and reading well now-and I would NEVER have expected that a year ago today. This should be his 'fun' year. Make sure his K year is fun and joyful and set a good precedent for the rest of his school 'career'.

daystar

JWdaughter

Thanks for helping to put thing into perspective! You're right of course. I need to chill a bit, I'm sure. I'm also sure that a bit of my stress from this comes from the guilt of not being able to work with him on this sort of thing as much as I would were there two of us helping out with it.

bebu

My daughter is a visual learner, so reading was easier for her to pick up. She practically taught herself off of the pbskids.org website. Between the Lions has lots of great reading games, I recall, but there were many others there. If your son likes computer games, then this will be fun homework and not too hard for you either.

bebu

Edited to add: I would take the advice but I DON'T feel COMPELLED to jump if a school district's goals are beyond what normal kids can do. It is a public school, isn't it? You have every right to NOT tutor if you think it is too much studying going on for your 5-year old. Education is great... but sounds like you've got a school district that is going overboard.

serendipity

daystar,

Is flextime an option for you at work? Can you go to work early, put in your 8 hours (skipping lunch if you have to) and then leave early to pick your son up? You can talk to your manager and indicate that this is just temporary and just 2 days a week.

One of my biggest problems as a single parent was asking for this type of accomodation. Companies will accomodate you, but they don't advertise it because they don't want the privilege abused.

Beyond tutoring yourself, another option is using a learning center, which are usually open later hours in the evening. Here's some listings:

http://yellowpages.superpages.com/listings.jsp?SRC=&STYPE=S&PG=L&R=N&L=plano%2C%20tx&C=&N=learning%20center&T=&S=&search=Find+It

You might try to find a teacher who's willing to tutor outside of class, for a fee of course.

and hugs, I know how stressful single parenting is.

hemp lover

Whenever I needed a workbook or manual to cover something my daughter wasn't getting through her homeschool curriculum, I'd shop where the teachers shop. They have tons of great ideas, especially for the elementary school ages. The one I go to is at Mockingbird and Abrams in Dallas, but I'm sure there are outlets closer to you. (Can't remember the exact name of the store, but "Teacher's Apple" sounds familiar.) I bet you'll be surprised at how fast he catches up once you start working with him.

Single parent, kindergarten woes. Help!

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