approach to pre-school/ KG in US

AmulyaB · Feb 2, 2012

Hello all,
I'm new to IL. Hope to get good info & friends here.

I've a 3yr old daughter. we shifted from India to US 6 months ago (when she was 2.5 yrs old).
I was working in India & hence my daughter went to play school from 1.5 yr-2.5yrs.
Had we been in India now, my daughter wud be going to Nursery now.

After taking some time to settle & my kid to get adjust to the new place, I now like to join my DD to a pre-school/nursery program. I guess the public schools here accepts kids for kinder-garten at age 5 (at this).
age kids in India pursue/complete 1st standard). we plan to return to india in 2-3yrs (my kid might be 5-6 yrs by then)

Can anyone pls suggest me as how do I approach to start my kid's schooling now so that she dont fall behind (when compared to Indian kids) when we return to india?
I mean, how can she start to go to KG before 5 yrs in US? Is this possible?
Infact she is very smart & active, a quick learner too. hence i dont want her to fall behind (in terms of grade/class) when we r back to india.

can i start sending her to pre-school now in US?

sravanitenali · Feb 2, 2012

Hi Amulya..

You can join your DS in near by private schools, they will have lots of toddler/Pre-k programmes. If you are Staying home mom, then you can opt for 3 or 5hrs day school option.

Takecare
Sravani

Srama · Feb 2, 2012

Amulya,

check with your school district. Most information about KG will be available there.
1. 5yr old criteria will slightly vary from state to state. For ex., in our state a child must be 5yrs or older before the 30th of sept and if a child is born before the end of Dec, in certain cases testing will be done for KG readiness to consider for KG. Find info about.

2. Some parents do enrol their kids in a private school, keep the child till end of 1st grade and change to a public school in 2nd grade.

3. KG readiness here is more social than academic here.

4. So if you are sure of your return to India, then and then only may be you should look out for some material and see if you can teach esp languages and stuff like that.

5. Some school dsitricts do offer a pre-school program and can be based on lttery too. The best bet for information about this is again your school district's website. Many day cares also offer pre school programs - you can check that out. Remember learning at Pre-school and KG level could be very different from schools in India.

6. As an alternative you can consider sending her for other programs like Kumon etc to keep up with math/english but then I personally prefer to wait till she is atleast 5 - just wanted to let you know that that is also an option.

If your return to India will happen before she is in 1st or 2nd grade, I wouldn't worry too much but then that is me

Best wishes and I am sure you will do what's best for your DD as a mom!

AmulyaB · Feb 4, 2012

sravani, thanks for the advice. i'll try visiting near by schools. For now i'm not working, but planning to do so in near future.

Thanks again.

AmulyaB · Feb 4, 2012

Hello Srama, thanks a lot for the info & sugessions.

My DD is born on 15 Dec & hence she cud go to public schools here when she is around 5.5yrs.
We stay near Boston, MA. As suggested by you i'll try to find more info at school district's website.

And yes, we r sure to return India. And I predict it to be when my DD wud be around 5-7 yrs.

Thanks again for your valuable info again