In kindergarten, students begin very basic curriculum in all subjects, including science, social studies, and the arts; but the most important academic topics will be literacy and math, which underly everything else to come.

• 10 Things About Kindergarten Every Parent Should Know
• What Happens in Kindergarten?

In Texas, children can enter kindergarten if they are five years old on or before Sept. 1 of the year in which they begin kindergarten. LISD supports the position that all children have a right to attend kindergarten if legally eligible by age. Parents who are weighing the advantages and disadvantages of delaying their child’s entry into kindergarten may find this article from the National Association for the Education of Young Children to be of use. It is the responsibility of LISD to provide an appropriate kindergarten environment in which all children can develop, no matter at what stage they enter. Your child is welcome!

 Additional Helpful Links

• Important Milestones: Your Child by Five Years via the CDC with examples, either a video clip or photo, for almost EVERY skill on the CDC’s list
• Kindergarten, Here We Come
• 4 Things Kindergarten Teachers Want You to Know
• Readiness, Not a State of Knowledge, But a State of Mind

Research shows that reading aloud is the best way to prepare children for learning to read. Reading helps your children develop language skills that they will use in school and throughout their lives. Through books, your children can learn about a world they have not yet experienced and dream about worlds that do not exist.

Reading together is also a time to develop a close relationship with your child. You can laugh together at the silly sounds or antics in a story. You can share the anticipation waiting to what will happen on the next page. Having fond memories of reading together will be special to both you and your child as the years go by.

• Picture books are favorites of young children as the illustrations help them make sense of what they are hearing.
• They also enjoy rhyming poetry and stories with repetitive lines.
• Children enjoy predicting what will happen next.
• They will let you know which ones they like as they ask to hear the same story over and over again. Hearing a story repeatedly helps children understand and appreciate the basic structure of stories so they can apply it to future tales encountered.
• Ask your child questions and comment on his/her responses. In that way, you'll learn more about what your child is thinking and extend the joy of reading time together!

Resources:

• Articles for Families on Literacy from NAEYC
• 7 Tips for Reading Aloud to Kids
• Choosing a Child's Book

Children enter school with a variety of experiences and skills. Kindergarten teachers look for ways to support and nurture potential while challenging each student according to his/her needs. Enrichment in kindergarten occurs in many ways, including but not limited to:

• Planned experiences by teachers trained in strategies for promoting creativity and critical thinking
• LISD Elementary STEM Academies 
• Dual language or Spanish Immersion experiences which include learning academic content in Spanish as well as English. This program may be selected by parents of any LISD kindergartner even if the program is not offered at the home campus. See the LISD Dual Language or Spanish Immersion website for additional information.

Grade level acceleration - Parents may request that a child who will be five years old on or before September 1, 2021 be admitted into the first grade for the 21-22 school year (rather than kindergarten) via credit by exam. Please review the Stages of Development document for information about the long-term implications of acceleration.

• To attend kindergarten, a student must be 5 years old on or before September 1 of the enrolling school year. There is no prekindergarten acceleration to enroll into kindergarten early for children who are not yet 5 on or before Sept. 1st. The cut-off date for kindergarten enrollment is set by the state. 

Below is the procedure to follow to request kinder accelerations testing.

Click HERE for a document outlining the LISD Kindergarten Acceleration procedures and HERE for slides with the same information in a PPT format. 

1. Parent registers their child for kinder for the 2021-22 school year at their home zoned LISD elementary campus.
2. Once kinder registration is complete, parents can ask the campus for acceleration testing information.
3. Parent meets with the elementary school counselor to learn about credit by exam, Kindergarten acceleration testing and stages of development. If the parent still wishes to have their child tested after their meeting, the counselor will provide the application to the parent.
4. Parent submits completed application and copy of child’s birth certificate to the Early Childhood Program at ecprograms@lisd.net. 
5. District personnel will contact parent to schedule acceleration testing.
6. There is one kindergarten acceleration testing window in early summer.
7. A late summer testing window would be possible under extenuating circumstances only. If that is the case, the child will begin the school year in kindergarten.
8. Students will be evaluated with the following Kindergarten TEKS aligned University of Texas Credit by Exams.
   • English Language Arts
   • Mathematics
   • Science
   • Social Studies  
9. Enhanced Covid related health measures may be in place, depending on the current mitigation level:
   1. Temperature screenings
   2. Sanitization and handwashing
   3. Plexiglass screen during testing
   4. Mask wearing
   5. Parent/guardian waits in their car during the testing appointment 

Kindergarten Acceleration Criteria 

• The University of Texas Credit by Exam results determine acceleration into first grade.
• Students must achieve 80% or higher on all four University of Texas exams to achieve acceleration.
• The acceleration criteria is final with no appeal process.
• If a child scores below the required 80% on any test, the child will not accelerate.
• Students who meet the 80% acceleration criteria on all four exams shall be assessed, one-on-one, using the Gesell Developmental Observation to provide additional information to parents and the campus. This is an internationally normed test to assess a child’s level of maturity. It is a performance test, not a test of knowledge or skills. The tasks performed are rated in accordance with observed behaviors and compared to the performance exhibited by the predominance of students at predesignated ages.