I have a 6 year old who has a learning disability and had repeated kindergarten this past year (my decision). Last year, the state of Illinois had a suggested list of 20 SIGHT words. This year, that list went to 100 words for kindergartners.
Needless to say, our local schools went back to the 20 word list mid-year because the kids weren't even able to master the first 20. (Boys tend to be slower than girls at this age)
Teaching sight words is quite tough. Perhaps it was just my own school district, but 'sounding out' the letters in each word didn't seem a priority. What is really difficult is to have a kid try to learn words with 'wh' or 'th', and those words are in the first 100 words kids learn.
First grade, there's almost 300 'sight' words. If the kids had a problem learning 20 in Kindergarten, how will they learn 300 in first grade?
PS. Cody, that is interesting, I had no problem reading your post!
I think it's the teachers that refuse to adjust and change their way of teaching is a problem. I've already been prewarned, with my sons disability, that 2 of the 3 first grade teachers in the school have a hard time catering to individuals needs.... whether learning disabled or not. Teachers refuse to change the way they learned to teach... whether they've taught for 5 years or 30.
Kindergarten isn't mandatory, but I can't see a child missing it and going into first. My son learned so much this year (something finally clicked). He was diagnosed with ADHD, making focusing and organization in the mind a problem.