Anyone with kindergartners?

[TankGirl]

i am 20, but i remember kindergarden... sort of. I knew how to read before i started kindergarden, but my mom told me she got a note one day saying
"Ashley doesn't know her Alphabet"
Turns out i didn't know what the word alphabet meant, becuase i had been taught my "ABC's"

A very similar thing happened to my Olivia, and that reminds me to be sure my 4 1/2-year-olds are hip to the lingo! One of them has taught herself how to read, but I can't remember if she knows the word "alphabet."

 

[TomK2]

Another parochial school disaster turned into public school success story here.

I would never send my kids to parochial school, but I have been told that they are much different now compared to the medeival atmosphere of the 60's and early 70's. Still, the scars run so deep that I wouldnt chance it. I have some rather interesting stories that noone beleives tho!

oh, and it only seems to be the mom who takes it really hard. The kids love it. I have a video of my wife going nutso last year that is hilarious. My youngest goes next fall.

 

[Meredith]

We went to the open house today. I was shocked at how many people did NOT show up. There were only two other moms there besides my husband and my self.
Anyway, we loved it. The teachers are great, (shockingly young, but still great) The kids have something to do outside the class every day, be it art, music, phys-ed. And they go twice a week from 9 to 3:30, with a monday thrown in every other week.
I feel much better. And they don't teach any wacky stuff, so, "whew"!
But when one of the teachers was saying that the kids go to the cafeteria for lunch, I had tears in my eyes picturing my baby in that huge room with a billion other kids eating her lunch from a cute little lunch box. I am already a wreck and its not even close to school time 8O

 

[TomK2]

At my kids school most of the kids walk home for lunch. There are a few dozen who don't, they get to eat their box lunches on tables set up in the gym. The "lunch ladies" help them out. They get a milk, and every now and then some other stuff. A far cry from the zoo that I remember.

 

[TankGirl]

Nothing but zoos around here. They do not permit students to leave the school property here during the day.

 

[Phyl]

My first starts K next year too. She's at a Montessori (she's been there since she was 18mo) so we're keeping her there for K. I'm not looking forward to her starting a "normal" school next year. I'm so afraid that she's going to be bored. She's used to learning at her pace and the "dumb it down" mentality that allows kids to plataeu in the early years because it is too hard to teach them at their own pace is really worrying me. She knows far more than I knew in K (and probably more than when I was going into 2nd grade, lol) already so what's going to happen when she hits the public school system?! Ugh!

 

[mardeebo]

I'm just finishing up our first year of K with my oldest. I think if I have any advice to give you it's to understand that those first few weeks your child may come home and act like a very different little person than you are used to. For my daughter, she was emotional, tired, and whiney. I thought "OMG what are they DOING to her!!". But as she acclimated (couldn't help the fishy reference there), she got better. She did not go to preschool but was always in daycare.

Kindergarten should be fun..and like everyone else is saying here...it's MUCH harder on us Moms than anyone else. Yeah, I know, it still doesn't make it any easier to let them go. I still get all choked up.

 

[Clown Monarch]

The "Montessori" Academy idea really interests me, but I do have a personal experience...

A friend of mine in high school went to a Montessori Academy. I heard the school described as rather than telling a child to stop looking out the window, to ask them to explain what they see.

He was brilliant and picked up the most obscure ideas very quickly. We had all honors classes together but he was prodigal. Never took a book home. Never studied. Never talked about any of his classes. I remember watching him finish an entire Calculus assignment in the last few minutes of class while waiting for the bell to ring (the same assignment would take me an hour if I could complete it at all). He was easily the most intelligent, analytical mind I've ever been around. He scored a 1480 on his SATs and only took them once.

On the flipside his life was COMPLETELY unstructured. His teeth were rotting out of his head because he ate whatever he wanted all day long (candy). His parents were divorced and he came and went as he pleased. He had no study habits. He ended up ranking 10-15 in our class (rather than 1) because he never turned in any homework assignments. He pursued Law in college (I never understood this because Law requires a great deal of study but not necessarily a great deal of intellect. I expected he would pursue mathematics, programming, engineering or something of an analytical nature) and quickly failed out of school and took a keen interest in drugs. I don't know what happened to him.

Interesting character. I want my child to be brilliant, but I think it's also a good idea to tell him to quit looking out the damn window now and then.

 

[Billsgate]

The "Montessori" Academy idea really interests me, but I do have a personal experience...

I've been to a very similar school. Rudolf Steiner-school. These schools are good for creative thinking and forming own opinions, but you never really learn how to study. Lack of structure. I see it now in college, I do good on my tests, but I had a very hard time setting up a schedule on how to study etc. My mom had to help me with that........

Apart from that I don't regret going to that school.
Anyways, these sort of schools are not good for everyone. People who need structure can forget it

 

[Phyl]

Some interesting perspectives. This school seems to be a good balance between working at your own pace and structure (I guess each implementation is as different as the teachers/administrators). While she can work on whatever math suits her (3 digit addition and subtraction right now) she's told to stop looking out the window (talking to cindy, playing w/Meghan's hair, etc).

Unfortunately I don't see the school (as much as I love it) as a long term solution for her education because for one thing it only goes to 4th grade and for another it is HUGELY expensive. I feel like if she (they) are going to have to integrate into a school it may as well be when they're young and it is easy. I just struggle with the idea of her next school holding her back while they catch up to her.

 

[TankGirl]

Phyl, this was the situation with my oldest daughter. At least when it comes to the schools around here, if you are heavily involved and meet with the teacher and the principal, in some cases, you can get the curriculum adjusted for your child.

The problem with that is that the importance of social interaction with kids of all levels of ability, and of the kid's own age, can't be underestimated, and when they are moved up to a higher grade for reading and other subjects (as in my daughter's case) they are pegged as different and it has an impact on their social experience at school. This is pretty huge when you are 5-10 years old, and kindof stays with the child. In the very early grades the social education they get is just as important as the academic.

One of the neighboring county systems here has a program where several grades of kids are all taught together, so that the older kids help the younger kids, and the more advanced younger kids can easily pursue more challenging work in the same classroom. I think this is a great concept.

 

[Toirtis]

He was brilliant and picked up the most obscure ideas very quickly. We had all honors classes together but he was prodigal. Never took a book home. Never studied. Never talked about any of his classes. I remember watching him finish an entire Calculus assignment in the last few minutes of class while waiting for the bell to ring (the same assignment would take me an hour if I could complete it at all). He was easily the most intelligent, analytical mind I've ever been around. He scored a 1480 on his SATs and only took them once.

On the flipside his life was COMPLETELY unstructured. His teeth were rotting out of his head because he ate whatever he wanted all day long (candy). His parents were divorced and he came and went as he pleased. He had no study habits. He ended up ranking 10-15 in our class (rather than 1) because he never turned in any homework assignments.

Except for the teeth and divorce bits, that could be describing my high-school experience....a lack of study habits (as opposed to research) made for quite a shock once I hit Uni....damned good thing I learn quickly or I would have been quite sunk.

 

[stusclan]

I am a kindergarten/first grade teacher at a school with blended classes. If you have questions about what is appropriate - just ask! I love my job, and that is what you need to look for in a teacher. While all the upper grade teachers (we go to 8th grade) dress really nice - I wear jeans, shorts and t-shirts. I love playing on the playground - sitting on the floor and getting covered with paint. Kindergarten teachers should balance the rules with the fun. My school is considered brain-based, so if your child is looking out the window, we all look out the window. We are noisy, active learners - it is an ideal situation. AND WE ARE A PUBLIC SCHOOL! If you don't like the program where you are, there are alternatives, and not all of them cost an arm and a leg. And most importantly, don't push your kinder to learn just so they can be ahead. They'll have to do that sooner or later, leave it for later. Kindergarten is for introductions to learning and socialization. Have fun with them - volunteer. I love parents, siblings, grandparents. Just don't tell me how to do my job - and don't do your child's work - that isn't why you are there.

Congrats on having a kinder. Mine are juniors in high school and college. They grow up way too fast.
Terry - voted the most huggable teacher at ANLC

 

[TankGirl]

Wow! Thanks for posting that - it really gives me hope for my preschoolers and insight into what it means to be a kindergarten teacher. Now I know why my older child's K-teacher was so special.