Talk to me about K and curriculum.

[Cam&Clay]

My concern would be the number of worksheets in a day. I think my Kindergartner did one or two a day. That sounds like a lot of busy work.

[westwoodmom04]

Our public K experience sounds similar but with less worksheets. Day starts at 8:45 and ends at 3:10, with one half hour recess plus teachers would take them on a walk of school grounds for about 15-20 minutes. They kept journals, worked on reading (in large group and centers), did math via manipulatives, had science/social studies time, etc. . . There was a brief rest time for the first half of the year (maybe 20 minutes) that became free play time during the second half of the year, also they could "play" in dramatic arts, blocks, or computers if they finished work early.

Honestly, the regimented and academic nature of our K was why we redshirted our summer birthday boy. But don't give up hope -- most kids have an adjustment period for the longer day. Give him a few months and lots of play time at home, earlier bed time, etc. . I'd also request an early conference with the teacher to let her know your concerns and see if she has any suggestions for ways to help her adjust.

[westwoodmom04]

Also wanted to add that there was nightly homework but never more than 1 worksheet a night or 3 a week (other nights were given reading or writing assignments).

[khalloc]

My kids both had to cycle thru stations in Kindergarten. They still do in 1st and 3rd grade. DS and DD had the same K teacher. She was great. I remember they often had "choice" time. And you could read a book, play with blocks, color, etc...

It can be really hard for some kids to transition to Kindergarten. Its still very early in the school year. I do think the worksheets are too much though. My kids almost never had Kindergarten homework. Well, they sometimes had special projects to do, like read a story and then draw a picture of your favorite part. Or once they really started reading they had to practice site words and reading, but it was like 5-10 minutes a night.

[94bruin]

I volunteered throughout the year during DD1's class and have volunteered once during DD2's class so far. Our Kinder also uses stations and maybe one station has some sort of worksheet - whether it be writing something or cutting something. Two weeks ago, when I helped out, I did a station where they glued different scents (cinnamon, oregano, ginger powder) to some popsicle sticks. They've been talking about the 5 senses.

DDs's only free time is during their 30 minute snack/recess time. I'm thankful it's included in our half-day program. DD1 had some free time at the end of her morning - maybe like 15-20 mins right before pick-up.

What I've found is that some of the kids seemed to have trouble staying on task. In DD1's class, depending on the task, the teacher might make the student finish it later on in the morning (taking them out of some other task or the free time they had at the very end of the day.) I have noticed that the kids that were more able to stay on task were the kids who had previous year fall birthdays or the girls who were born before fall of the current year.

[egoldber]

Well, I don't think that sounds unusual. Neither is his reaction.

Is he expected to finish the unfinished worksheets? That would surprise me.

[lmh2402]

Well, I don't think that sounds unusual. Neither is his reaction.

Is he expected to finish the unfinished worksheets? That would surprise me.

I asked about this last night and she said, "well it's still early in the year, so they're still finding their groove." and then after a pause she said, "it could also be because they don't have enough time. don't worry, it's not because he's not able to do it, but he's probably short on time." (i actually wasn't/am not worried about whether he could do it, but rather what was expected.)

THEN she said, "you know what, it's actually a good idea for them to finish those worksheets at home...yeah, let's do that. let's have them finish the work sheets at home and bring them back."

[anonomom]

What kinds of worksheets are they? When dd was in kindy there were lots of "cut out these ten pictures, paste them under the correct starting letter then color all of the pictures." I got the educational value in identifying letters, but I didn't like that dd would be considered not to have finished if the pictures weren't colored in.

Dd2 just started kindergarten and brings home a page of homework each night. Right now it's practicing writing numbers. That kind of work doesn't bother me because she actually needs the practice.

[egoldber]

Well, I would e-mail her and say that your DS will not be sending them back. Or frankly, I would just not do it and not communicate it either. It sounds like something she said spur of the moment and didn't really think through. So it clearly wasn't intended to be homework.

And FWIW, many kids don't finish all their centers in other grades either. My younger DD had centers every day in first grade and her class earned a "ticket" if they finished all their centers in a week. They had a card with 16 squares on it (4 centers per day x 4 days, they didn't have centers on their early release day) and if they did all 16 they get a ticket. Many weeks that card came home not completed.

I would just tell him to do what he can and not worry about it.

[lmh2402]

here's the schedule (DEAR time is quite reading on their own) and example of the unfinished math work sheet, and un finished LA work sheet.

the math ones vary, but i've seen several of these "write a word that includes the letter" work sheets - he has never had more than one or two words written.

schedule.jpgmath ws (1).jpgla ws.jpg