Talk to me about K and curriculum.

[PZMommy]

I don't mean to sound offensive but this makes me sad. So the kids have no specials and only get a little free time on Fridays? They are five and six years old! Why not build in more time for free play since they don't have specials like many schools do? I don't understand why the time for specials each day can't be substituted for more free time. This isn't a slam on you-more just a gripe about the pressure on teachers and in turn, the students, to do more more more at such a young age. Kindergartners are still babies and NEED breaks throughout the day. With the expectations being raised constantly, it seems almost impossible for teachers to afford that. I guess I'm feeling nostalgic for the good old days when Kindergarten meant learning through play with a sprinkling of academic desk work.

I wish I could build in more free time, but with what we need to cover there is no time. I have to spend 120 minutes on language arts instruction. I also must spend 60 minutes on English Language Development since I have an English Learner class. Those 60 minutes are in addition to the language arts minutes, and can not be combined with any other area. Then I must spend 60 minutes on math. We have 25 minutes of breakfast in the classroom, 20 minutes of recess, and a 45 minute lunch. It leaves me about 30 minutes a day to do social studies and science which are also required. I may not agree with it, but it is what my district mandates.

Kindergarten is not what is used to be. Preschool is now what kindergarten used to be. My DS went to a very academic preschool and the work he did there was what I did in first grade. It is just the way the system works where I live. If you don't enter kindergarten knowing all of your letters and numbers to 20 you are already behind.

[JBaxter]

I have to agree its pretty typical especially if your school is doing Common Core. Jack gets a weekly packet of 3-5 worksheets and a paper back book to read ( site word 3-5 word sentences ) His schedule is similar they have centers and computer work ( they have 6 or 8 Macs in the room) It may be a little more than Nathan ( 5th grade)had but not much more its being taught differently but thats the new common core way of teaching.
His preschool had him pretty prepared ( we were in SC then but moved to FL over the summer) He knew a good amount of site words, could count nearly to 100 his upper and lower case letters his writing is a bit sketchy but he has yet to choose a dominant hand and switches left to right in mid word/work.
He doesnt have any issues with school and has not complained about going or doing his homework. In my mind the homework helps him get better control of his writing.

[lmh2402]

and...the slow boil of pressure (without a single shred of doubt, related to the transition, schedule, "pressure" of K) reached its full potential tonight

we had an epic, unmatched tantrum - one we haven't seen the likes of in definitely over a year.

he has no voice left. he has two huge, self-inflicted scratches down his face. and i'm still shaking with equal-parts rage and sadness to see him so very obviously out of control and freaked out and hysterical

what this tantrum started over...really nothing. truly, it was over the fact that his friends were leaving to go home and it was time to come inside and get ready for bed.

it started 3 hours ago and he's still upstairs not asleep moaning with what little voice remains

if i could, i'd pull him from school on monday. he's just too little, IMO, to be expected to do this much work on a day-in-day out basis. i get that it's the curriculum and the common core and all that jazz. but i think it sucks. my kid knows how to read, knows how to do addition, subtraction and even multiplication and division. and yet he's FREAKING out on a daily basis about the pressures of school. i cannot imagine how hard it must be on kids who don't know how to read yet. how intense it must feel.

sorry for a rant out of nowhere, but tonight really sucked and it's been coming since school started on 9/2 and i'm just so sad for my kid.

[KrisM]

I'm so, so sad for you guys . School shouldn't be like that, especially in kindergarten.

[wellyes]

and...the slow boil of pressure (without a single shred of doubt, related to the transition, schedule, "pressure" of K) reached its full potential tonight

we had an epic, unmatched tantrum - one we haven't seen the likes of in definitely over a year.

he has no voice left. he has two huge, self-inflicted scratches down his face. and i'm still shaking with equal-parts rage and sadness to see him so very obviously out of control and freaked out and hysterical

what this tantrum started over...really nothing. truly, it was over the fact that his friends were leaving to go home and it was time to come inside and get ready for bed.

it started 3 hours ago and he's still upstairs not asleep moaning with what little voice remains

if i could, i'd pull him from school on monday. he's just too little, IMO, to be expected to do this much work on a day-in-day out basis. i get that it's the curriculum and the common core and all that jazz. but i think it sucks. my kid knows how to read, knows how to do addition, subtraction and even multiplication and division. and yet he's FREAKING out on a daily basis about the pressures of school. i cannot imagine how hard it must be on kids who don't know how to read yet. how intense it must feel.

sorry for a rant out of nowhere, but tonight really sucked and it's been coming since school started on 9/2 and i'm just so sad for my kid.

I'm so sorry.
For what it's worth, I've seen school fatigue setting in with several kids I know. And about the same last year, too. 3 week in seems to be a nadir. Hopefully it will get better as they adjust, get more stamina, make friends, figure out how to pace themselves, etc.

[Seitvonzu]

hmm.... i'm sad for your update poor little guy. that really does seem like too much.

i would email the teacher and ask if you could come in and talk with her about things. it seems like your little guy is obviously ahead of most kids, even in competitive areas (with kids come in from fully academic style pre-ks). i'm wondering if your little guy is being pushed more than is normal? because of his precociousness?

that might be good for some kids...but is obviously not constructive for your child! he's freaking out i would definitely be talking with the teacher ASAP and as often as necessary to get some sort of accomodation!

[sste]

Lmh, didn't make it all the way through but what does he have breaking up the academic blocks? While I agree everything is too academic these days our school had daily: morning circle (learning but singing, etc), snack, PE for 20 minutes, recess for 20 minutes, a 50 minute special (art, music, drama, etc), and for kindy often a second recess. And for the first 1/3 of the year a nap time. By the time that was all done it wasn't as bad as I thought in terms of academics though it is ALOT of hustle/bustle.

Is there enough physical activity?

I would explore whether your school can offer him sensory breaks/a quiet corner and also it sounds like he would qualify for OT services no? That can be helpful and also have the secondary benefit of some quiet time 1:1.

[westwoodmom04]

Lmh, didn't make it all the way through but what does he have breaking up the academic blocks? While I agree everything is too academic these days our school had daily: morning circle (learning but singing, etc), snack, PE for 20 minutes, recess for 20 minutes, a 50 minute special (art, music, drama, etc), and for kindy often a second recess. And for the first 1/3 of the year a nap time. By the time that was all done it wasn't as bad as I thought in terms of academics though it is ALOT of hustle/bustle.

Is there enough physical activity?

I would explore whether your school can offer him sensory breaks/a quiet corner and also it sounds like he would qualify for OT services no? That can be helpful and also have the secondary benefit of some quiet time 1:1.

I think this is all good advice but also wanted to mention again very common for new kindergarteners with full day schedules to be exhausted for first couple months. I would move up bedtime and find a way to get him moving after school.

I would talk to your son and teacher about why he feels pressure and try to alleviate that. Is he upset about not finishing worksheets or is that more your concern? We have similarly structured K but no grades or report cards so there was never a sense of pressure just a busy day ( had two parent teacher conferences instead). Once the kids adjusted to the schedule they thrived because they were challenged by the work but they could do it. The teachers gave extra support to the kids who needed it. definitely talk to the teacher so she can help ease the transition.

[123LuckyMom]

Our kindergarten is pretty rigorously scheduled, but we don't have worksheets or homework. Still, we have been warned time and time and time again by teachers and parents of older kids that even the kids who have been in full day (like 7:30am to 5:30pm) daycare plus evening activities are totally exhausted in the beginning of kindergarten. I've seen it with my own son.

It sounds to me like your son is totally exhausted and also really discouraged by not being able to complete his work. If I were you, I'd try hard to roll back bedtime and make sure he's sleeping and eating as much as possible. I would also definitely contact the school counselor. I'd be concerned, if it were my son, that his perfectionistic tendencies combined with his inability (due to time constraints) for him to complete his work to his satisfaction might start negatively influencing his sense of his own competence. I'd want to address that particular problem as soon as possible. I wouldn't go in criticizing the teacher or the school but merely describing your son's behavior and his expressed concerns. The counselor may be able to be a great help to your son.

[egoldber]

I just want to echo that it can take kids several weeks if not months to adjust to all day school. My older DD had been in 5 day a week preschool (1/2 day) the year before K and it was still a VERY hard adjustment for her. And her K was half day! All day first grade was an extremely hard adjustment for her. It took her until December to fully adjust IMO. The worst tantrums she ever had were at ages 5-6 (K and first grade).

Younger DD was in all day child care (8 to 5:30 most days) since she was 3 and still had a very, very hard adjustment to all day K. And our K is not even that intense compared to many I see described here.

That being said, your DS has always had trouble adjusting to change. Did you guys ever get the neuropsych eval done?