hi,
I am new to the forum.
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Kindergarten
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Thank you to everyone who has replied. I must say things are going much better than I first expected. Shorteie, I completely understand where you are right now. When we started school the beginning of August, I felt the same. The only thing I can say, is that things do get better. I found by getting to know the school staff it helped ease the transition for me. That is how I found out I could walk her to class every morning. All I had to do was sign in at the front office and obtain a visitor sticker. Now my daughter does not feel the need for me to walk her in anymore. In fact, she wanted to start taking the bus!
Also, dismissal is so much smoother now. The monitor in charge of it thought it was too crazy for kinders. So now the kinders get out a few minutes before the older kids. The monitors and teachers (k only) have walkie talkies. Only ten kinders are sent out at a time. When they are with an adult staff knows they can leave. If not, the child sits against the wall where the monitor is until someone arrives. They continue the process until all kinders are out. It seems to be much smoother.
Also, the teacher is so nice! Now that I have gotten to know her, my fears have definitely subsided. She truly loves being with the kids and stays in contact with the parents all the time.
Once again, thanks for all of your replies! Everyone helped make things a lot better for me!
Also, dismissal is so much smoother now. The monitor in charge of it thought it was too crazy for kinders. So now the kinders get out a few minutes before the older kids. The monitors and teachers (k only) have walkie talkies. Only ten kinders are sent out at a time. When they are with an adult staff knows they can leave. If not, the child sits against the wall where the monitor is until someone arrives. They continue the process until all kinders are out. It seems to be much smoother.
Also, the teacher is so nice! Now that I have gotten to know her, my fears have definitely subsided. She truly loves being with the kids and stays in contact with the parents all the time.
Once again, thanks for all of your replies! Everyone helped make things a lot better for me!
I feel the same way, I have the exact same issues right down to the staff being cold and unwilling to help. I had a teacher tell me that I had to do a conference with her and another teacher because I wanted to walk my child to class, they are 100% about a 5 year old being independent. I do not agree with this at all. I feel If I want to walk her to class to start her day off right than so be it.
It's not uncommon for open houses to be limited to parents - teachers want to speak honestly and in a fully adult manner at the Open House and the presence of young children especially would not allow that. Children would grow quickly bored on Open House Night - indeed, parents can sometimes feel that Open House lasts a little too long.
But any school should be warm and welcoming to its parents - especially new parents and parents of K children - but sadly not every school is. As this is a large school, it may be fairly consumed with just getting up and running every day and managing amidst the chaos. Or it may be just the beginning of the year tension and chaos and that tapers off and fairly quickly.
And sometimes underneath the seeming chaos is some order but I agree with you - I'd Much prefer to walk my K child to the class. Is there a PTA? Or some Home/School organization? These are good topics to bring to those organizations and their meetings if they'll let you talk about issues other than fundraising. Even if they don't - do you know any other parents at this school? Some with children who've been through the Kindergarten?
They might have some insight and advice for how the year has gone for their child even with 26+ children in the room. They might be of some comfort to you or they might confirm your concerns and then at least you know it's not you - it's the school - and you'll be on guard to help your child through it in any way possible.
No school should be leaving K children alone on a street waiting to be picked up. If you have time, why not park your car down the street and go and stand on the street with the children? Perhaps other parents would volunteer to do the same and you could each take a day a week. Will the children still be sitting outside at pick up time just the same when the bad weather of winter comes?
But any school should be warm and welcoming to its parents - especially new parents and parents of K children - but sadly not every school is. As this is a large school, it may be fairly consumed with just getting up and running every day and managing amidst the chaos. Or it may be just the beginning of the year tension and chaos and that tapers off and fairly quickly.
And sometimes underneath the seeming chaos is some order but I agree with you - I'd Much prefer to walk my K child to the class. Is there a PTA? Or some Home/School organization? These are good topics to bring to those organizations and their meetings if they'll let you talk about issues other than fundraising. Even if they don't - do you know any other parents at this school? Some with children who've been through the Kindergarten?
They might have some insight and advice for how the year has gone for their child even with 26+ children in the room. They might be of some comfort to you or they might confirm your concerns and then at least you know it's not you - it's the school - and you'll be on guard to help your child through it in any way possible.
No school should be leaving K children alone on a street waiting to be picked up. If you have time, why not park your car down the street and go and stand on the street with the children? Perhaps other parents would volunteer to do the same and you could each take a day a week. Will the children still be sitting outside at pick up time just the same when the bad weather of winter comes?
I thank you guys for taking the time to reply. It is just so hard to see her off to school. I know that she is doing okay, I am still struggling with it. I would like to be more involved with her schooling, but I have a little one at home and, of course, I can't bring her to the school with me. I know that I need to give everything some time. It is great to see that I have a place that I can come to and get some tips from other parents. Thanks!!
Hi nikkijb, my son to started kinder last week and it was so fun and exciting. He was a little nervous but he did great. Magnetmom explained it good about the drop off schools don't like parents walking around and guess what after awhile the kids will be like see ya and out they go. On the third day of school (ny older son goes to the same school) I asked my older son to walk his brother to his class door and you know what my 5 yr old replied with, "Mom I know where my class is by myself." I just smiled and said okay show me he got off the car and walked stright by the door waving bye to me. It was one of those moments I'll always remember. Here is a suggestion why don't you get involved in the PTA, you could share your opinions and concerns about things. You could also be a parent volunteer. help in class on a regular basis that whay you'll know exactly what your child is learning and feel more comfortable about your child being in school.
Thanks for your reply. I guess after having worked for so many years in different schools, I just am not liking this one. I feel that I should have researched better than what I did. However, I went with what the school told me. Turns out last years class sizes were a lot smaller than this years. Also, my daughter is special needs (speech). When it came up in discussion with the teacher, she was almost rude about it. She said "Oh she is one of those kids." Then she told me someone will pull her out of class in the next few days. I just felt like that was so cold and inconsiderat of my feelings. I am currently thinking about finding a different place for her to attend, but am not sure what I should do. Thanks!
Hi nikkijb, and welcome to GreatSchools Parent Community.
As a mom with two kids well beyond kindergarten, I can safely say a lot of what you're seeing comes with a little perspective.
Many schools do expect parents to drop off at the front gate, so there aren't a bunch of strangers wandering around campus. In addition, I've seen far too many parents exacerbate separation anxiety by hanging around too long.
The K-5 being 900 is on the large size, but there are larger schools. It means there will be more options for your daughter to have different types of teachers each grade and more specialists and resources, since funding is based on per pupil.
Class size is something we're all grappling with in this budget crisis, and honestly when my son was in kindergarten, it was 30:1. Often after a few weeks, they'll allow parents to start volunteering in the kindergarten classroom, and that will bring the ratio down to as little as 10:1 with the teacher taking one group, and each parent volunteer working with a small group.
Usually, the school event in the fall is called "Back To School Night" and it is a parents only event where curriculum matters are discussed. Every school I've had my kids in since 1995 has had that policy. The less formal "Open House" is in the spring, and that's when kids show their work and celebrate what they've learned.
Early in the year (especially in the first week or so), things can seem a little disorganized or chaotic. If you approached the staff and seemed at all critical, that might have been the coolness you felt. Things will settle down, and hopefully you'll see some method to their madness. Often the parent of a classmate with an older sibling can help you understand the school's way of thinking.
Congratulations on reaching the kindergarten milestone, and good luck with the rest of the year!
As a mom with two kids well beyond kindergarten, I can safely say a lot of what you're seeing comes with a little perspective.
Many schools do expect parents to drop off at the front gate, so there aren't a bunch of strangers wandering around campus. In addition, I've seen far too many parents exacerbate separation anxiety by hanging around too long.
The K-5 being 900 is on the large size, but there are larger schools. It means there will be more options for your daughter to have different types of teachers each grade and more specialists and resources, since funding is based on per pupil.
Class size is something we're all grappling with in this budget crisis, and honestly when my son was in kindergarten, it was 30:1. Often after a few weeks, they'll allow parents to start volunteering in the kindergarten classroom, and that will bring the ratio down to as little as 10:1 with the teacher taking one group, and each parent volunteer working with a small group.
Usually, the school event in the fall is called "Back To School Night" and it is a parents only event where curriculum matters are discussed. Every school I've had my kids in since 1995 has had that policy. The less formal "Open House" is in the spring, and that's when kids show their work and celebrate what they've learned.
Early in the year (especially in the first week or so), things can seem a little disorganized or chaotic. If you approached the staff and seemed at all critical, that might have been the coolness you felt. Things will settle down, and hopefully you'll see some method to their madness. Often the parent of a classmate with an older sibling can help you understand the school's way of thinking.
Congratulations on reaching the kindergarten milestone, and good luck with the rest of the year!
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