My daughter is the only white girl in her grade: ask me anything

[Anonymous]

OP, how's it going this year for first grade now that your DD has been in for a few weeks?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, how's it going this year for first grade now that your DD has been in for a few weeks?

Great so far. I like her teacher. She likes her teacher. She is in class with a bunch of her friends from last year, and only one of the kids she is not fond of. First grade is much more "academic" and less play-based than kindergarten was, which she is not totally thrilled about. She comes home pretty exhausted and not really interested in doing anything else academic, so I've been working on cajoling her into things like reading at night and chores. I think mostly she would strongly prefer to sit around and watch kid TV all afternoon, and I am finding it pretty hard to argue with that since I feel the same way after a long day. We were supposed to have a playdate this weekend with some school friends, but we're not able to make it due to other commitments.

[Anonymous]

The transition to 1st can be rough. Is this her first year without nap? That made the first month hard for us in 1st. It gets easier!! Also - even though she's tired, playground time in the afternoon is helpful for re-setting (at least it was for us).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The transition to 1st can be rough. Is this her first year without nap? That made the first month hard for us in 1st. It gets easier!! Also - even though she's tired, playground time in the afternoon is helpful for re-setting (at least it was for us).

Nope. She dropped the nap when she was 3.5, which was its own set of problems at school. I think it's more that the learning in 1st is a bit more on the nose than in kindergarten. In K, they really go out of their way to frontload the spoonful of sugar with the medicine. In 1st, they are more direct that this is learning time, not play time.

[Anonymous]

she's fine is she's the only white kid. DC is a diverse and an accepting area, why are you even worrying about it? If anything, growing up in a diverse area will help her out in the long run so she won't think every person of color
is a criminal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do other kids pick on your DD because she is white?

OP already clarified that many of her DDs classmates are actually as white as she is. Main different is that they speak Spanish while being white. Go figure.

[Anonymous]

I wish we could change our collective language to say "I'm seeking a multicultural student body for my kids rather than i'm looking for a 'diverse' school" meaning I want there to be fair representative of races, ethnicities, gender and SES.

Except it's wordy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"No, I think once you go thru the process with older one, your views change. When you have only one young kid like you, your views are still naive/innocent. Don't get me wrong. I think what you are doing is great but the reality can be harsh for your DD later. "

+1 million.

Here's the deal. Every one of my friends who was enthused about their diverse school when their kids were in K were reconsidering their decision to stay by third grade, when the lack of academic intensity becomes apparent. And all but one have pulled their kids from their original schools to put them into higher performing schools.

I'm coming to this connivery late but wanted to add here that my kids are now in 6th and 8th in high poverty middle school (after K-5 in high poverty elem school) and we are VERY happy we stayed. my kids are doing great academically and have learned a lot of invaluable lessons about the world by being with kids whose lives are different. i wouldn't change it for anything!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"No, I think once you go thru the process with older one, your views change. When you have only one young kid like you, your views are still naive/innocent. Don't get me wrong. I think what you are doing is great but the reality can be harsh for your DD later. "

+1 million.

Here's the deal. Every one of my friends who was enthused about their diverse school when their kids were in K were reconsidering their decision to stay by third grade, when the lack of academic intensity becomes apparent. And all but one have pulled their kids from their original schools to put them into higher performing schools.

I'm coming to this connivery late but wanted to add here that my kids are now in 6th and 8th in high poverty middle school (after K-5 in high poverty elem school) and we are VERY happy we stayed. my kids are doing great academically and have learned a lot of invaluable lessons about the world by being with kids whose lives are different. i wouldn't change it for anything!

sorry! autocorrect... conversation not connivery! and while i am still here typing, i'll clarify that my oldest is the only white kid (there are more white kids in the 6th grade).

[Anonymous]

Why? Are you crazy?

[Anonymous]

Maybe because they are not a racist bigot?????

Try it sometime...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do other kids pick on your DD because she is white?

OP already clarified that many of her DDs classmates are actually as white as she is. Main different is that they speak Spanish while being white. Go figure.

Not again...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do other kids pick on your DD because she is white?

OP already clarified that many of her DDs classmates are actually as white as she is. Main different is that they speak Spanish while being white. Go figure.

Not again...

??

Can you not see how PP above was confused given OP's original (and already debunked) claim?

It'd make little sense for other white kids to pick on OP's DD because she's white.

Duh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do other kids pick on your DD because she is white?

OP already clarified that many of her DDs classmates are actually as white as she is. Main different is that they speak Spanish while being white. Go figure.

Not again...

??

Can you not see how PP above was confused given OP's original (and already debunked) claim?

It'd make little sense for other white kids to pick on OP's DD because she's white.

Duh.

As has been discussed earlier in this thread, OP's claim hasn't been "debunked". Not to get into this again, but most Latinos at DCPS Title 1 schools couldn't be mistaken for Caucasians even before they open their mouths to speak Spanish. Many of them will probably identify as mestizo. My kid goes to a majority Latino school as well, and definitely sticks out in terms of race. Not saying it has been a problem for us, but PP's question is still valid.

[Anonymous]

Maybe the OP should have said "the only white Anglo-Saxon."

The point is that her daughter is the only representative of a group not generally accustomed to being such a small minority.

Find it interesting or not, but let's move on.