Kindergartner coming home on "yellow"-thoughts?

[Anonymous]

The past few days my son has come home on "yellow" on the MontCo Green, Red, Yellow behavior management chart. The teacher has written us a note each time. It seems kind of typical boy stuff, wrestling with another boy in the classroom, not listening to the teacher, etc, but I'm not sure how to handle it. Punish at home? Review the chart? Ignore it and figure this is adjusting to Kindergarten stuff?

I emailed the teacher and she suggested reviewing the rules of school with him.

[Anonymous]

Having been through six years and two kids of green-yellow-red, with two active boys, I would say that it is the school's issue. Yellow is a warning to get their behavior under control. If your son wasn't, he'd be on red. Since he has come home several days in a row on yellow, reviewing the rules is probably a good idea, but, IMO, that's' enough. My general rule regarding punishment and school issues is this. If it has to do with failing to fulfill an obligation that needed to be taken care of at home, like doing homework, then it is a home issue and dealt with like everything else that happens at home. But, if it is purely a school issue and doesn't put my kids at risk of suspension or expulsion, then leave it to the teachers. Most "yellow" behavior is impulsive anyway, not an intentional violation of school rules and you can't punish away impulsive behavior. They just have to learn to control it in the setting and that takes time.

[Anonymous]

I have a girl, now a first grader, and last year she ended up on yellow several times in the first few weeks of school. After that she got with the program. I think yellow is pretty common early on in kindergarten as they get used to the new structure and that can be for girls, too.

[Anonymous]

I have a Kindergartener in a MoCo school and have never heard of this color scheme - is this county-wide or just specific schools?

[Anonymous]

PG schools use this as well. It's also a communication tool.

My son's in 3rd grade this year. I handle it similarly to the PP above. I always look at and note the color and encourage ending the day on green. He knows I'll know what happened.

[Anonymous]

...meant to add that he also knows I'll ask the teacher if he doesn't, uh, remember.

[Anonymous]

I think 21:11 gives good advice. I would encourage the child to do better but I wouldn't do much more than that. Our 1st grade teacher used it last year and I don't think she even sent home notes for yellow-- I would just sometimes hear about it in passing (as best I can tell she put the entire class on yellow once for not listening to her).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a Kindergartener in a MoCo school and have never heard of this color scheme - is this county-wide or just specific schools?

My MoCo K just got the info on this color scheme this week. Give it time.

[Anonymous]

My impression is that it's optional with the teacher, but many use it.

[Anonymous]

I had a boy in K last year who had some difficulties during the transition and we got several notes from his teacher (she didn't use the red/green/yellow system, so it was just reports of what he'd done.) We spent time talking about the rules and the fact that his teacher and we were in close communication. That seemed to make an impact on him - he suddenly realized that what happens at school doesn't stay at school. It took awhile, but his behavior improved greatly and he settled in and had a great year. I worried a lot, but I think this is very normal.

[Anonymous]

DS is in MoCo K, and his teacher uses a different system of hand stamps. Sent us home with a "decoder". We've woven the hand stamps into his allowance/sticker chart at home, which is goal-driven as well. He knows that earning a certain # of "good" hand stamps will go toward earning $. I know that this isn't for everyone, but our DS is really motivated by this.

DS had a miserable preschool experience, and went into K thinking he was bad at school and a problem kid. I just want him to get enough "good" stamps to know that he *can* behave well during the school day and that he can be *good* at school.

[Anonymous]

OP here-thank you for all of your responses. I do think his issues are mostly impulsive, and 7:54, my son's preschool experience wasn't great either. I like your idea of earning things at home. Maybe for each "green" day he can get a sticker and after so many stickers get something. I'll think about it.

Thank you all for your advice.

[Anonymous]

I find it interesting the your son's teacher has already implemented this program - it is only week 2 and they are still learning the rules of the classroom. Our school usually implements the program the week after Parent's Back to School so the teacher can prep the parents. However, my DS often got yellow cards for disruptive behaviour (not pushing, but boy is he a talker). Anyway, you should find out why he is getting these markers so you can address the behaviours at home. Hopefully, your DS doesn't have a teacher who doesn't do well with boys - we have one at our school and I made sure my DS did not get her for kindergarten!

[Anonymous]

2 weeks into the school year I think a lot of kids are still settling in with the classroom rules. Teacher and students alike are getting use to each other. I remember taking a tour of a MCPS Kindergarten in January. The class was quiet, the kids well behaved. Both the princpal and the teacher acknowledged that had we visited in September we would have seen a very different classroom - chaos, noise, kids doing all kinds of things. Both agreed that it wasn't until after the Christmas break that the classroom really came together. With that said if there continues to be an issue with your son you can talk with the teacher directly to get a better feel of what's going on or discuss it at the November teacher parent conferences. Perhaps a simple change of seating could help out.

[Anonymous]

Our Kindergarten teacher told us that being on yellow is ok. Yellow is about "learning" to make the right choices where as green is having made the right choices. She told us not to worry about being on yellow. It was Red and orange that were more of an issue. I'm assuming each teacher deals with this differently but I was reassured that yellow was more of a warning and a reminder that they weren't following classroom rules.