1st grade is a bad as we suspected

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh gee, a substitute teacher who thinks she’s qualified to diagnose ADHD in 6 and 7 yos, when even experts will tell you that at those ages many kids will grow out of their supposed ADHD symptoms within a year or two as they mature.

NP. I assume that she meant kids were acting like they have ADHD rather than like mature 1st graders. Hopefully many of them will settle down. Or get a diagnosis.

- parent of a kid with diagnosed ADHD who understood what OP is seeing

[Anonymous]

I'm a parent of a first grader. Yeah, it is starting to sink in how behind he is, but its not just him, its all the first graders in his (multi-age) class. He was not on screens all last year (we had childcare), but he really did not get what he needed in terms of setting him up for reading in particular.

At this point I don't know if how much to chalk it up to the pandemic year or not having a natural affinity for reading or if there's a larger problem. I guess we'll see how things go the rest of this year.

[Anonymous]

My friends daughter was recommended to repeat K and she refused. And now her daughter still doesn’t know her letter sounds or basic writing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But some are not behind at all, making the gap huge. I feel badly for the ones not behind. It’s going to be a long year for them. Did some parents really do nothing for a year and a half?

Are you serious?

Why yes, some parents did nothing. Because some parents had jobs outside of their houses and left the kids home with older siblings. That's just one mind blowing scenario for you. You can probably think of some more.

Virtual school was a massive fail for this age group. Kids this age who learned anything doing virtual school had a live human with them helping them. And that was a privilege many people didn't have.

[Anonymous]

I honestly think all 1st graders should have repeated K. The school closures were very very hard on my child, but it was 2nd and 3rd, so he already knew how to read and write and behave in a classroom. I would think back on K and almost feel panicked at the idea of what would have happened if he just ... didn't have Kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Thank you. This is a good warning to parents, so their kids don't end up becoming a substitute teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a regular sub (3-4 days every week) at our local elementary school. Today was my first time in 1st grade this year. WOW. Academically and behaviorally I can honestly say this class was more behind than any other class. Honestly, the kindergarteners were better behaved. A lot of undiagnosed ADHD. And academically some of them are so behind they should be repeating K. Some of them literally don’t know what sounds letters make or how to use a pencil to do basic writing.

We discussed all last year how bad this would be but I secretly hoped we’d be pleasantly surprised. It was bad and I fear it will take years and years (if ever) for some of these kids to catch up.

WTAF.

Pro-tip, sweetie. If you see behavior problems everywhere, you're the common denominator. But thanks for the medical diagnosis. What are your credentials?

(p.s., they are SIX years old).

Interesting I’ve been in every other grade this year (including K) and none behaved anywhere near this badly. How often have you been in a classroom for an entire day dearie darling?

I haven't. I'm a clinician working in the field of ADHD.

But it's AMAZING that you're able to draw such sweeping conclusions about how bad first grade is, including making extensive diagnoses, based on your experience of a couple of days in one particular class. Maybe research the terms "outlier" and "confirmation bias" and report back. With citations, if you would.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what parents of kids this age said ALL LAST YEAR WHEN THEY WERE NOT IN SCHOOL.

Yes, I am yelling because I find this so unbelievably infuriating. And now it's wow...can you believe it. Yes. This is the most predictable outcome ever. No one gave a crap about these kids.

I am genuinely sympathetic to teachers who are now dealing with this shit show. And also, the deafening silence last year (at least in my school district) from any teachers about what this would surely do to kids this age was sad. No one speaking at the School Board meetings. No letters to the Editor. No posts on social media. No petitions. No leaked emails to the principal about how this was going to really be a problem for this particular age group. No "teacher association" (aka union) statements. Dead. Silence.

I know. Especially for the K-1st graders. I cannot believe that we didn't move heaven & earth to at least get the Ks back in school 1/2 time to learn to read and write. What a colossal failure.

[Anonymous]

I’m a first grade mom. Fortunately my kid is doing great because we hired a pod teacher and allowed play dates for socialization. But from check ins with her teacher, I’m under the impression she is now way ahead of her peers. And there have been some class-wide emails about behavior issues the teacher is asking us to address at home and I’m so grateful my child isn’t involved, but I also feel horrible for the school staff dealing with this. This group of kids really was an after thought throughout the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

2nd grade is only marginally better than first. The other grades seem less affected and surprisingly K seems more or less normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a regular sub (3-4 days every week) at our local elementary school. Today was my first time in 1st grade this year. WOW. Academically and behaviorally I can honestly say this class was more behind than any other class. Honestly, the kindergarteners were better behaved. A lot of undiagnosed ADHD. And academically some of them are so behind they should be repeating K. Some of them literally don’t know what sounds letters make or how to use a pencil to do basic writing.

We discussed all last year how bad this would be but I secretly hoped we’d be pleasantly surprised. It was bad and I fear it will take years and years (if ever) for some of these kids to catch up.

WTAF.

Pro-tip, sweetie. If you see behavior problems everywhere, you're the common denominator. But thanks for the medical diagnosis. What are your credentials?

(p.s., they are SIX years old).

Um. I am a SN mom and I get extremely annoyed at teachers diagnosing. But I am here to tell you that the pandemic created such a massive backslide in my kid that I can absolutely believe it caused ADHD or the appearance of ADHD in some kids. Hopefully they will readjust to the classroom but yeah, it was very very very bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2nd grade is only marginally better than first. The other grades seem less affected and surprisingly K seems more or less normal.

Why would that be surprising. Preschools were open all last year. Something elementary schools couldn't sort out.

Those kids are coming into K like normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a first grade mom. Fortunately my kid is doing great because we hired a pod teacher and allowed play dates for socialization. But from check ins with her teacher, I’m under the impression she is now way ahead of her peers. And there have been some class-wide emails about behavior issues the teacher is asking us to address at home and I’m so grateful my child isn’t involved, but I also feel horrible for the school staff dealing with this. This group of kids really was an after thought throughout the pandemic.

You should feel bad for your child. Her class is probably a chaotic mess and she is probably bored to death.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a regular sub (3-4 days every week) at our local elementary school. Today was my first time in 1st grade this year. WOW. Academically and behaviorally I can honestly say this class was more behind than any other class. Honestly, the kindergarteners were better behaved. A lot of undiagnosed ADHD. And academically some of them are so behind they should be repeating K. Some of them literally don’t know what sounds letters make or how to use a pencil to do basic writing.

We discussed all last year how bad this would be but I secretly hoped we’d be pleasantly surprised. It was bad and I fear it will take years and years (if ever) for some of these kids to catch up.

WTAF.

Pro-tip, sweetie. If you see behavior problems everywhere, you're the common denominator. But thanks for the medical diagnosis. What are your credentials?

(p.s., they are SIX years old).

Interesting I’ve been in every other grade this year (including K) and none behaved anywhere near this badly. How often have you been in a classroom for an entire day dearie darling?

I haven't. I'm a clinician working in the field of ADHD.

But it's AMAZING that you're able to draw such sweeping conclusions about how bad first grade is, including making extensive diagnoses, based on your experience of a couple of days in one particular class. Maybe research the terms "outlier" and "confirmation bias" and report back. With citations, if you would.

DP. Maybe it would valuable professionally for you to shadow some classrooms for a couple days. So that you can see and know with authority that OP is wrong. Or right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2nd grade is only marginally better than first. The other grades seem less affected and surprisingly K seems more or less normal.

Why would that be surprising. Preschools were open all last year. Something elementary schools couldn't sort out.

Those kids are coming into K like normal.

A lot of parents didn’t do preschool though.