My DD is going to MCPS K in the fall - what to expect?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She will likely get about 30minutes outside when the weather is dry and not below freezing. When she is inside she may be doubled up with another class watching a movie. She willl likely get each special 1x per week.PE,Art, Music. If she is used to rpeschool, she will be fine.

They watch movies in kindergarten?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our kindergarten orientation did not include any assessment of the kids. The kids did get to explore a classroom and play with some things while parents could ask questions of the teachers.

That's interesting. I wonder why the difference. Our orientation was more like the other poster's description. The kids go off with the teachers to do several activities (with which they can evaluate them) and the parents went to another room to complete the registration paperwork.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely to movies..and not just during indoor recess. Think magic school bus and other quasi educational resources. Indoor recess..anything rated G is fair game. Kids might even bring something in..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our kindergarten orientation did not include any assessment of the kids. The kids did get to explore a classroom and play with some things while parents could ask questions of the teachers.

That's interesting. I wonder why the difference. Our orientation was more like the other poster's description. The kids go off with the teachers to do several activities (with which they can evaluate them) and the parents went to another room to complete the registration paperwork.

I'm the first poster here (no assessment of the kids). Did you have to make an appointment for a particular time? At our school, you could come anytime during certain hours, so it would be hard to have set activities with the teachers. My guess is that it's up to the principal and kindergarten teachers how they want to handle orientation and class assignments.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I am surprised how different all the Ks are around MCPS.

We are in Rockville. We did have assessments at Orientation and a snack. They read to the group as a whole and did an activity. Parents were invited to stay and watch all of it or go to the library and fill out paperwork.

Once school starts:
Outside every day (even in the cold - just wear a coat)
Library once every other week
Art, Music, PE once/week.

[Anonymous]

OP,
When you arrive during the time range, they get your info and call you back when ready, like at the dr. Atleast, at my school they did. Each k teacher had a group of 4-5 that they rated on a clipboard in 5 areas. While the kid is back there for the 15 minutes or so, parents could tour through the other open classrooms and get paperwork. At a friend's school, the parents could go in an observe, but at ours they waited outside.

At one kindergarten we attended, they watched a rated G movie everytime there was indoor recess. At a different kindergarten we attended, there was just free play time in the classroom, and unfortunately the teacher didn't get the break/planning time they otherwise would have gotten since they opted to keep the kids in their own class rather than mess up the other classrooms.

One thing that also varies by kindergarten is snacktime. Sometimes there's no snacktime. Sometimes each kid brings a snack daily. Sometimes a parent provides a snack for the whole class once every so often.
Another thing that varies is homework. Some have a daily thing, some have very minimal/one weekly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She will likely get about 30minutes outside when the weather is dry and not below freezing. When she is inside she may be doubled up with another class watching a movie. She willl likely get each special 1x per week.PE,Art, Music. If she is used to rpeschool, she will be fine.

They watch movies in kindergarten?

Yes. Some science related ones (about animals). Some book related ones (Dr. Seuss). And sometimes just straight up fun movies - Polar Express, Finding Nemo, mostly Disney stuff).

Some during class time, some as a 'treat', some for indoor recess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our kindergarten orientation did not include any assessment of the kids. The kids did get to explore a classroom and play with some things while parents could ask questions of the teachers.

That's interesting. I wonder why the difference. Our orientation was more like the other poster's description. The kids go off with the teachers to do several activities (with which they can evaluate them) and the parents went to another room to complete the registration paperwork.

I'm the first poster here (no assessment of the kids). Did you have to make an appointment for a particular time? At our school, you could come anytime during certain hours, so it would be hard to have set activities with the teachers. My guess is that it's up to the principal and kindergarten teachers how they want to handle orientation and class assignments.

I'm the other PP whose DD had an 'assessment' at orientation. They did have you make an appointment. Parents went into another room.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for all the helpful replies! We will be at Lakewood if that makes any difference to anyone in terms of your responses.

[Anonymous]

Movies/tv in elementary is awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Movies/tv in elementary is awful.

I agree, but what can you do?

[Anonymous]

Why can't the kids go to the gym during bad weather. K students need to let off steam on an already too long of a school day. I can not believe they just plop them in front of a tv screen. That really makes me sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can't the kids go to the gym during bad weather. K students need to let off steam on an already too long of a school day. I can not believe they just plop them in front of a tv screen. That really makes me sad.

Because

1. There might be a PE class in the gym, having PE.
2. It might not be possible to fit the entire group of recess-having kids in the gym.

At my kid's school, they do occasionally get to go to the gym during indoor recess, and everybody is always happy about that. But they can't do it routinely, because there isn't enough room in the gym.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PE only uses the gym. They never take the kids outside. It is 25min and ridiculous. It is about skills. They never play the fun games we did as kids.

I agree with most of this.

A few things are different at our school.

My DD does get a snack around 10:30. Parents donate Goldfish or graham crackers usually.

Recess is only 20 minutes at our school (someone else said 30?).

Agree that you should volunteer at least once a month. Even just one morning a month making copies for the teacher or whatever. You'll get to meet the kids your child sees every day and understand the school day do much better.

And agree that a sitter after school is a better option for K kids than aftercare. Our aftercare is good, but it's a long day with too much structure for a five or six year old. And there are definitely some kids that ate tough to handle. The 'difficult' kids don't get kicked out because the parents are paying (and it's a business!). Aftercare is a better option after K.

Disagree with this. I think the awesome afterschool care programs are better suited for the younger kids, K-3. For 4th and 5th, I think it it better to get the kids sitters since they have more homework and more diverse interests. IMO, that is.

[Anonymous]

Our kindergarten has snacks. I havent heard about movies for kinder indoor recess, but definitely in my older child's class. There are a lot of kindergarteners in the aftercare this year and my daughter loves it. The staff makes all the difference, and there was a change in staff this year, which was a huge improvement. My daughter did not read at all when she entered kindergarten, and is reading and writing like a champ now. Based on that, I'm pretty happy with the academics so far. Her teacher seems to be a bit disorganized, but makes up for it in other ways. Class has 24 kids.