PK3 - still adjusting and hates school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teaching sight words in a 3s class is indicative that this preschool does not know the current research in early childhood education. This is NOT age-appropriate. Your child is telling you in her own way that she is stressed out and not having fun. Children should be learning through play at this age, not with worksheets and flash cards.

Yeah I thought that was weird too.

[Anonymous]

My 2 cents. The things that helped us were
1) preparing her. Tell her the night before, we are going to wake up , get dressed and go to school. etc. On the day of - we are going to get into the car, say goodbye and go to school.
2) Daniel Tigers- Grown-Ups come back episode. The school seemed like a big scary place, and we would sing this song and remind her that we'll come back to pick her up.
3) Having a fun bye ritual. We did high five and said some rhyming lines and they came up together.
4) Going to a park right after school. We would drive to our neighborhood park, play for a little bit and then go home. It isn't possible for everyone all the time, but it just gave her something positive to look forward to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching sight words in a 3s class is indicative that this preschool does not know the current research in early childhood education. This is NOT age-appropriate. Your child is telling you in her own way that she is stressed out and not having fun. Children should be learning through play at this age, not with worksheets and flash cards.

Yeah I thought that was weird too.

OP said the daycare center, not the current preschool, taught her daughter sight words. The current preschool teacher said they don't do sight words in PK3, which according to you PPs, is developmentally appropriate.

OP: I'd probably give it more time. But if this is your IB school that you can go back to any time, then no harm in putting her back in the center. If you lotteried into this DCPS OOB and you think it would be a good fit moving forward, then I'd give it more time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 2 cents. The things that helped us were
1) preparing her. Tell her the night before, we are going to wake up , get dressed and go to school. etc. On the day of - we are going to get into the car, say goodbye and go to school.
2) Daniel Tigers- Grown-Ups come back episode. The school seemed like a big scary place, and we would sing this song and remind her that we'll come back to pick her up.
3) Having a fun bye ritual. We did high five and said some rhyming lines and they came up together.
4) Going to a park right after school. We would drive to our neighborhood park, play for a little bit and then go home. It isn't possible for everyone all the time, but it just gave her something positive to look forward to.

We were singing this all last week to our PK3 guy! He had a rough week of drop offs last week, but somehow his attitude has turned around completely this week. However, it does seem different than the issues OP is having (cause I think he was always fine at school once he settled down, but it was the initial drop off that was the issue - and it seems like OP's kiddo may be having more issues with the classroom / teacher / school).

I think the advice of trying to sit in on the classroom and talk to the teacher a little bit more could be helpful. If you're getting bad vibes or feeling like it's not the right fit when you go in there for a more extended period of time, maybe it makes sense to go back to daycare, or do a post-lottery application to a nearby school with a short waitlist, or perhaps request a move to a different classroom if the issue is with the teacher vs. style of school?

Our daughter started at a school back in PK3 that was ok (not great) for her, and then we got off the waitlist in October for a school that ended up being a better fit. But in her original school, there were other kids in the classroom that it just was not going well at all (things that my daughter could deal with they were having more trouble with), and a lot of that was due to the teacher just not being suited to teach 3 year olds (no patience, harsh tones, etc).

[Anonymous]

Another idea - would before care help?

It may sound counter intuitive to bring your kid earlier, but it actually really helped us. Similarly, my DC was in daycare and seemed fine and yet had a really hard transition to PK3. One difference we realized was that because our day care had staggered drop offs (based on parents' personal schedules) she was frequently going in by herself and it was usually very calm. Drop off for PK3, however, was at the same time as all the other kids and was well-managed chaos, but still chaos. We are lucky and have a well-run before care program at our school, and it had space. We dropped her off about 15 before the doors opened for her class, and it was a much quieter and calmer drop-off, which seemed to really really help. Bonus - we could get to work sooner (about a half hour sooner, because we gained an extra 15 when we eliminated the crying portion of drop-off) which meant we could leave work sooner and spend more time together in the afternoon (which probably also helped). I realize these privileges aren't available to everyone (e.g., space in before care, flexibility in work schedules, etc), but it might work for you.

[Anonymous]

Just chiming in to say that I think the suggestions are helpful and good luck, OP! I'm sorry it's been so rough.

[Anonymous]

Does your DD realize that her friends have also left her old center (assuming they have)? My DD was originally asking to go back to her old Montessori pre-school (she is a very early Oct birthday and was ready for school, so we essentially had her do PK3 first), but then was cool w/ her DCPS PK3 once she realized most of her Montessori friends had also moved on to other schools. We promised her a few weekend playdates at the beginning w/ her old friends doing super fun things and that seemed to help.

[Anonymous]

^^ Sorry, should say PK3 twice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 2 cents. The things that helped us were
1) preparing her. Tell her the night before, we are going to wake up , get dressed and go to school. etc. On the day of - we are going to get into the car, say goodbye and go to school.
2) Daniel Tigers- Grown-Ups come back episode. The school seemed like a big scary place, and we would sing this song and remind her that we'll come back to pick her up.
3) Having a fun bye ritual. We did high five and said some rhyming lines and they came up together.
4) Going to a park right after school. We would drive to our neighborhood park, play for a little bit and then go home. It isn't possible for everyone all the time, but it just gave her something positive to look forward to.

We were singing this all last week to our PK3 guy! He had a rough week of drop offs last week, but somehow his attitude has turned around completely this week. However, it does seem different than the issues OP is having (cause I think he was always fine at school once he settled down, but it was the initial drop off that was the issue - and it seems like OP's kiddo may be having more issues with the classroom / teacher / school).

I think the advice of trying to sit in on the classroom and talk to the teacher a little bit more could be helpful. If you're getting bad vibes or feeling like it's not the right fit when you go in there for a more extended period of time, maybe it makes sense to go back to daycare, or do a post-lottery application to a nearby school with a short waitlist, or perhaps request a move to a different classroom if the issue is with the teacher vs. style of school?

Our daughter started at a school back in PK3 that was ok (not great) for her, and then we got off the waitlist in October for a school that ended up being a better fit. But in her original school, there were other kids in the classroom that it just was not going well at all (things that my daughter could deal with they were having more trouble with), and a lot of that was due to the teacher just not being suited to teach 3 year olds (no patience, harsh tones, etc).

+1. Really hard to get an idea of what is going on in classroom based on reports from a 3 year old.

[Anonymous]

My DD was the same way. You have gotten really good suggestions. For us, it all turned around after Christmas break. Wishing you the best OP...it is heartbreaking all the while frustrating when they are adjusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching sight words in a 3s class is indicative that this preschool does not know the current research in early childhood education. This is NOT age-appropriate. Your child is telling you in her own way that she is stressed out and not having fun. Children should be learning through play at this age, not with worksheets and flash cards.

Yeah I thought that was weird too.

OP said the daycare center, not the current preschool, taught her daughter sight words. The current preschool teacher said they don't do sight words in PK3, which according to you PPs, is developmentally appropriate.

OP: I'd probably give it more time. But if this is your IB school that you can go back to any time, then no harm in putting her back in the center. If you lotteried into this DCPS OOB and you think it would be a good fit moving forward, then I'd give it more time.

You can not just "go back any time" for Prk 3 or Prk 4 even if it is your IB, even if it is early action. (Obviously you can not if it is your out of bound either.) Prk3&4 are not right to attend and you Must lottery for them (even if they are Title 1/Early Action). If OP leaves they may or may not get a spot after the new year or next year for Prk4. They will get a spot IF they lottery and it is early action. You can go back to your IB at anytime after Kindergarten!

[Anonymous]

Grown ups come back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there's nothing wrong with sending her back to the place she was comfortable as long as they are "teaching" to her level.

+1. She's three years old OP! She is obviously too young for this. Try again next year.

Her birthday is in October so she will be 4 pretty soon. I don’t think it’s the age at this point and really think she doesn’t connect with the school/teacher. In fact it was more rigorous learning at her center.

Our daughter too. She’s been at a center and had a Pk-3 program there. Is fighting tooth and nail. It’s just not what’s she is used to.

[Anonymous]

Is she in aftercare? I thought my daycare kid would be fine in school & aftercare, but she was a mess. Once I was able to stop using aftercare she did a lot better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teaching sight words in a 3s class is indicative that this preschool does not know the current research in early childhood education. This is NOT age-appropriate. Your child is telling you in her own way that she is stressed out and not having fun. Children should be learning through play at this age, not with worksheets and flash cards.

Ha! The center that the girl lived was teaching her sight words. The new preschool that she hates said they don’t do that.