Should I say something to my son's first grade teacher?

[Anonymous]

Or is just how is always going to be?
He is already complaining that all day long they just "sit, sit, and sit. We get up to go to recess. Come back and sit, sit, sit."
*sigh*

[Anonymous]

Give it time. If you complain now, you will automatically labeled a pain in the ass, and will lose leverage for when/if you need to compain about something serious. I public schools, in first grade, there is more sitting. It is a big transition. It is what it is. Good luck. Give it a chance, imo.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to public school! My son is in the first grade too and he started hating school and saying how boring it is around XMAS in K. 20 mins of recess isn't enough but that's all they get. First grade is much different from K in that they are expected to sit, listen and work for longer periods of time. There aren't any centers anymore. If you talk to the teacher, what do you expect her to do?

[Anonymous]

I think it is boring in the beginning becasue they are alot of assessments which take the teachers attention. Hopefully it will improve. Perhaps s/he can explore the classroom library? My school does centers through 2nd grade..though probably not starting the first week.

[Anonymous]

Thank god for private school, thank god for private school, thank...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank god for private school, thank god for private school, thank...

If I had the money I would not hesitate for a minute with my school choice. It would surely be private.

Wasn't it our Board of Education member Pat O'Neill who called parents who speak up for their children PIAs? We have a peculiar organizational culture in our public school system. Parents who express concerns are being immediately called names.

[Anonymous]

You could talk to the teacher but there isn't much she can do. I teach first grade and my students are only allowed 20 minutes of recess per day. Unfortunately, our schedule is not something we have control over. We are given our schedules by the admin. We also have our specials at the end of the day too At the beginning of the year, I teach a lot of rules and routines as well as activities for the students to get to know each other (and for me to get to know them). I do try my best to get the kids up and moving around within the classroom but there is only so much room. I have 24 students.

[Anonymous]

The schools are too crowded for any class to go outside > 20 min per day! All these worksheets are useless IMO.

[Anonymous]

Homeschooling, baby.

[Anonymous]

I would ignore the PIA aspect of it. If an issue impacrs your child, you do have the right to raise it.

HOWEVER.....think about what you hope to achieve by saying something to the teacher.

If the curriculum and administration dictate the schedule, I am not sure what you expect the teacher to do.

Honestly, we went through the same thing with my DS in 1st grade. He came from a "free-range" private K into MCPS 1st grade. Sad to say, but he just had to adjust.

And beware, some of the private schools are just as "restrictive" as the publics. My other DS went to a private school from K-2 and it was like a prision some days....so do your research there also.

[Anonymous]

Not sure what school the kid is in but when I helped in my kids 1st grade public all I wanted was for them to sit for 5 min but they go and go, maybe it is yoru kid?????

[Anonymous]

Look at their schedule. Chances are, there is a 90+ minute reading block during the day as well as an hour for math. Some schools also have science or social studies for 30 mins or so. So, yes, there is a lot of sitting in first grade. If you want something else, you are going to have to find a private school. Many tend to have less time for reading mostly b/c they hand pick their students.

[Anonymous]

I would wager that the first few days of school ARE "sit, sit, sit." There was probably a welcome back assembly, plus the teacher going over rules and procedures, explaining the routine, not to metnion drills for shelter/lockdown, which involve lots of sitting, being quiet, and listening to directions. Once everyone gets in a groove and the students can function independently around the classroom (move in centers, find "finished work" activities, etc.) there will be more movement. Plus, they probably didn't have any specials yet, so no PE, music or art.

Doesn't sound like a private vs. public school thing. It's been two days. If he's still complaining at the end of September, maybe it's worth bringing up.

[Anonymous]

First grade is the first "real school" grade. The only centers I've heard of in first grade are if you finish your seat work early, you can go to a literacy center. First grade is a lot different from K. It is probably a bigger change from K to 1 than it was from preschool to K. Specials start the first week at most schools. In teaching contracts, teachers are given a certain amount on non-student planning time each day. That occurs when the class goes to specials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could talk to the teacher but there isn't much she can do. I teach first grade and my students are only allowed 20 minutes of recess per day. Unfortunately, our schedule is not something we have control over. We are given our schedules by the admin. We also have our specials at the end of the day too At the beginning of the year, I teach a lot of rules and routines as well as activities for the students to get to know each other (and for me to get to know them). I do try my best to get the kids up and moving around within the classroom but there is only so much room. I have 24 students.

Are you my daughter's teacher? You pretty much described her class/teacher to a tee.