What changes can we expect with the start of Kindergarten?

[Anonymous]

we went to the school playground for a few days before school started last year for picnic lunches and playtime, no stress, lots of giggles and excitement...it eased the trasnisiton, for sure...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The other thing that was an expected challenge for us was the fact that they didn't eat lunch until 1 pm, with no snack/break in the am. For my son who often went to before-care as well, this was just WAY too long between meals. He complained of getting headaches before recess (which came immediately before lunch) that I felt sure were due to being hungry.
I've heard some schools have a snack break in K, but not at our Mont. County school.
And then, of course, when 1 pm came, they had twice as many kids as the caf. could reasonably accommodate trying to get lunch in the 30 minutes allotted, leaving many getting lunch at 1:29 and being yelled at to EAT! HURRY! OK, need to go, lunch is over! After I witnessed it the first week, my child took his lunch every day.
Can you tell I wasn't thrilled with the whole K experience? Neither was my son.

You're all making me nervous with the lunchtime / no snacks discussion. I'm in Mo Co too. So I guess I'll plan to pack lunches?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The other big challenge for us was all the homework. I was (still am) shocked and dismayed at how much homework they received on a daily basis. My son found this VERY hard -- after that long day at school to come home and be expected to do even more school work, when he was exhausted and ready for free time. It didn't go well for us (though my son did just fine at learning and in his reports from the teacher.)

Which district is this that assigns homework in kindergarten? All of them?

Montgomery County for us. Weekly packet plus a reading bag sent home several nights a week that included reading, worksheets, sight words, journal writing. Then of course the nightly reading outside of the reading bag.
The whole 20-minutes thing was sold to us too, and complete fiction. I seriously doubt anyone actually spent a moment thinking about how long the assignments would take, and if they did, they clearly had no experience with 5-year olds.

Nightly reaDing outside of the reading bag: is that a school assignment or pleasure reading you did with your child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I heard there is homework in Arlington county for kindergarten....

20 minutes was what I heard

Not sure if that was per night or per week

Another worried mom of a rising kindergartener..

Some Arlington teachers give homework in K, some don't.

If you don't want your child doing it, just send a note to the teacher saying that your child will arrive at school with a full stomach and a good night's sleep, and you consider that appropriate homework for a kindergartner.