Expectations for kindergarten classroom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Thanks everybody, and hopefully there will be more replies also. Back to school night is tomorrow and I'm thinking of bringing up the lollipop thing as it is an issue for us. The other stuff I will wait a bit but I am interested in knowing if it typically happens elsewhere. I know DD can be an unreliable narrator but she was able to show me one of the videos on You Tube (a kids dance thing) and after preschool she's very familiar with how a classroom runs, for example her preschool classroom also had a workstation for the teachers to do email work.

I have heard really great things about this school and I want it to work out. That said, we have been thinking about moving houses in the spring (could be in school zone or out), and private school is a possibility also, so I am interested in knowing whether this is how FCPS classrooms are run.

Op we were in FCPS we switched to N Arlington. One of my kids was in ore school there for special needs. I was not very happy with it and the bus ride was long. I do think that APS ate better than FCPS specially for ES.

Also my kid teacher used to give him m&me for reward. When I emailed her about it, she got offended.

[Anonymous]

You should have very low expectations.

Our child missed the cut off date for FCPS and did kindergarden 2x. Once at montessori, once at FCPS.

They expect zero knowledge for kindergarden.

No stroke order taught for letters and numbers in kindergarden. Math education was sequences, no actual arthimetic until the last month of the year. Work sheets were, sub par.

First grade so far has been a joke. Today my kid learned..... how to read and write the letters A and C. He is bored out of his mind.

He actually learns stuff at weekend chinese school, but the vaunted FCPS schools are a complete and utter joke by my standards.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should have very low expectations.

Our child missed the cut off date for FCPS and did kindergarden 2x. Once at montessori, once at FCPS.

They expect zero knowledge for kindergarden.

No stroke order taught for letters and numbers in kindergarden. Math education was sequences, no actual arthimetic until the last month of the year. Work sheets were, sub par.

First grade so far has been a joke. Today my kid learned..... how to read and write the letters A and C. He is bored out of his mind.

He actually learns stuff at weekend chinese school, but the vaunted FCPS schools are a complete and utter joke by my standards.

Your child spent a year in kindergarten and you still don't know how to spell it?
Also, Chinese should be capitalized.

Maybe, just maybe, first grade is not a joke. This is the first week. It is normal to expect some repetition. This is one way teachers evaluates what a child needs to learn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the kids dance thing -was it Go Noodle? Those are very popular for movement breaks. With the smartboards, it is very easy for the teacher to play a 5 minute dance video or several throughout the day.

The only thing you mentioned that would give me any pause would be the behavior chart as those are NOT best practices and NOT part of responsive classroom, which I thought all FCPS ESes had implemented.

I too was thinking Go Noodle or something like that.

[Anonymous]

Former K teacher, here, and yes, that sounds (unfortunately) pretty typical. They are likely doing lots of PALS testing and entering data, and trying to control behavior of children who have never been in school before, and maybe watching a Spanish video while the teacher takes a breath.

You can see why I'm a FORMER K teacher. Will probably do private K for my DS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should have very low expectations.

Our child missed the cut off date for FCPS and did kindergarden 2x. Once at montessori, once at FCPS.

They expect zero knowledge for kindergarden.

No stroke order taught for letters and numbers in kindergarden. Math education was sequences, no actual arthimetic until the last month of the year. Work sheets were, sub par.

First grade so far has been a joke. Today my kid learned..... how to read and write the letters A and C. He is bored out of his mind.

He actually learns stuff at weekend chinese school, but the vaunted FCPS schools are a complete and utter joke by my standards.

Your child spent a year in kindergarten and you still don't know how to spell it?
Also, Chinese should be capitalized.

Maybe, just maybe, first grade is not a joke. This is the first week. It is normal to expect some repetition. This is one way teachers evaluates what a child needs to learn.

This is the second week, they're doing 2 letters a day, and started this on tuesday. The first week... they colored and did a connecting the dots. My kid complains every day about this stuff. His "math" is learning single digit numbers, not even sequencing that they did last year.

He did sunshine academy over the summer. They did a placement test the first day! Then they put kids in different groups and started on actual arthimatic, wordly wise and 40 vocab/spelling words a day.

I'm not expecting the same level out of first grade that highly motivated kids, or their parents, are going to go for during a summer program, but I wasn't expecting this either. So yes, by my standards let alone montesorri standards, this is a joke.

My wife and I aren't products of the US k-12 system, which is why we send our kids to chinese school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This is the second week, they're doing 2 letters a day, and started this on tuesday. The first week... they colored and did a connecting the dots. My kid complains every day about this stuff. His "math" is learning single digit numbers, not even sequencing that they did last year.

He did sunshine academy over the summer. They did a placement test the first day! Then they put kids in different groups and started on actual arthimatic, wordly wise and 40 vocab/spelling words a day.

I'm not expecting the same level out of first grade that highly motivated kids, or their parents, are going to go for during a summer program, but I wasn't expecting this either. So yes, by my standards let alone montesorri standards, this is a joke.

My wife and I aren't products of the US k-12 system, which is why we send our kids to chinese school.

DP. In many US schools, including FCPS schools, things really ramp up in either 3rd or 4th grade. Before that is a lot of treading water while the kids who are behind are caught up. This is also true of many private schools. Montessori is a bit different, in that it shines the most in the earliest years.

IOW, be patient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should have very low expectations.

Our child missed the cut off date for FCPS and did kindergarden 2x. Once at montessori, once at FCPS.

They expect zero knowledge for kindergarden.

No stroke order taught for letters and numbers in kindergarden. Math education was sequences, no actual arthimetic until the last month of the year. Work sheets were, sub par.

First grade so far has been a joke. Today my kid learned..... how to read and write the letters A and C. He is bored out of his mind.

He actually learns stuff at weekend chinese school, but the vaunted FCPS schools are a complete and utter joke by my standards.

Your child spent a year in kindergarten and you still don't know how to spell it?
Also, Chinese should be capitalized.

Maybe, just maybe, first grade is not a joke. This is the first week. It is normal to expect some repetition. This is one way teachers evaluates what a child needs to learn.

This is the second week, they're doing 2 letters a day, and started this on tuesday. The first week... they colored and did a connecting the dots. My kid complains every day about this stuff. His "math" is learning single digit numbers, not even sequencing that they did last year.

He did sunshine academy over the summer. They did a placement test the first day! Then they put kids in different groups and started on actual arthimatic, wordly wise and 40 vocab/spelling words a day.

I'm not expecting the same level out of first grade that highly motivated kids, or their parents, are going to go for during a summer program, but I wasn't expecting this either. So yes, by my standards let alone montesorri standards, this is a joke.

My wife and I aren't products of the US k-12 system, which is why we send our kids to chinese school.

Not everyone did Sunshine Academy over the summer.

[Anonymous]

Ugh, those test prep factories like Sunshine Academy are so, so sad.

[Anonymous]

So you pay for "academic" memorization summer camps and Chinese school to jump your kid ahead of everyone else, and then complain that....your kid is ahead of everyone else? Its public school, dude.

[Anonymous]

My kids loved that Go Noodle. They would look it up online to watch more at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should have very low expectations.

Our child missed the cut off date for FCPS and did kindergarden 2x. Once at montessori, once at FCPS.

They expect zero knowledge for kindergarden.

No stroke order taught for letters and numbers in kindergarden. Math education was sequences, no actual arthimetic until the last month of the year. Work sheets were, sub par.

First grade so far has been a joke. Today my kid learned..... how to read and write the letters A and C. He is bored out of his mind.

He actually learns stuff at weekend chinese school, but the vaunted FCPS schools are a complete and utter joke by my standards.

Your child spent a year in kindergarten and you still don't know how to spell it?
Also, Chinese should be capitalized.

Maybe, just maybe, first grade is not a joke. This is the first week. It is normal to expect some repetition. This is one way teachers evaluates what a child needs to learn.

This is the second week, they're doing 2 letters a day, and started this on tuesday. The first week... they colored and did a connecting the dots. My kid complains every day about this stuff. His "math" is learning single digit numbers, not even sequencing that they did last year.

He did sunshine academy over the summer. They did a placement test the first day! Then they put kids in different groups and started on actual arthimatic, wordly wise and 40 vocab/spelling words a day.

I'm not expecting the same level out of first grade that highly motivated kids, or their parents, are going to go for during a summer program, but I wasn't expecting this either. So yes, by my standards let alone montesorri standards, this is a joke.

My wife and I aren't products of the US k-12 system, which is why we send our kids to chinese school.

Sounds like you should look into private or homeschool, because public school is never going to satisfy you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh, those test prep factories like Sunshine Academy are so, so sad.

I welcome immigrants. But, when you come here, you should think about the fact that you chose to enter the system that has created our great country. And, please think about what you are getting. If you prefer the Chinese system and expect our system to be like that--then why are you here? That does not mean you are not allowed to make suggestions and encourage change. However, it also means that you should be a little more understanding and tolerant of the ways that are already established.

For what it is worth, the teacher is very likely still evaluating the kids and developing strategies to move forward that will benefit every child. In the American system it is very important that every child get a good education. Critical thinking skills are very important in our system --more than rote learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids loved that Go Noodle. They would look it up online to watch more at home.

Lol. Teacher here. I sing the songs in my head all of the time.

[Anonymous]

My kids watch a video every day too. Its the morning message/announcements. Its lasts 5 mins. I did find the K class lacking when DS was in K. FCPS, or at least my kids' school seems to love mediocrity and not challenging the kids.