MoCo K - Typical Schedule?

[Anonymous]

MoCo K parents (or moms of kids that have gone thru it recently) - what's your Kindergartener's typical schedule at school? A friend in Fairfax county told me that her K gets rest time. My DC does not get any rest time, very limited "play" time outside of recess and essentially the whole day is academic except for the Special class of the day such as PE/Music/Art/Library. Is this normal? Is this just the school? Are there really big differences between MoCo and Fairfax for the young ages?

[Anonymous]

That's pretty much what my kids did at MCPS kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Our moco k class now has "brain break" time which I think is great! The teacher explained it as basically extra recess where they can actually teach social skills. I just love that they are getting two recesses a day- much needed for these young kids.

[Anonymous]

21:45 - that would be awesome and I think is very needed. Are you eastern down-county? I understand our school sweats catching up msot of the kids at the school and they seem to have pretty strong test scores for the population they ahve to work with - but DC's schedule would exhaust ME, let alone a room of 5 year olds.

[Anonymous]

9:00-9:15 Breakfast (all students are given free breakfast because we're Title 1 and a 'breakfast' school, no matter the income- I feed my child before home, but they snack a bit on the school breakfast when its appealing. They don't have to eat it.)
9:15-11:10 Shared Reading/Guided Reading/Centers
11:10-11:45 Writing/Handwriting
11:45-12:10 Science/Social Studies
12:10-1:10 RECESS OUTSIDE with 2nd graders , then lunch from 12:40-1:10
1:15-1:55 Specials (PE, Music, Computer lab, Library, Art) (although this isn't necessarily free time, its imaginative and has moments where kids can do their own thing within guided direction)
2:00-3:15 Math
3:20-3:25- Pickup/Dismissal

[Anonymous]

I'm pp with brain break. The school is Beverly Farms. It doesn't generally have to worry about test sores, but I wish the county would wake-up and realize that 5 year olds still need play regardless of where they are in the county!

[Anonymous]

K last year in MCPS. No nap, no snack allowed when offered by parents, center time which was semi-play, PE once a week, and a short recess on days they got to go outside when it wasn't too hot, too cold, or a slight drizzle. We can't afford private otherwise we'd bail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:K last year in MCPS. No nap, no snack allowed when offered by parents, center time which was semi-play, PE once a week, and a short recess on days they got to go outside when it wasn't too hot, too cold, or a slight drizzle. We can't afford private otherwise we'd bail.

Mine is in private and the schedule is even more rigorous than MCPS. And, it is typical of what I saw when I toured schools. So, long academic days are not just a MCPS thing.

[Anonymous]

Title I school in Silver Spring

8:40: kids come into classroom, have breakfast, turn in folders, do morning work
9:00: start of the day, morning meeting, calendar, etc
Whole group reading/reading groups/centers (not sure about times for all of these)
Special--45 minutes
11:00 recess, 11:30 lunch
12-12:45: writing
science/social studies
1:40-2:00: outdoor play ("social emotional learning")
2-3: math
3:00: dismissal

No nap/rest time. The outdoor play/2nd recess is new for K this year.

A few years ago, my older kid was in K at the same school and they had lunch at 1, so there was a mid-morning snack that parents took turns providing for the whole class (granola bar, etc).

[Anonymous]

9-9:15 morning work
9:15-9:30 morning meeting
9:30-11:15 literacy block
11:15-11:30 cleanup
11:30-12:30 lunch and recess
12:30-1:25 math
1:30-2:20 specials
2:25-3:10 centers, science, social studies
3:10-3:25 cleanup, dismissal

Not a Title I school.

In the academic blocks, like literacy and math, the kids are NOT sitting at their desks doing worksheets the whole time.

Why would children who are 5-6 need a nap? Or a snack, unless lunch is late?

[Anonymous]

^ my kid does much better with a rest at least and I remember taking one as a kid after half day K.
Re: centers not being sitting time. That is nice to know that is the case in some spots. That is not universal.

[Anonymous]

Mine is in private and the schedule is even more rigorous than MCPS. And, it is typical of what I saw when I toured schools. So, long academic days are not just a MCPS thing.

My child is in a private K and it's definitely less "rigorous" than public... we picked it over our excellent local public for exactly these reasons... they do have toys in the classroom and some unstructured time to play with them, they offer two recesses, and they have a 20 minute quiet time (and are encouraged to bring blankets from home for this, but can also listen to a story read by the teacher). The upside of this is that my son loves school and actually even seems relatively rested when he comes home... he's not the melting down puddle I thought he would be after such a long day.