Kindergarten and snack time?

[Anonymous]

Do kindergarteners get a snack break at MCPS? Does it vary by school? If your school has snack time for kids in K, when is it? If your school doesn't have snack time, how does your child make it through the day??
DD is a big eater who is very used to her two snacks a day at her full-time pre-K and we're wondering how the transition will go.

[Anonymous]

Our k son in Moco gets snack in the afternoon. Lunch is at 11:30, not sure of exact time of snack. They get an extra 15 minute break at snack time, too. I don't think my son could make it without an extra recess and snack- k teachers seem excellent in his school- very aware of the limitations of 5 year olds!!

[Anonymous]

Our DD in K gets breakfast (free for all students) and eats lunch around noon. No snacks until aftercare.

[Anonymous]

Mine had snacks through fourth grade. Lunch varied from 11 to 1 depending on the year. By second grade, it wasn't structured in that kids could get their snacks and eat them or drink their drink during any one of a number of designated activities. There were rules about what you could and could not send. I think the guideline was that you couldn't send anything that required use of a utensil. And, up through at least second grade, the teacher kept lots of snacks for kids who forgot them or didn't bring them, but needed something to tide them over. Snacks were one of the items on the list of things parents were asked to contribute to the classroom.

[Anonymous]

My son has a morning snack around 10:30 a.m. in his kindergarten class. I believe the other kindergarten classes at his school do afternoon snack instead of morning. They have to bring their own snack to school, though, it is not provided by the teacher (I remember when I used to substitute teach years ago, teachers provided the snack).

[Anonymous]

Lunch is at 12:30. No snack.

[Anonymous]

My Kindergartener gets snack at 11:00 and lunch at 12:20. Sometimes they miss snack if it's too busy.

[Anonymous]

when my DC was in K, their lunch was at 11:20. They had snack time each day around 2:00 to help break up the afternoon. The teacher sent a note home to parents in October to let us know this was a new approach she'd be following. We were asked to send in snacks for the entire class, with a huge list of restrictions (can be stored, healthy, individually packaged, didn't use utensils (i.e., no applesauce/yogurt), no nuts due to allergies), which was really difficult (in my opinion).

The school's policy is that if the lunch is "early" (before 11:45) or "late" (1:00 or later), the grade allows for a snack. Now that DC is older and with a later lunch, we have an early morning snack time, like 11:00. Now parents are asked to send in a snack with the child each day (similar restrictions-healthy, no need for utensils, no nuts, etc., but no need to have it stored at school). I like this approach much better.

[Anonymous]

My Kindergartner eats breakfast at home at 8AM, gets snack around 10AM, and then lunch at 11:15AM. We pack both snack and lunch. He then gets another snack at his aftercare program around 3:15PM - this is provided by the program. We eat dinner around 6:30PM.

[Anonymous]

It varies by school and even by teacher. At our school all Kindergartners get a brief snack time. Teacher/room parent will solicit donations of pretzels, goldfish, animal crackers.

[Anonymous]

No snack for my K student and lunch is at noon. It's hard for her, even at this point in the year.

[Anonymous]

And if you ever help out at lunch in a public school you will see that the kids have about 10min to actually eat their lunch. It is so rushed and so sad. If your K student doesn't have a snack, you need to push for it.

By the way, when my oldest was in K, she ended up with a partial bowel obstruction by late September from the lack of drinking she did there compared to at home and pre-k. They weren't allowed to bring in water bottles, never had a drink with snack and she was only able to drink for those 10-15min at lunch. The kids were not allowed to leave in the halls for the water fountain either and could only stop once after recess for a sip.

You will find the free foods in school are over processed and so unhealthy so even if your school offers them, I wouldn't eat them. The lines to get the food are 10min long. So please pack lunches and good snacks for your kids!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And if you ever help out at lunch in a public school you will see that the kids have about 10min to actually eat their lunch. It is so rushed and so sad. If your K student doesn't have a snack, you need to push for it.

By the way, when my oldest was in K, she ended up with a partial bowel obstruction by late September from the lack of drinking she did there compared to at home and pre-k. They weren't allowed to bring in water bottles, never had a drink with snack and she was only able to drink for those 10-15min at lunch. The kids were not allowed to leave in the halls for the water fountain either and could only stop once after recess for a sip.

You will find the free foods in school are over processed and so unhealthy so even if your school offers them, I wouldn't eat them. The lines to get the food are 10min long. So please pack lunches and good snacks for your kids!!

So sorry this was your experience. Our Kindergartners are allowed to have a water bottle on their desks during the day.