FCPS Kindergarten

[Anonymous]

PP here -- I see your child is already in preschool -- my post got delayed and I didn't see those posts....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most children are in full day daycare before kindergarten? That's not true at our mostly middle class FCPS. Most of the kids seemed to do a traditional kind of preschool though.

So the majority of the students in your school have a SAHP? I find that surprising.

One parent could also work part-time. It doesn't seem odd to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is a summer birthday, is doing well and by five years old there is really no need for a nap nor will your child really want one. As long as your child knows the basics going in, letters and numbers etc, they should not struggle. The only issue might be impulse control if they can't sit still for 20 minutes at a time but then again, that would be an issue in private school as well. They actually move arounda lot between doing morning meetings then going to specials, the coming back and working on reading groups, then PE or recess. It's not like they are sitting in one place the entire day just scribbling in notebooks. Your child will be fine.

Bull. My child's classroom had them sitting still for the entire day, minus 20 minutes of recess, which was frequently taken away. They sat and did worksheets without moving or even getting up for water or the bathroom for almost the entire day. They only had PE once a week. FCPS is a hideously bad school district with no across the board standards at all. You were lucky - we were not. I hope OP gets a better school and teacher than we did.

PP here that you are quoting. What you are reporting does not sound plausible or even reasonable. K classrooms have bathrooms in the classroom so why would they not be allowed to use the bathroom in almost the entire day? I have actually visited my child's classroom for a reading event and other various events and see how the day is structured. We also have a schedule, so I know how often they move about. There is library time, something called lab(??), music, PE and art. They do reading time in groups and also math and morning meeting. How do you expect that all of that is accomplished throughout the week without some fair amount of moving about and frequent changes in the current activity. It sounds like you are angry that your child can't sit still and is having a horrible time in K. I am sorry for that. I knew my child is not the best with sitting still so we put her in a daycare with some academics and she has done great academically and loves K.

OP< for better or worse K has changed and my child is not special or great (except to me of course) and she is doing just fine. We prepared her for K and she went in confident with basic knowledge and that has helped. Even low performing schools in inner cities (I know because of family living there) have seriously raised the bar for K and those kids are learning to read in K and learning basic math like addition and subtraction. Everyone has a fit about it as I would have had I not seen how it is done. While it is tough for some to learn impulse control and not just walk away from the circle time or stay on task, sending your child to any kind of preschool or daycare setting should help your child understand the routine and ease the transition. I did not learn how to read until the end of 1st grade and I would have never thought that my child would be expected to be learning in K. BUT you would be surprised at how capable they are. Your child will be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is a summer birthday, is doing well and by five years old there is really no need for a nap nor will your child really want one. As long as your child knows the basics going in, letters and numbers etc, they should not struggle. The only issue might be impulse control if they can't sit still for 20 minutes at a time but then again, that would be an issue in private school as well. They actually move arounda lot between doing morning meetings then going to specials, the coming back and working on reading groups, then PE or recess. It's not like they are sitting in one place the entire day just scribbling in notebooks. Your child will be fine.

Bull. My child's classroom had them sitting still for the entire day, minus 20 minutes of recess, which was frequently taken away. They sat and did worksheets without moving or even getting up for water or the bathroom for almost the entire day. They only had PE once a week. FCPS is a hideously bad school district with no across the board standards at all. You were lucky - we were not. I hope OP gets a better school and teacher than we did.

Wow, that was not our experience at all. My kids in K had a lot of different hands on activities and rarely sat and did worksheets. It sounds like your kid got a terrible teacher. What you describe is not what goes on at our FCPS in K at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is a summer birthday, is doing well and by five years old there is really no need for a nap nor will your child really want one. As long as your child knows the basics going in, letters and numbers etc, they should not struggle. The only issue might be impulse control if they can't sit still for 20 minutes at a time but then again, that would be an issue in private school as well. They actually move arounda lot between doing morning meetings then going to specials, the coming back and working on reading groups, then PE or recess. It's not like they are sitting in one place the entire day just scribbling in notebooks. Your child will be fine.

Bull. My child's classroom had them sitting still for the entire day, minus 20 minutes of recess, which was frequently taken away. They sat and did worksheets without moving or even getting up for water or the bathroom for almost the entire day. They only had PE once a week. FCPS is a hideously bad school district with no across the board standards at all. You were lucky - we were not. I hope OP gets a better school and teacher than we did.

Wow, that was not our experience at all. My kids in K had a lot of different hands on activities and rarely sat and did worksheets. It sounds like your kid got a terrible teacher. What you describe is not what goes on at our FCPS in K at all.

I'm pretty sure 2 days a week PE is a standard across all FCPS schools. Some even have 3 days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is a summer birthday, is doing well and by five years old there is really no need for a nap nor will your child really want one. As long as your child knows the basics going in, letters and numbers etc, they should not struggle. The only issue might be impulse control if they can't sit still for 20 minutes at a time but then again, that would be an issue in private school as well. They actually move arounda lot between doing morning meetings then going to specials, the coming back and working on reading groups, then PE or recess. It's not like they are sitting in one place the entire day just scribbling in notebooks. Your child will be fine.

Bull. My child's classroom had them sitting still for the entire day, minus 20 minutes of recess, which was frequently taken away. They sat and did worksheets without moving or even getting up for water or the bathroom for almost the entire day. They only had PE once a week. FCPS is a hideously bad school district with no across the board standards at all. You were lucky - we were not. I hope OP gets a better school and teacher than we did.

PP here that you are quoting. What you are reporting does not sound plausible or even reasonable. K classrooms have bathrooms in the classroom so why would they not be allowed to use the bathroom in almost the entire day? I have actually visited my child's classroom for a reading event and other various events and see how the day is structured. We also have a schedule, so I know how often they move about. There is library time, something called lab(??), music, PE and art. They do reading time in groups and also math and morning meeting. How do you expect that all of that is accomplished throughout the week without some fair amount of moving about and frequent changes in the current activity. It sounds like you are angry that your child can't sit still and is having a horrible time in K. I am sorry for that. I knew my child is not the best with sitting still so we put her in a daycare with some academics and she has done great academically and loves K.

OP< for better or worse K has changed and my child is not special or great (except to me of course) and she is doing just fine. We prepared her for K and she went in confident with basic knowledge and that has helped. Even low performing schools in inner cities (I know because of family living there) have seriously raised the bar for K and those kids are learning to read in K and learning basic math like addition and subtraction. Everyone has a fit about it as I would have had I not seen how it is done. While it is tough for some to learn impulse control and not just walk away from the circle time or stay on task, sending your child to any kind of preschool or daycare setting should help your child understand the routine and ease the transition. I did not learn how to read until the end of 1st grade and I would have never thought that my child would be expected to be learning in K. BUT you would be surprised at how capable they are. Your child will be fine.

It is so upsetting to hear people constantly negate our experience because they did not experience the same. My child has no problem sitting still, and he never got in trouble, but he was bored to tears (literally) and stressed by the tedium. They were not allowed to use the bathroom without permission, even though it was in the classroom. They could not leave their seats for any reason. They sometimes sat on a small carpet instead, but were expected to sit absolutely still, with no fidgeting. And then straight back to the seats. There was no group work. The teacher refused to do it, even though several parents brought it up. They did have one special a day, lunch, and a 20 minute recess (which could be taken away for not completing worksheets). I observed the class myself, and this is fact. I wish we had had a good experience. I was expecting to. But this was the experience we had. Those who had something better should consider themselves lucky. Fairfax doesn't seem to have any standards for what is appropriate in Kindergarten, and it's luck of the draw whether you get a good teacher or something like what we got.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 3 year old who will be starting Kindergarten in two years - so yes, we're a little bit getting ahead of ourselves! We're starting to get a little stressed out about Kindergarten based on what we've heard about FCPS -- e.g. Kindergarten is full day instead of half day, there is very little recess or gymnasium time, no nap or rest time, and kids are expected to be learning what our generation learned in first and second grades. Is this true of all FCPS? My child will specifically be attending SHREVEWOOD. Anyone have experience with this school's Kindergarten program? I know the school is overcrowded - what is the student-teacher ratio? Are there assistants in the class? We're so nervous. DD is in preschool now, but it is play based and the ratio is 2 teachers to 16-18 kids.

Your child has nearly 2 1/2 years to mature and be ready. If DC is already in a class with 16-18 children and two teachers, DC shold be able to handle a class that is 25-28 with two teachers (one teacher and one aide) in 2+ YEARS. Things have NOT changed that much. Kindergarten is more like half 1st and half kindergarten. With three years of preschool under her belt, she should be MORE THAN READY.

OP here - even if that preschool is 100% play based? There's no academic, sitting still for hours on end component to our preschool. There's still a 2 hour long nap/quiet time period, even for 4 year olds. They go outside 2-3 times a day.

No 4 year old class should be having a 2 hour rest period. Something is very wrong with that preschool. And, why on earth are there no academics to get them prepared for K?

I agree with this. You might consider a different preschool, sooner or later.

Unfortunately a lot of the full day preschools around here have a 2 hour rest period. By law, they only need to provide 45 minutes. I'm not sure why more parents haven't complained. 45 minutes to 1 hour is more than sufficient. My first child was in a school with a 2 hour rest for awhile and would stay up for hours at night.

That is because these aren't preschools, they are daycares with a school component. Most preschools don't have rest time and even if they ARE play based they work in some academics - letters, gross and fine motor, etc. Just because they're not sitting doing worksheets doesn't mean there are no academics.

If they really are just playing all day and napping - well, again, that's a daycare, not a preschool (play based or otherwise.)

[Anonymous]

We've sent our kids to several different local preschools and of course none had nap time! The preschool day is usually 3-4 hours long.

If my kids went to daycare like pp's, I would be very unhappy about a forced nap for 4-5 year olds, especially for two hours!!! That's absurd, most children don't even regularly nap by 4.

[Anonymous]

Our K has daily recess, PE twice a day, snack every afternoon, and rest time through basically Christmas (after that they don't really need it). Plus, give the K teachers a little credit here, they are not military sergeants. They know what rules and structure are appropriate for K kids. The kids get a lot of wiggle time, in my view.

[Anonymous]

First, you can always stay put, but send your child to a private kindergarten, if you have the means. You should definitely talk to parents in your neighborhood and ask about their experiences with kindergarten at your school.

I have three kids who went to FCPS kindergartens, at three different schools. The worst one actually had half-day kindergarten. The teachers have a lot of academics to fit into the day, and half-day isn't enough, because there's a lot of time taken up with "cat herding" in kindergarten. The half-day kindergarten ends up being the worst in terms of having to skip recess time and stressing the kids by forcing them to sit a lot to get the academics covered. They skip the fun stations/centers where they'd otherwise get learn-by-play time, too.

If you have a child who's already reading, writing, adding and subtracting, or picks those things up quickly, FCPS kindergarten is incredibly boring for them, because they sit around a lot doing busy work while the teachers work with others. There are lots of normal developmental variations in where everyone is with the academics at this age, so kindergarten teachers have their hands full.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is a summer birthday, is doing well and by five years old there is really no need for a nap nor will your child really want one. As long as your child knows the basics going in, letters and numbers etc, they should not struggle. The only issue might be impulse control if they can't sit still for 20 minutes at a time but then again, that would be an issue in private school as well. They actually move arounda lot between doing morning meetings then going to specials, the coming back and working on reading groups, then PE or recess. It's not like they are sitting in one place the entire day just scribbling in notebooks. Your child will be fine.

Bull. My child's classroom had them sitting still for the entire day, minus 20 minutes of recess, which was frequently taken away. They sat and did worksheets without moving or even getting up for water or the bathroom for almost the entire day. They only had PE once a week. FCPS is a hideously bad school district with no across the board standards at all. You were lucky - we were not. I hope OP gets a better school and teacher than we did.

PP here that you are quoting. What you are reporting does not sound plausible or even reasonable. K classrooms have bathrooms in the classroom so why would they not be allowed to use the bathroom in almost the entire day? I have actually visited my child's classroom for a reading event and other various events and see how the day is structured. We also have a schedule, so I know how often they move about. There is library time, something called lab(??), music, PE and art. They do reading time in groups and also math and morning meeting. How do you expect that all of that is accomplished throughout the week without some fair amount of moving about and frequent changes in the current activity. It sounds like you are angry that your child can't sit still and is having a horrible time in K. I am sorry for that. I knew my child is not the best with sitting still so we put her in a daycare with some academics and she has done great academically and loves K.

OP< for better or worse K has changed and my child is not special or great (except to me of course) and she is doing just fine. We prepared her for K and she went in confident with basic knowledge and that has helped. Even low performing schools in inner cities (I know because of family living there) have seriously raised the bar for K and those kids are learning to read in K and learning basic math like addition and subtraction. Everyone has a fit about it as I would have had I not seen how it is done. While it is tough for some to learn impulse control and not just walk away from the circle time or stay on task, sending your child to any kind of preschool or daycare setting should help your child understand the routine and ease the transition. I did not learn how to read until the end of 1st grade and I would have never thought that my child would be expected to be learning in K. BUT you would be surprised at how capable they are. Your child will be fine.

It is so upsetting to hear people constantly negate our experience because they did not experience the same. My child has no problem sitting still, and he never got in trouble, but he was bored to tears (literally) and stressed by the tedium. They were not allowed to use the bathroom without permission, even though it was in the classroom. They could not leave their seats for any reason. They sometimes sat on a small carpet instead, but were expected to sit absolutely still, with no fidgeting. And then straight back to the seats. There was no group work. The teacher refused to do it, even though several parents brought it up. They did have one special a day, lunch, and a 20 minute recess (which could be taken away for not completing worksheets). I observed the class myself, and this is fact. I wish we had had a good experience. I was expecting to. But this was the experience we had. Those who had something better should consider themselves lucky. Fairfax doesn't seem to have any standards for what is appropriate in Kindergarten, and it's luck of the draw whether you get a good teacher or something like what we got.

But that is what you or that PP did. By responding with "bull", you negated my and a lot of other people's experiences because it didn't match you particular experience. If you are the same poster, you went from very angry and rude to almost victim like. Very odd

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is a summer birthday, is doing well and by five years old there is really no need for a nap nor will your child really want one. As long as your child knows the basics going in, letters and numbers etc, they should not struggle. The only issue might be impulse control if they can't sit still for 20 minutes at a time but then again, that would be an issue in private school as well. They actually move arounda lot between doing morning meetings then going to specials, the coming back and working on reading groups, then PE or recess. It's not like they are sitting in one place the entire day just scribbling in notebooks. Your child will be fine.

Bull. My child's classroom had them sitting still for the entire day, minus 20 minutes of recess, which was frequently taken away. They sat and did worksheets without moving or even getting up for water or the bathroom for almost the entire day. They only had PE once a week. FCPS is a hideously bad school district with no across the board standards at all. You were lucky - we were not. I hope OP gets a better school and teacher than we did.

PP here that you are quoting. What you are reporting does not sound plausible or even reasonable. K classrooms have bathrooms in the classroom so why would they not be allowed to use the bathroom in almost the entire day? I have actually visited my child's classroom for a reading event and other various events and see how the day is structured. We also have a schedule, so I know how often they move about. There is library time, something called lab(??), music, PE and art. They do reading time in groups and also math and morning meeting. How do you expect that all of that is accomplished throughout the week without some fair amount of moving about and frequent changes in the current activity. It sounds like you are angry that your child can't sit still and is having a horrible time in K. I am sorry for that. I knew my child is not the best with sitting still so we put her in a daycare with some academics and she has done great academically and loves K.

OP< for better or worse K has changed and my child is not special or great (except to me of course) and she is doing just fine. We prepared her for K and she went in confident with basic knowledge and that has helped. Even low performing schools in inner cities (I know because of family living there) have seriously raised the bar for K and those kids are learning to read in K and learning basic math like addition and subtraction. Everyone has a fit about it as I would have had I not seen how it is done. While it is tough for some to learn impulse control and not just walk away from the circle time or stay on task, sending your child to any kind of preschool or daycare setting should help your child understand the routine and ease the transition. I did not learn how to read until the end of 1st grade and I would have never thought that my child would be expected to be learning in K. BUT you would be surprised at how capable they are. Your child will be fine.

It is so upsetting to hear people constantly negate our experience because they did not experience the same. My child has no problem sitting still, and he never got in trouble, but he was bored to tears (literally) and stressed by the tedium. They were not allowed to use the bathroom without permission, even though it was in the classroom. They could not leave their seats for any reason. They sometimes sat on a small carpet instead, but were expected to sit absolutely still, with no fidgeting. And then straight back to the seats. There was no group work. The teacher refused to do it, even though several parents brought it up. They did have one special a day, lunch, and a 20 minute recess (which could be taken away for not completing worksheets). I observed the class myself, and this is fact. I wish we had had a good experience. I was expecting to. But this was the experience we had. Those who had something better should consider themselves lucky. Fairfax doesn't seem to have any standards for what is appropriate in Kindergarten, and it's luck of the draw whether you get a good teacher or something like what we got.

But that is what you or that PP did. By responding with "bull", you negated my and a lot of other people's experiences because it didn't match you particular experience. If you are the same poster, you went from very angry and rude to almost victim like. Very odd

Not odd at all. You all believe that your experience is the norm, and it is not. It is lucky. And my experience is not that unusual. As for being angry - wouldn't you be if that was your child's kindergarten experience? And as for being a victim, yes, I do feel that both I and my child were victimized by the school in many ways. I think I am absolutely justified in all of those attitudes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is a summer birthday, is doing well and by five years old there is really no need for a nap nor will your child really want one. As long as your child knows the basics going in, letters and numbers etc, they should not struggle. The only issue might be impulse control if they can't sit still for 20 minutes at a time but then again, that would be an issue in private school as well. They actually move arounda lot between doing morning meetings then going to specials, the coming back and working on reading groups, then PE or recess. It's not like they are sitting in one place the entire day just scribbling in notebooks. Your child will be fine.

Bull. My child's classroom had them sitting still for the entire day, minus 20 minutes of recess, which was frequently taken away. They sat and did worksheets without moving or even getting up for water or the bathroom for almost the entire day. They only had PE once a week. FCPS is a hideously bad school district with no across the board standards at all. You were lucky - we were not. I hope OP gets a better school and teacher than we did.

PP here that you are quoting. What you are reporting does not sound plausible or even reasonable. K classrooms have bathrooms in the classroom so why would they not be allowed to use the bathroom in almost the entire day? I have actually visited my child's classroom for a reading event and other various events and see how the day is structured. We also have a schedule, so I know how often they move about. There is library time, something called lab(??), music, PE and art. They do reading time in groups and also math and morning meeting. How do you expect that all of that is accomplished throughout the week without some fair amount of moving about and frequent changes in the current activity. It sounds like you are angry that your child can't sit still and is having a horrible time in K. I am sorry for that. I knew my child is not the best with sitting still so we put her in a daycare with some academics and she has done great academically and loves K.

OP< for better or worse K has changed and my child is not special or great (except to me of course) and she is doing just fine. We prepared her for K and she went in confident with basic knowledge and that has helped. Even low performing schools in inner cities (I know because of family living there) have seriously raised the bar for K and those kids are learning to read in K and learning basic math like addition and subtraction. Everyone has a fit about it as I would have had I not seen how it is done. While it is tough for some to learn impulse control and not just walk away from the circle time or stay on task, sending your child to any kind of preschool or daycare setting should help your child understand the routine and ease the transition. I did not learn how to read until the end of 1st grade and I would have never thought that my child would be expected to be learning in K. BUT you would be surprised at how capable they are. Your child will be fine.

It is so upsetting to hear people constantly negate our experience because they did not experience the same. My child has no problem sitting still, and he never got in trouble, but he was bored to tears (literally) and stressed by the tedium. They were not allowed to use the bathroom without permission, even though it was in the classroom. They could not leave their seats for any reason. They sometimes sat on a small carpet instead, but were expected to sit absolutely still, with no fidgeting. And then straight back to the seats. There was no group work. The teacher refused to do it, even though several parents brought it up. They did have one special a day, lunch, and a 20 minute recess (which could be taken away for not completing worksheets). I observed the class myself, and this is fact. I wish we had had a good experience. I was expecting to. But this was the experience we had. Those who had something better should consider themselves lucky. Fairfax doesn't seem to have any standards for what is appropriate in Kindergarten, and it's luck of the draw whether you get a good teacher or something like what we got.

But that is what you or that PP did. By responding with "bull", you negated my and a lot of other people's experiences because it didn't match you particular experience. If you are the same poster, you went from very angry and rude to almost victim like. Very odd

Not odd at all. You all believe that your experience is the norm, and it is not. It is lucky. And my experience is not that unusual. As for being angry - wouldn't you be if that was your child's kindergarten experience? And as for being a victim, yes, I do feel that both I and my child were victimized by the school in many ways. I think I am absolutely justified in all of those attitudes.

Actually, the PP's expereince seems to be the norm as many other PP's have posted similar things and your seem to be the only poster who has had a different expereince. I think perhaps, you should consider that your experience is the outlier. Which school did your DC attend and have this honorific kindergarten experience?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 3 year old who will be starting Kindergarten in two years - so yes, we're a little bit getting ahead of ourselves! We're starting to get a little stressed out about Kindergarten based on what we've heard about FCPS -- e.g. Kindergarten is full day instead of half day, there is very little recess or gymnasium time, no nap or rest time, and kids are expected to be learning what our generation learned in first and second grades. Is this true of all FCPS? My child will specifically be attending SHREVEWOOD. Anyone have experience with this school's Kindergarten program? I know the school is overcrowded - what is the student-teacher ratio? Are there assistants in the class? We're so nervous. DD is in preschool now, but it is play based and the ratio is 2 teachers to 16-18 kids.

Yes, this is all true. The main problem here is that you thinking about how your 3yo would do in this environment. But you won't be sending a 3yo to K, you will be sending a 5yo. Your child will change A LOT in the next 2 years. The only thing that bugs me so far is the lack of recess. I wish they had more of that. I am SOOOOO relieved they don't do naps. My DD was in a preschool/daycare program and forcing 3 and 4yos who have no desire to nap to lay there quietly for 2 hours seemed like torture.

And yeah, my DD is wayyyy beyond where I was in my half day K program back in the 80s. My DD is reading. Saturday she pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a story about what we did Friday night. Please don't worry so much, it will all be fine. This is a big transition for kids, but we all go through it and survive. My DD is thriving in her FCPS K!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 3 year old who will be starting Kindergarten in two years - so yes, we're a little bit getting ahead of ourselves! We're starting to get a little stressed out about Kindergarten based on what we've heard about FCPS -- e.g. Kindergarten is full day instead of half day, there is very little recess or gymnasium time, no nap or rest time, and kids are expected to be learning what our generation learned in first and second grades. Is this true of all FCPS? My child will specifically be attending SHREVEWOOD. Anyone have experience with this school's Kindergarten program? I know the school is overcrowded - what is the student-teacher ratio? Are there assistants in the class? We're so nervous. DD is in preschool now, but it is play based and the ratio is 2 teachers to 16-18 kids.

Yes, this is all true. The main problem here is that you thinking about how your 3yo would do in this environment. But you won't be sending a 3yo to K, you will be sending a 5yo. Your child will change A LOT in the next 2 years. The only thing that bugs me so far is the lack of recess. I wish they had more of that. I am SOOOOO relieved they don't do naps. My DD was in a preschool/daycare program and forcing 3 and 4yos who have no desire to nap to lay there quietly for 2 hours seemed like torture.

And yeah, my DD is wayyyy beyond where I was in my half day K program back in the 80s. My DD is reading. Saturday she pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a story about what we did Friday night. Please don't worry so much, it will all be fine. This is a big transition for kids, but we all go through it and survive. My DD is thriving in her FCPS K!

I should add that during the course of the day, they go to the lunchroom for lunch, outside for recess, and go to a special class at least once during the day: art room, music room, steam lab, computer lab, story time, and PE. So they are not chained to a desk all day! They keep them moving.