FCPS Kindergarten

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

In our school, not Shrevewood, the kindergartners get rest time every day and recess every day -- although in inclement weather indoor recess is watching a movie. The day is long and there is a lot of structure and focus throughout the day My DS, who is young for grade, has struggled, but most of the other boys and girls have done fine. While the teachers accomodate children who are "ahead", they mostly focus on bringing everyone up to speed. Academically, not difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In our school, not Shrevewood, the kindergartners get rest time every day and recess every day -- although in inclement weather indoor recess is watching a movie. The day is long and there is a lot of structure and focus throughout the day My DS, who is young for grade, has struggled, but most of the other boys and girls have done fine. While the teachers accomodate children who are "ahead", they mostly focus on bringing everyone up to speed. Academically, not difficult.

OP here - my child has a summer birthday, so she'll be one of the younger kids there, as well.

[Anonymous]

Also not at fcps but each school is different. My kid gets recess as well as PE twice a week (recess daily.) At the beginning of the year they get two recesses. Minimal homework. No nap or rest time. Some schools do rest. I don't think any do nap but honestly your kid should be able to get through the day without a nap.

[Anonymous]

In our Fairfax school, kindergarteners have nap time after lunch, on the hard floor full of germs from dirty shoes. Kids have recess in the afternoon. In the morning, they just have 30 min of PE. So, yes, they have very little opportunities to release the energy. Too many rules to learn, too many kids to deal with, and sometimes there's a teacher with little experience and not much patience.I know there are schools, not FCPS, with half day kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also not at fcps but each school is different. My kid gets recess as well as PE twice a week (recess daily.) At the beginning of the year they get two recesses. Minimal homework. No nap or rest time. Some schools do rest. I don't think any do nap but honestly your kid should be able to get through the day without a nap.

Ugh, meant not at shrevewood. We are at fcps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In our Fairfax school, kindergarteners have nap time after lunch, on the hard floor full of germs from dirty shoes. Kids have recess in the afternoon. In the morning, they just have 30 min of PE. So, yes, they have very little opportunities to release the energy. Too many rules to learn, too many kids to deal with, and sometimes there's a teacher with little experience and not much patience.I know there are schools, not FCPS, with half day kindergarten.

OP here -- this is my biggest concern with FCPS. We just moved here, but may have to consider moving somewhere smaller before my child starts elementary.

[Anonymous]

Weird, no nap time in our fcps k. Not complaining-laying just right on the floor is ugh.

[Anonymous]

No nap. No snack. Our kids made it through alright. Although, KG wad there least favorite year!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In our Fairfax school, kindergarteners have nap time after lunch, on the hard floor full of germs from dirty shoes. Kids have recess in the afternoon. In the morning, they just have 30 min of PE. So, yes, they have very little opportunities to release the energy. Too many rules to learn, too many kids to deal with, and sometimes there's a teacher with little experience and not much patience.I know there are schools, not FCPS, with half day kindergarten.

OP here -- this is my biggest concern with FCPS. We just moved here, but may have to consider moving somewhere smaller before my child starts elementary.

Like where? Sounds like you want to go private.

[Anonymous]

Our FCPS school has two recess periods but they are both short. About 25 kids in a class. There are a wide range of learners. We know people with kids in second grade that are still learning skills others learned in kindergarten. All the kids were in reading groups 2 to 4 times a week. They also have a short indoor recess most days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In our Fairfax school, kindergarteners have nap time after lunch, on the hard floor full of germs from dirty shoes. Kids have recess in the afternoon. In the morning, they just have 30 min of PE. So, yes, they have very little opportunities to release the energy. Too many rules to learn, too many kids to deal with, and sometimes there's a teacher with little experience and not much patience.I know there are schools, not FCPS, with half day kindergarten.

OP here -- this is my biggest concern with FCPS. We just moved here, but may have to consider moving somewhere smaller before my child starts elementary.

You don't have to move again. You may consider going to private or out of county if you can afford it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In our Fairfax school, kindergarteners have nap time after lunch, on the hard floor full of germs from dirty shoes. Kids have recess in the afternoon. In the morning, they just have 30 min of PE. So, yes, they have very little opportunities to release the energy. Too many rules to learn, too many kids to deal with, and sometimes there's a teacher with little experience and not much patience.I know there are schools, not FCPS, with half day kindergarten.

Between nap, lunch, PE and recess, when do they actually get any learning done? A 5-6 year old should not need a nap during the school day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In our Fairfax school, kindergarteners have nap time after lunch, on the hard floor full of germs from dirty shoes. Kids have recess in the afternoon. In the morning, they just have 30 min of PE. So, yes, they have very little opportunities to release the energy. Too many rules to learn, too many kids to deal with, and sometimes there's a teacher with little experience and not much patience.I know there are schools, not FCPS, with half day kindergarten.

Between nap, lunch, PE and recess, when do they actually get any learning done? A 5-6 year old should not need a nap during the school day.

The kindergarten classrooms I've been in didn't have nap time. They had "quiet time" where they were sitting at the tables working on stuff that they didn't finish on time, or reading, or using the computer, or doing remediation with the teacher. This lasted about 10-20 minutes and the lights were out and nobody was allowed to talk. If a student was having a bad day, they were allowed to lay their head down on the table.

Sooooo fcps school day is about 7 hours long. Lunch is 30 minutes (part of that is leaving the class, getting in line to buy lunch and walking back to class, so we're looking at 15-20 minutes to actually spend eating), recess is 20 minutes, and PE is part of the curriculum, so it IS learning time. I'm not sure exactly how many minutes PE is, but let's say 30-45. So "nap" (10-20 min) plus lunch (30 min) plus PE (30-45 min) plus recess (20 min) works out to be an hour and a half to an hour and 40 minutes out of the day. That leaves more than 5 hours for the kids to be learning. Do you think we should have the kids eat lunch at their desk, so they aren't missing out on any valuable lessons? Should we extend the day another hour? Eliminate PE and recess?

[Anonymous]

Seven hours seems like a long day for a five year old