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Public school K questions
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Anonymous
| My son just finished K this year at our neighborhood public school. It is considered a top school in our county and received a Blue Ribbon award a few years ago. Needless to say, I was disappointed with the environment and educational practices. It seemed like all he did in school this year was worksheets. At first, we made jokes about how many trees the school was killing w/ the ridiculous number of worksheets they gave. Between classwork and homework, my son averaged maybe 8-10 a day! I volunteered a few times in the classroom during the year and it seemed like they had worksheets most of the morning interspersed with circle time for lessons. The only time the kids had to really interact w/ one another was during center time (maybe 20 mins) and then the teacher "put up" w/ their talking rather than encouraging it. They had language arts all morning, then lunch, then they came back to class for an hour or so of math (with many more worksheets), sometimes they then had recess (but only if they got through the math lesson), then a special and then dismissal. My son had a fantastic preschool experience and his K year was just so sterile and not bringing out a love of learning at all. Is this how it is for all students in K? My neighbor's daughter goes to a private school and she cannot stop talking about her wonderful K class. My son's teacher also spent lots of time w/ frequent assessments of the students but when I asked about other areas of his development during the parent/teacher conference, there was silence. I asked her how he interacts w/ the other kids (he is slow to warm up around new kids) and how he seems emotionally at school and she referred me to the guidance counselor if I had any concerns. He said how much he missed his preschool all year (and I silently agreed w/ him). Is this similar to to other's experiences in public K? |
Anonymous
| Sorry to hear about that--our child's public school kindergarten experience was much warmer than what you're describing. One thing came to mind from your post--is there a chance the school is feeling pressured to try to live up to its previous Blue Ribbon status? |
Anonymous
| Please tell me you're not in fairfax county.... that sounds dreadful. |
Anonymous
| And people wonder why some are willing to scrape out 30k for a private school? |
Anonymous
| No, I am in MD. I guess I just expected K to be a "bridge" between the preschool yrs and the elementary yrs. Something more nurturing. My son is not a "walking brain" which is how it seemed the kids were viewed. Their other development (emotional, social, etc) didn't seem important. There was a short section on the report card about those areas but they seemed like "extras" or "add-ons." I think the school won the Blue Ribbon award in the late 90s so it isn't too recent. It seems that now the K is all day that they would have more time for socializing but there literally seems like there was no time (except on the few days per week where they did get a 15 min recess) to get play and talk w/ one another. My son was reading when he entered K and really enjoyed it. By XMAS, he would sigh and look kind of disgusted when I asked if he wanted to read to me before bed. It got worse at the end of the schoolyear when he would just refuse. I am hoping this summer that if I read mostly to him that his interest in reading will return. |
Anonymous
| not all kindergarten classes are like this one. But there is pressure on schools to have kids reading and performing well in math. Schools won't change unless parents get involved and demand that children's social and emotional and physical needs are being met. |
Anonymous
| this thread is bumming me out. there is no way we can afford private and all i hear is one story after another about how people are disappointed in their public... |
Anonymous
I am not disappointed with our public school, especially the full day K program in Fairfax County. You may just be hearing from the folks that are not so happy vs. many that are quite happy. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Can the people who are happy w/ their child's K program tell me how it differs from what I described about my son's day? I felt like there is a huge part of him that nobody cared about. It seems like the teacher could rattle off how many sight words he knew, what reading levels he progressed through, etc etc. They covered his academics just fine (maybe even tested him TOO much). Makes me wonder how much time she spent testing each child so frequently as a lot of the testing was one on one. But when it came to anything non-academic, she looked at me kind of confused as to why I would ask. Like this is not their concern. I even asked her what type of classwork he enjoyed/didn't enjoy and she couldn't answer it. Even the field trips they took were not enjoyable. I am afraid if this continues, my son will lose any interest in learning since learning in school is so tedious. My neighbor's son is in 3rd grade and she tells me he lost interest in school after 1st grade. They don't teach kids how to think, just how to take tests (which are 2 different things if you ask me!) |
Anonymous
You know, it varies so much from school to school. I'd try to find out what local parents think about your specific kindergarten program before getting too stressed out about it. |
Anonymous
|
Thanks OP!
As I get ready to make the first of a year's worth of tuition payments to a private school Kindergarten, I know now for certain I have made the right choice. |
Anonymous
Neither of my children did worksheets. Both of my children had reading homework. We watched a DVD with cute songs with the words highlighted on the screen. (Waterford program) As for their schedule, they had: Morning Introductions -- where they introduced themselves to each other and talked about the day (is it cold out? hot out? raining? Calendar info, etc.) Then they had Morning Meeting -- they talked about interesting things that have happened in their lives since they last met (which was great on Mondays!) Next they would have language arts, where they were in groups (16 children were split into 4 groups) and a couple of the groups would do centers, one group would work with the teacher, and another group would work with the aide After about 20 minutes, these groups would "shift", so the ones working with the teacher would go to centers, one group in centers would go with the teacher, etc. Then they had centers (I think it was 30 minutes of center time) Then they would do math. They were in groups again (different groups of children, based on ability), but use the center and teacher and aide approach. Then they went to lunch Then they had recess Then they had quiet time (30 minutes) Then they had social studies or science or a special (PE, music, art, library). I think their schedule shifted a bit when music, art, or library was done as I think art was in the morning Then they had writing time Then they had dismissal We had a parent/teacher conference in early November and then another parent-teacher conference in late May/early June. The conference had a list of strengths for each child and then a list of goals going forward. Many items on the list focused on social skills vs. "academic stuff" |
Anonymous
We had full day K in Fairfax County and I really had no complaints, first grade wasn't bad either. But 2nd and third grade were a complete waste of time. We were on to private by 4th and never looked back. I only wish that we had left earlier. |
Anonymous
|
Wondering if OP would say where this school is......is it BE?
I am so sad reading your post and thinking of my little guy going into a K program like the one you describe. I hope things are better for your son next year! |
Anonymous
| I really have to consider private for my son. I will do a tour of our public school. I hope that we can be convinced to use public, I will keep an open mind. |