1st grade is a bad as we suspected

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a first grade mom. Fortunately my kid is doing great because we hired a pod teacher and allowed play dates for socialization. But from check ins with her teacher, I’m under the impression she is now way ahead of her peers. And there have been some class-wide emails about behavior issues the teacher is asking us to address at home and I’m so grateful my child isn’t involved, but I also feel horrible for the school staff dealing with this. This group of kids really was an after thought throughout the pandemic.

You should feel bad for your child. Her class is probably a chaotic mess and she is probably bored to death.

I do feel bad for her. For the other kids who are behind. For the teacher. I also have a lot of anger at society for deciding it was ok to sacrifice this age group to save by and large the elderly. We could have had kids masked and in school last year.

Yes, so many of us parents of young elementary school students were screaming from the rooftops last year that the kids were not okay and no one cared at all. Instead we got a bunch of gaslighting emails from school administrators patting themselves on the back and claiming there was little to no learning loss.

You understand that the principal and the teachers had no say over when school reopened. It was entirely up to the superintendent and the school board. Be mad at them, not your individual school staff. They are the ones dealing with the fallout, and they are not responsible for causing the issue.

Except for the part where they made the decisions in part based on the very vocal teachers who did NOT want to come in. This is just the truth and I will not let revisionist history forget it. I am an administrator. And no it wasn’t all teachers or principals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But some are not behind at all, making the gap huge. I feel badly for the ones not behind. It’s going to be a long year for them. Did some parents really do nothing for a year and a half?

Many parents don't do anything with their kids prior to kindergarten so it's more like they are preschoolers in many cases. Even the cafeteria assistants have told me that kids just sit there at lunch and don't eat because they've never had to open food containers for themselves. They just sit and wait and don't ask for help. I have 1st graders who don't recognize their own name in print let alone be able to write it. Many have no strength at all in their hands and some still don't have a hand preference. It's bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what parents of kids this age said ALL LAST YEAR WHEN THEY WERE NOT IN SCHOOL.

Yes, I am yelling because I find this so unbelievably infuriating. And now it's wow...can you believe it. Yes. This is the most predictable outcome ever. No one gave a crap about these kids.

I am genuinely sympathetic to teachers who are now dealing with this shit show. And also, the deafening silence last year (at least in my school district) from any teachers about what this would surely do to kids this age was sad. No one speaking at the School Board meetings. No letters to the Editor. No posts on social media. No petitions. No leaked emails to the principal about how this was going to really be a problem for this particular age group. No "teacher association" (aka union) statements. Dead. Silence.

I know. Especially for the K-1st graders. I cannot believe that we didn't move heaven & earth to at least get the Ks back in school 1/2 time to learn to read and write. What a colossal failure.

Who is “we?” Were you planning to volunteer to go in unvaccinated to teach them?

No, I didn’t think so.

“we” as in society- as in essential workers.

[Anonymous]

I have a student whose K teacher recommended she repeat K and the parents flatly refused. She doesn’t know most of her letter sounds and can’t write simple words like cat, the, pan, she, he, etc.

There is only so much we can do for her while the rest of the class moves on. We aren’t stopping to teach letter sounds in 1sr grade when most kids arrive at the beginning of K with that.

[Anonymous]

And what are you doing to help fix this issue, OP? Why are you a sub and not a real teacher?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a student whose K teacher recommended she repeat K and the parents flatly refused. She doesn’t know most of her letter sounds and can’t write simple words like cat, the, pan, she, he, etc.

There is only so much we can do for her while the rest of the class moves on. We aren’t stopping to teach letter sounds in 1sr grade when most kids arrive at the beginning of K with that.

But you're not going to refer the child to be assessed for special needs? WTF?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh gee, a substitute teacher who thinks she’s qualified to diagnose ADHD in 6 and 7 yos, when even experts will tell you that at those ages many kids will grow out of their supposed ADHD symptoms within a year or two as they mature.

Wow. The post went right over your head didn’t it?

What an odd choice of posts to call out here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a student whose K teacher recommended she repeat K and the parents flatly refused. She doesn’t know most of her letter sounds and can’t write simple words like cat, the, pan, she, he, etc.

There is only so much we can do for her while the rest of the class moves on. We aren’t stopping to teach letter sounds in 1sr grade when most kids arrive at the beginning of K with that.

But you're not going to refer the child to be assessed for special needs? WTF?

PP isn’t actually a teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And what are you doing to help fix this issue, OP? Why are you a sub and not a real teacher?

Being a sub is a huge deal. There are virtually no subs at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what parents of kids this age said ALL LAST YEAR WHEN THEY WERE NOT IN SCHOOL.

Yes, I am yelling because I find this so unbelievably infuriating. And now it's wow...can you believe it. Yes. This is the most predictable outcome ever. No one gave a crap about these kids.

I am genuinely sympathetic to teachers who are now dealing with this shit show. And also, the deafening silence last year (at least in my school district) from any teachers about what this would surely do to kids this age was sad. No one speaking at the School Board meetings. No letters to the Editor. No posts on social media. No petitions. No leaked emails to the principal about how this was going to really be a problem for this particular age group. No "teacher association" (aka union) statements. Dead. Silence.

Could not agree with this more. I also sympathize with what teachers are dealing with, but it was always obvious this was going to be the consequence of keeping schools closed for so long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a first grade mom. Fortunately my kid is doing great because we hired a pod teacher and allowed play dates for socialization. But from check ins with her teacher, I’m under the impression she is now way ahead of her peers. And there have been some class-wide emails about behavior issues the teacher is asking us to address at home and I’m so grateful my child isn’t involved, but I also feel horrible for the school staff dealing with this. This group of kids really was an after thought throughout the pandemic.

You should feel bad for your child. Her class is probably a chaotic mess and she is probably bored to death.

I do feel bad for her. For the other kids who are behind. For the teacher. I also have a lot of anger at society for deciding it was ok to sacrifice this age group to save by and large the elderly. We could have had kids masked and in school last year.

Yes, so many of us parents of young elementary school students were screaming from the rooftops last year that the kids were not okay and no one cared at all. Instead we got a bunch of gaslighting emails from school administrators patting themselves on the back and claiming there was little to no learning loss.

There was a pandemic. The schools did the right thing.

+1,000

-1000. There was no medical or health justification for keeping schools closed for 18 months! It is clear now, and it will be even more glaringly obvious when this area’s policies are actually access and compared to other states (MA, RI?) and countries that kept their schools open. Mark my words, you all will sound like flat-earthers. I can see that the cover up is already beginning….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is what parents of kids this age said ALL LAST YEAR WHEN THEY WERE NOT IN SCHOOL.

Yes, I am yelling because I find this so unbelievably infuriating. And now it's wow...can you believe it. Yes. This is the most predictable outcome ever. No one gave a crap about these kids.

I am genuinely sympathetic to teachers who are now dealing with this shit show. And also, the deafening silence last year (at least in my school district) from any teachers about what this would surely do to kids this age was sad. No one speaking at the School Board meetings. No letters to the Editor. No posts on social media. No petitions. No leaked emails to the principal about how this was going to really be a problem for this particular age group. No "teacher association" (aka union) statements. Dead. Silence.

Could not agree with this more. I also sympathize with what teachers are dealing with, but it was always obvious this was going to be the consequence of keeping schools closed for so long.

1+. Why are we pretending this was not glaringly obvious?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a regular sub (3-4 days every week) at our local elementary school. Today was my first time in 1st grade this year. WOW. Academically and behaviorally I can honestly say this class was more behind than any other class. Honestly, the kindergarteners were better behaved. A lot of undiagnosed ADHD. And academically some of them are so behind they should be repeating K. Some of them literally don’t know what sounds letters make or how to use a pencil to do basic writing.

We discussed all last year how bad this would be but I secretly hoped we’d be pleasantly surprised. It was bad and I fear it will take years and years (if ever) for some of these kids to catch up.

Yup Im a mom of a young 6 yr old first grader and its maddening. My biggest regret in life so far is that I didnt have him repeat after last years shit show. The kindergarteners this year are getting a legit experience and will move on as they should, while so many kids from this first grade class will never have normalcy because they are behind in so many foundational ways. Im so annoyed by it all.

[Anonymous]

I was a 1st grade sub pre-pandemic and your description sounds familiar. The one class I saw the most also had a terrible teacher fwiw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a first grade mom. Fortunately my kid is doing great because we hired a pod teacher and allowed play dates for socialization. But from check ins with her teacher, I’m under the impression she is now way ahead of her peers. And there have been some class-wide emails about behavior issues the teacher is asking us to address at home and I’m so grateful my child isn’t involved, but I also feel horrible for the school staff dealing with this. This group of kids really was an after thought throughout the pandemic.

You should feel bad for your child. Her class is probably a chaotic mess and she is probably bored to death.

I do feel bad for her. For the other kids who are behind. For the teacher. I also have a lot of anger at society for deciding it was ok to sacrifice this age group to save by and large the elderly. We could have had kids masked and in school last year.

Yes, so many of us parents of young elementary school students were screaming from the rooftops last year that the kids were not okay and no one cared at all. Instead we got a bunch of gaslighting emails from school administrators patting themselves on the back and claiming there was little to no learning loss.

There was a pandemic. The schools did the right thing.

+1,000

-1000. There was no medical or health justification for keeping schools closed for 18 months! It is clear now, and it will be even more glaringly obvious when this area’s policies are actually assessed and compared to other states (MA, RI?) and countries that kept their schools open. Mark my words, you all will sound like flat-earthers. I can see that the cover up is already beginning….

Also, where are all these studies confirming this was the “right thing”…? I.e. showing that schools were hotbeds of transmission or significantly accelerated community spread (in contrast to eg restaurants or bars or any other institutions left open)?