K parent/teacher conference woes

[Anonymous]

So I had my 5 yr old son's parent/teacher conference yesterday morning (it was scheduled for the week of XMAS but was moved to yesterday due to the snow storm). This is the first real P/T conference. The first brief one in Oct. was to outline goals for the year. My son's teacher said that he loses interest in what they do in circle time (or morning meeting) halfway through it. She also said he lacks enthusiasm for most of the activities they do in school. I stayed for the morning after the conference and watched what they did. They spent an hour first thing in the am in morning meeting. I think an hour of straight sitting and paying attention is a bit much for 5 yr olds. I lost interest myself after about 30 mins. The students don't do anything during that hour but sit there (except for the weather person who gets to come up and do the weather. After that, they spent 45 mins doing worksheets while the teacher worked with 2 small groups. My son's group goes with the teacher after lunch apparently so he was expected to sit and do a packet of worksheets during those 45 mins. Yes, he was bored. Then they had art and his art teacher says he loves art (he has told me that too). In art, they were making a papier mache mask and he chatted to me the whole time about mask making and papier mache. Then it was back to class for more circle time- another 30 mins or so of math. Then math worksheets at their tables. I am wondering if a 5 yr old boy should be expected to show enthusiasm in this type of environment? He only talks about art, recess (15 mins after lunch) and when a substitute teacher is there and lets them have some free choice time. When I was in K 100 yrs ago, nobody would've expected any of us to pay attention and be enthusiastic about school if that had been our schedule. We probably had circle time once in the 3 hrs we were there for maybe 15 mins and the rest was centers, recess and free play. So are children supposed to have changed since 1980?

[Anonymous]

The kindergarten of today is like the first grade of the 1980's. But, what you might want to think about is how your son was in comparison to the other kids in the class. I know that my kids are very active and have a hard time sitting still (especially the ADHD one), but they were definitely excited about what they learned in school. In the evenings after kindergarten, I remember them talking a lot about the sounds the different letters make, basic math skills, telling time and anything science related they did. That being said, Art, Media and PE were definitely the favorite subjects.

[Anonymous]

OP, that kindergarten class sounds typical of many, but not developmentally appropriate for the age. What can you do about it, though? I don't know.

[Anonymous]

OP, may I ask....are you in public or private? Sounds like MoCo...

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is a public MCPS. I am not worried that my son's attention span is a problem and his teacher didn't indicate that she was concerned either. The other kids in the class (mostly the boys) looked equally bored and not listening after 30 mins or so. She has them sit boy/girl I think b/c the boys would probably be poking at each other after they lost interest. Part of the problem is that my son learned to read early and quickly when he was around 4. So out of his whole day (which is about 7 hrs), he only gets about 15-20 mins of reading instruction that is actually on his level. Except for the morning message which the kids help the teacher write, nothing about what he does at school is hard for him. All of his classwork and homework is easy. I asked the teacher if she had tested his reading level and she said he was reading at a second grade level. But the homework and classwork (all worksheets) is for a beginning reader (basic sight words, short vowel sounds, beginning consonant sounds, etc). I asked about science and social studies and she said they have done one unit of each but the the science unit was a lot of worksheets too. I guess I am just wondering if anyone else's teacher expects their K aged son to be enthusiastic about what I've described?

[Anonymous]

Hi OP. I do not want to sound like a private school booster here ... BUT ... your son's day sounds totally oppressive and boring. For a 5 year old of either gender, what you describe sounds like pure torture. Really. Most children start out loving school and then, as the work gets harder OR too easy and routing, they start to figure out that school is not so much fun. Loving school really enhances a child's willingness and ability to learn ... it's not just about wanting them to be happy all the time. Although that is nice too, of course.

What chance does your child have of loving school by 2nd grade? I agree that K today is the academic equivalent of 1st back in the stoneage, BUT the content still must be taught in an age-appropriate way or the love of learning and enjoyment of school is quickly extinguished. Very sad.

My advice? Start looking for alternatives now ... if first grade is even close to this bad at your school, then be prepared to move quickly. Every child has the occasional less-than-great year, even at the finest private school, but what you describe sounds worse than usual. Good luck to you ... I sincerely hope you can move your child soon.

[Anonymous]

An hour for circle time = bad teachers. They know better. They criticize your kid in ways that strike you as odd, then you see poor quality teaching/class management. This means they are a big part of the problem, if not "the" problem. Time to shop around or decide to live with it. Of course, speak your mind to the teacher and give them a chance to improve (ie, the rest of the school year), but start shopping around for a new school so you can have options for next Sept.

BTW, I have a friend who is a local principal who told me that a parent has complaints about her kid's teacher that my friend knows are all valid but she can't SAY that because the teachers union would kill her. That tells me that you should trust your instincts even if the teacher and anyone else at the school tries to spin in another way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BTW, I have a friend who is a local principal who told me that a parent has complaints about her kid's teacher that my friend knows are all valid but she can't SAY that because the teachers union would kill her. That tells me that you should trust your instincts even if the teacher and anyone else at the school tries to spin in another way.

That's ridiculous. Principals can require subpar teachers to improve, but they do have to work hard to document the complaints and problems.

Parents need to put complaints and cirticism into writing, so principals have some ammo. In addition, parents need to complain about the principals' failures to supervise the teaching of their staff. Teachers should be providing age appropriate instruction on a daily basis.

[Anonymous]

I'm an elementary teacher. While I have never taught K, I know it's developmentally inappropriate to expect students to sit in morning meeting for an hour. Crazy talk, that is.
Write a letter to the Principal. State your observations, your concerns and ask the Principal to fix them. If it's not done, ask for your child to be moved to a different classroom. The "what can you do?" attitude is all wrong. Hold these teachers and administrators accountable. If the principal doesn't take you seriously, go to the school board. I'm not joking. Be that parent.

[Anonymous]

PP- I am the OP. I personally thought the classroom expectations were developmentally inappropriate but what resource can I use to show what IS developmentally appropriate for the age? It isn't just this classroom either as other parents have said the setup and schedule of their child's K classroom is similar. TIA.

[Anonymous]

This is not age appropriate instruction! 20 minutes for age 5. Google "attention span 5-year-old" and you will get a loadful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An hour for circle time = bad teachers. They know better. They criticize your kid in ways that strike you as odd, then you see poor quality teaching/class management. This means they are a big part of the problem, if not "the" problem. Time to shop around or decide to live with it. Of course, speak your mind to the teacher and give them a chance to improve (ie, the rest of the school year), but start shopping around for a new school so you can have options for next Sept.

BTW, I have a friend who is a local principal who told me that a parent has complaints about her kid's teacher that my friend knows are all valid but she can't SAY that because the teachers union would kill her. That tells me that you should trust your instincts even if the teacher and anyone else at the school tries to spin in another way.

In which county?

In MCPS we have the PAR system which is used to document under-performing teachers.