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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Early on in Kindergarten, we saw my daughter’s teacher when walking to school (less than two blocks) when I was carrying her  mostly-empty backpack and lunchbox.   He very nicely called her out on it - said that Kindergarteners carried their own bags.   This was pre-COVID, so no laptop - but she insisted on carrying her bag after that.

When she had a laptop in 2nd grade,  a parent might have carried it for part of the time if it was longer than a block.

She has also pulled her suitcase for part of the at least part of the time when traveling since she was 4/5.

I don’t see it as making her ‘tough’ - but to give her self-confidence for being able to handle things on her own.  
[/quote]

Sure, but it's also child-dependent. Some kindergarteners are literally just smaller than others.

Also, some kids at that age will carry their backpack some days but not others. Sometimes I carry my kid's backpack because she's super sweaty fro a really active day at school on a hot day, and I feel bad about having a heavy backpack on her sweaty back so I offer to carry it. That's not coddling, it's just nice. Other days my kid might ask me to take her backpack because she wants to walk home with a friend and they will be playing/running on the way home. She asks nicely, I always agree. I have to carry her backpack on days she rides her bike, because the backpack is big and will actually hang down below her seat when she's sitting down -- it would be dangerous for her to bike with her backpack on.

Like, yes, kids have to learn to carry their own bags. But there's not a rule that once you are in elementary school, regardless of all circumstances, you have to carry your own backpack. It's okay for kids to hit that milestone at different points based on their size and circumstances.[/quote]

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