"Parents who want to help at class parties have to join the PTA, pay for class parties, and get chosen to be on the class party list. One parent who had limited english almost cried when she showed up all dressed up in a costume for her Kindergartener's Halloween party. I was really embarrassed when the PTA mom escorted her to the office so they could kick her out. What is worse was that the office did kick her out because she wasn't on the PRA class party list. Her child was upset by this too. "

That is horrifying and I cannot fathom that happening at my kid's school which is thrilled whenever parents show up. What terrible place is that?

So, if I'm understanding this correctly, schools do two orientations. One in the spring and then another in the fall. Why do two if the one in the fall is more useful. Sounds like spring is a waste of time and a burden on current kindergarten parents who have to take off work or arrange for care because the class is closed. This is especially problematic this year given all the snow days.

Oh, and OP, regarding your neighbor's comment of "Welcome to public education," get used to hearing that. Whenever an annoying issue comes up, that's the most common response you'll hear. People just shrug their shoulders and just accept it as the way it is. That is what I find most annoying.

OP, I completely agree! I found K orientation to be uninformative and a waste of time for both me and my child.

What you are looking for you will get at Cack to school night.
It will be fine.
IT IS KINDERGARTEN

Why does anyone think it is a good idea to separate 5 year olds from their parents in a place where most of the kids have never visited??? I'm a principal and they did this before I arrived. I shut that down right away. Parents visit classrooms WITH their child so it is a positive experience.

I agree with this. My DD was fine. She was with friends from the neighborhood but some other kids didn't enjoy it. Its a very off putting experience for the first impression with the parents, sort of a "Hey welcome to institutionalized learning, we don't give a darn about you, please get out" message but this message gets given over and over again at our school.

Parents who want to help at class parties have to join the PTA, pay for class parties, and get chosen to be on the class party list. One parent who had limited english almost cried when she showed up all dressed up in a costume for her Kindergartener's Halloween party. I was really embarrassed when the PTA mom escorted her to the office so they could kick her out. What is worse was that the office did kick her out because she wasn't on the PRA class party list. Her child was upset by this too.

Lovely school.

Anonymous wrote:Oh, that sounds terrible. Ours was much better! The kids did a series of activities in the classroom (like a scavenger hunt where they had to locate the cubbies, flag, bathroom, etc.) while the teacher talked to the parents about kindergarten. It wasn't necessarily the classroom or teacher the kids were really going to be assigned to, although in our case it turned out to be the one.

Although - that was in the fall right before school started. There was a kindergarten meeting in the spring that was more perfunctory - the kids went off with some teachers while the parents sat in the library, filled out forms, watched a short video and heard from the principal, etc. They seemed to do aquick assessment of the kids while they were away from us.

Why does anyone think it is a good idea to separate 5 year olds from their parents in a place where most of the kids have never visited??? I'm a principal and they did this before I arrived. I shut that down right away. Parents visit classrooms WITH their child so it is a positive experience.

As for the "assessment" I pay teachers to make home visits in August. A child can change a lot between spring and early fall. And besides, there's not much real information you're going to get in a large group setting.

Oh, that sounds terrible. Ours was much better! The kids did a series of activities in the classroom (like a scavenger hunt where they had to locate the cubbies, flag, bathroom, etc.) while the teacher talked to the parents about kindergarten. It wasn't necessarily the classroom or teacher the kids were really going to be assigned to, although in our case it turned out to be the one.

Although - that was in the fall right before school started. There was a kindergarten meeting in the spring that was more perfunctory - the kids went off with some teachers while the parents sat in the library, filled out forms, watched a short video and heard from the principal, etc. They seemed to do aquick assessment of the kids while they were away from us.

OP, this was not our experience last year at K orientation, so it seems to depend on the school and year. Last year, my K (and parents) even got to go on the school bus around the block to get them used to the school bus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think "orientation" is the wrong word for it. I always thought it was the school's chance to check out the incoming students so they could make somewhat informed decisions about what teachers to assign them, rather than a way for parents and STUDENTS to get "oriented" at the school. K teacher who posted above, am I right?

No. I am not going to be able to make class decisions based on personality, needs, etc from (at most) an hour or two of interaction with 30 kids at once. Assembling the K classes in my school, and in any other school I've taught or heard about, is strictly going through sex and race and making balanced classes. Orientation is for parents to learn about school and for kids to see what kindergarten is all about.

Anonymous wrote:I think "orientation" is the wrong word for it. I always thought it was the school's chance to check out the incoming students so they could make somewhat informed decisions about what teachers to assign them, rather than a way for parents and STUDENTS to get "oriented" at the school. K teacher who posted above, am I right?

I think "orientation" is the wrong word for it. I always thought it was the school's chance to check out the incoming students so they could make somewhat informed decisions about what teachers to assign them, rather than a way for parents and teachers to get "oriented" at the school. K teacher who posted above, am I right?

Public school administrators and teachers should sit in on some private school orientations. Not necessarily, the 30K big ones but the parochial, progressive, or other schools to get an idea about how to do a good orientation.

You can't meet your child's actual teacher at orientation. The school hasn't a clue yet who will be assigned where. Teachers come and go in the summer. You will get that info in the mail, a couple weeks before school starts. Orientation really is just seeing the school, and turning in paper work

I'm a K teacher and your thread title made me worried you came to our orientation yesterday. At ours, we do a quick meet-and-greet with parents and then all the K teachers take the kids to two classrooms while the parents have paperwork and then an info session with admin and one K teacher. With the kids, the other K teachers have centers set up at tables (puzzles, playdoh, coloring, name writing), one teacher does snack table, and then we have two teacher-led activities at tables: planting a pumpkin seed and making a pumpkin construction picture.

When every kid has rotated through every center, we read a story and/or sing songs from YouTube, depending on how much time was oft. We have about 100 incoming Ks, so we had 3 sessions in 2 days. From start to finish, it was about 2 hours. And yes, neighbor, this is at a public school.

I'm sorry yours was underwhelming. Was there a parent feedback opportunity? I'm sure if orientation didn't meet your expectations, the teachers and admin would like to know so that they can improve it for future years.

We went to K orientation this past week. My husband and I took a half day and brought DD together who was very excited. Well it was a major let down.

Walked in, received name tags
DD got a quick picture from someone who didn't introduce themselves.
She walked in one room, we walked in another. No one said we would separate but no biggie.
Waited in line and handed in forms, sat around for 5min.
DD came back in and ate 4 goldfish and done.

We were there a total of 25min and 15min was handing in paperwork we could have mailed. We did not meet the teachers, we did not your the school. When asked we were told we are not allowed. My child told me they wrote their name and watched a video on TV. Is this normal? I can not believe they sat them in front of a tv. No interaction. No showing them anything. It just left a bad taste in my mouth and we haven't even started yet. I mentioned it to a neighbor who said "welcome to public school education".