"doing the exaggerated fall-down-and-mime-a-seizure thing,"

my son used to do this at that age - not the seizure thing but he would run around, suddenly just collapse on the ground and play dead - my mom (who was an only child, then had only girls) worried briefly about how maybe he had a heart murmur LOL until the teacher said all the boys acted like that

It's not kindergartender
It's kindergartener

Sorry - can't see past the bartender/kindergarender posts.

Anonymous wrote:It may be common, but it didn't happen to us at all or to anyone I talked to. All the kids had been to some pre-k though before K. Don't think it's a bad thing if they do act a little crazy, but I don't think parents should easily dismiss their poor behaviour either.

This is kind of a dismissive post and I do not think anyone suggested ignoring poor behavior. The responses were about confirming how normal this is and helping to identify the cause to help parents find ways to address it/preempt it. I am glad that your child adjusted easily. This is not jst something that children that are "new to school" experience. My child, who had been happily in full day care since about a year old, including both daycare and montessori school with aftercare and who NEVER had a transition issue (be it between classrooms with the daycare or moving from her daycare preschool to montessori, always gung-ho about moving to the next place and meeting new friends) had a complete emotional fall apart between 6-6:30 every school day for the first three weeks of traditional kindergarten. It is a bigger school with a lot more rules. It is a bigger change than we realize. Much good advice on this thread and I hope that most kids have calmed down.

I have found a similar but much shorter adjustment every year as we move back into the school year from camps/vacation time. Very happy to be back in the school year groove.

My raving lunatic of a kindergartender has changed to back to his normal self as of the end of last week. I attribute it to two things

1. School isn't so scary anymore, he's got the routine down so is generally less stressed

2. We have been going straight from school to a playground - where he can do anything he wants without any direction from me. This idea came from his teacher who suggested that after being told what to do, where to sit, when to play for 6 hours he needs a chance to self-direct his activity. After the playground, although he is exhausted (and i'm the PP who starts bedtime at 630!), his attitude is much improved

wanted to pass it along in hopes of helping other parents of these terrors!

Mine is behaving OK but more dramatic. One day everything is sunshine and unicorns and the next day someone said something like "I don't want to play on the swings" and it is seen as rejection, and the tears come streaming down as the story is recounted and the world is ending, until an hour later when all is forgotten.

Do you think this is because they are expecting too much from K'ers now, or do you think this is just a normal transition thing?

Anonymous wrote:It may be common, but it didn't happen to us at all or to anyone I talked to. All the kids had been to some pre-k though before K. Don't think it's a bad thing if they do act a little crazy, but I don't think parents should easily dismiss their poor behaviour either.

I don't think anyone's dismissing poor behavior. By understanding the cause of it, it's much easier to address.

Anonymous wrote:Also try putting them to bed really early, we usually do bedtime at 8:30 but once school started I had him asleep by 8, it's a long day for them and they are usually exhausted by 8

And know that "early" has many interpretations - we start bedtime around 6:30 at our house, and our K DS is out cold by 715 (up at 645-7 on his own).

It may be common, but it didn't happen to us at all or to anyone I talked to. All the kids had been to some pre-k though before K. Don't think it's a bad thing if they do act a little crazy, but I don't think parents should easily dismiss their poor behaviour either.

We had this last year as well. I think my DS spent so much energy keeping himself on green that he lost his mind the second he got home.

OP here. Thanks all. It's good to know that my kid isn't the only crazy one out there and that there may be an end in sight.

Completely agree. Some kids, like my DC, don't deal well with change/ transitions. DC, rising 5th, has meltdowns at home at the beginning of each school year-- often concerning homework. Pop psychology says kids will behave better in school/public, than at home, where they are comfortable and things are predictable.

I've found that keeping DC's routine as stable as possible at home eases the new school year transition. We have the same rhythm-- snack, homework, playground, reading, bath, dinner every school day, and we keep the discipline stable. We try not to over react, but we don't let DC get away with bad behavior-- he has to go to his room until he feels able to act appropriately.

We also keep in contact with his teacher, often with brief e-mails, so she knows when he is having a tough time at home and we know if he is acting out in school or if something is triggering behavior problems.

Hope this helps.

We had been in an all day pre-k program and I was just shocked at all the issues that arose, in class not even out. So apparently it is common.

Very common - so common that if you scan the archives you will find these same queries every year (including some from me a few years ago, which is why I know!) It's a great relief to know that it isn't just your kid though!