My sister is a teacher and reports the same about first grade. We pulled her to do K at private and my sister urged us to stay for first grade because she knew this is what it would be like this year. I’m really hoping we can switch back to public for second grade. It’s a disgrace what public schools in this region did to kids last year.

I have a 1st grader in public coming from private Kindergarten where she was in person all year. 1st grade is a dumpster fire. I grossly underestimated how little some of these kids learned last year (and I knew the situation wasn't going to be great!) and how unsocialized some of them are. Thus far it's everything she was doing in kindergarten last year, she's so bored. The skills gap is HUGE this year. Way worse than I thought it'd be.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - serious question. In a class of 20, where 14-15 kids can sit at their desk, follow basic instructions (get out the blue folder and your pencil), sit on the carpet without touching others, stand in a line, raise their hand etc. and 5 kids literally cannot/will not do these things no matter what you say or do, what is the best way to describe it? They are very clearly not behaviorally the same as the vast majority of their peers.

Sounds like the teacher needs to develop new strategies. They’re behind. But throwing up your hands and trashing their parents isn’t fair.

I sent my 3 year old to preschool last year. I had the privilege to do so.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2nd grade is only marginally better than first. The other grades seem less affected and surprisingly K seems more or less normal.

Yeah, PK is optional, so it's not suprising that K is OK. I think the worse-off kids will be those in 1st and 2nd right now. Hopefully schools can devote some extra resources to them.

The early elementary kids, 1st-3rdish, are the worst off I think. A lot of K kids just came straight from day care which stayed open the whole time. Older ES, 4th-6th, could be a little more self motivated and know the technology more - plus they actually had a few years of normal school under their belts. The 1st graders are coming from literally all kinds of situations, even more so than usual. There are kids who were in private in person K last year. There are kids who’s day cares opened a K class. There are kids who were taught reasonably well at home by a parent, or were in a pod. Kids who went to the local TKD place for a learning hub - well, at least they were around other kids … and some have been isolated at home for a year and a half. It’s a mess and no one cares. I feel bad for all these kids and their teachers too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fine none of them have ADHD. You are missing the point. It’s way worse than was expected. And nothing like first graders pre Covid. And the deficiency is worse than in other grades. It’s just interesting.

Wow you guys are a prickly bunch. No wonder there is a sub shortage? Who wouldn’t want to deal with that for $15/hour?

Exactly.

I think several people pointed out to you that it is what many people expected and no one cared.

So yes, parents of this age group are "prickly". Our kids got royally F-ed over and now this year it's how much they suck to teach.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t take you seriously when after a day as substitute teacher you report that there is a lot of undiagnosed ADHD in first graders.

The teacher leaves a list of kids who need to be watched more carefully and who are more likely to act up. I also sub for the sped resource teachers and have a sped background. But I don’t care if you believe me.

I believe you OP

Anonymous wrote:Fine none of them have ADHD. You are missing the point. It’s way worse than was expected. And nothing like first graders pre Covid. And the deficiency is worse than in other grades. It’s just interesting.

Wow you guys are a prickly bunch. No wonder there is a sub shortage? Who wouldn’t want to deal with that for $15/hour?

Exactly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

WTAF.

Pro-tip, sweetie. If you see behavior problems everywhere, you're the common denominator. But thanks for the medical diagnosis. What are your credentials?

(p.s., they are SIX years old).

Interesting I’ve been in every other grade this year (including K) and none behaved anywhere near this badly. How often have you been in a classroom for an entire day dearie darling?

I haven't. I'm a clinician working in the field of ADHD.

But it's AMAZING that you're able to draw such sweeping conclusions about how bad first grade is, including making extensive diagnoses, based on your experience of a couple of days in one particular class. Maybe research the terms "outlier" and "confirmation bias" and report back. With citations, if you would.

DP. I doubt you are a “clinician working in the field of ADHD.” Do you mean a college psych student? Someone with a PHD doesn’t need to be so condescending-“dearie darling.” Lol.

Anonymous wrote:NP. Thank you for your insights OP. This is going to be a fascinating group to watch as they swarm their way through ES and beyond. I've been toying with the idea of going back into the classroom (I was a sub pre-covid) but this among other issues (pay is Waaaay too low) is holding me back. I am actually looking at going to be one of those people at AMZN Fresh running around trying to fullfil your online grocery order! ; )

Off topic but that honestly sounds like a dream job to me. I love grocery shopping.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - serious question. In a class of 20, where 14-15 kids can sit at their desk, follow basic instructions (get out the blue folder and your pencil), sit on the carpet without touching others, stand in a line, raise their hand etc. and 5 kids literally cannot/will not do these things no matter what you say or do, what is the best way to describe it? They are very clearly not behaviorally the same as the vast majority of their peers.

Well. My 2nd grader was struggling with a few of these things at the beginning of the year and we worked with him and now he's doing much better.

So maybe the best way to describe it is the pandemic was harder on some kids than others?

I'd go with that in early October rather than diagnosing them right now. Maybe wait a couple of months before you write them off.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you. This is a good warning to parents, so their kids don't end up becoming a substitute teacher.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:2nd grade is only marginally better than first. The other grades seem less affected and surprisingly K seems more or less normal.

Why would that be surprising. Preschools were open all last year. Something elementary schools couldn't sort out.

Those kids are coming into K like normal.

A lot of parents didn’t do preschool though.

Everyone I know did. YMMV.

OP here - serious question. In a class of 20, where 14-15 kids can sit at their desk, follow basic instructions (get out the blue folder and your pencil), sit on the carpet without touching others, stand in a line, raise their hand etc. and 5 kids literally cannot/will not do these things no matter what you say or do, what is the best way to describe it? They are very clearly not behaviorally the same as the vast majority of their peers.

NP. Thank you for your insights OP. This is going to be a fascinating group to watch as they swarm their way through ES and beyond. I've been toying with the idea of going back into the classroom (I was a sub pre-covid) but this among other issues (pay is Waaaay too low) is holding me back. I am actually looking at going to be one of those people at AMZN Fresh running around trying to fullfil your online grocery order! ; )

Anonymous wrote:2nd grade is only marginally better than first. The other grades seem less affected and surprisingly K seems more or less normal.

Yeah, PK is optional, so it's not suprising that K is OK. I think the worse-off kids will be those in 1st and 2nd right now. Hopefully schools can devote some extra resources to them.