Let's talk Kindergarten!

Are yours going to public or private school?

Public - we live in a good district


Full day or half day

Full day.


If half, morning or afternoon?

n/a


Will they take the bus or be driven?
I will probably continue to drive them in the morning. Last year, they were in Jr.K (1/2 day mornings) and DD1 was in 2nd grade. The bus system changed last year to combine the middle schools and elementary schools so the kids were first driven to the middle school where the older kids got off and then the elementary schools combined into some buses and then they were driven to the elementary schools. They were on the bus for a little over an hour. It's just easier for us to drop them off and we're not so rushed in the morning. They will take the bus home as the whole middle school thing isn't an issue then. Well, the middle schoolers are already on the bus so it doesn't take as long to get home.


ETA: Thanks TabbiSue!) Together or separate class?
We are doing separate classes this year. Their Jr. K teacher said they would do great either way. They had their own friends and most wouldn't know they were twins (or even siblings). But A & G wanted to try separate classes this year, so their teacher was able to recommend the best ones for their personalities. She also recommended 2 teachers that work hand in hand and do pretty much the same lesson plans, parties and recesses so I won't have to keep track of too much extra stuff.


As far as supply lists...our district supplies a lot of stuff. We usually send in hand sanitizer, kleenex and clorox type wipes. Sometimes they'll ask for scissors, crayons, composition book, folders, glue sticks, etc. but usually its not too crazy. We also don't get a list until the first week of school from the teachers so it's hard to buy anything specific in advance.

 

My son is the one starting kindergarten.
He will be going full day, public school, and we are a walking school so no busing and we are close enough we will walk everyday. My girls we separated when they went to kindergarten.

I am still worried sending my son to school since he has an August birthday. He is ready for some things and could use help with other things so it was a really hard decision to send him or not. Even his preschool teacher said we could keep him back or send he is half and half on things. He can stay focused on things but has low motor skills. Story time he listens very well but for some other things he has problem listening. But we figured if we have to we will keep him back a year but I felt he would do better in kindergarten than doing preschool again.

We have no supply lists our school supplies everything we need. We will find out his teacher at the end of July or beginning of Aug and can't wait. Then once in kindergarten we find out teachers on the last day of school (it's written on their report cards).

 

We don't have school supply lists -- our school decided it was easier to just have the parents send a check, then the teachers can go shopping and buy what they actually need in the most efficient way. We were so relieved! Our nieces are at a different elementary in the same district, and we've seen the enormous bags of stuff they have to show up with on the first day. :wacko:

 

I remember watcihing the kids get on the bus the first day of school last year with their backpacks overflowwing with school supplies. Made me so glad i did the tool box and a big part of why i did it again this year.

 

We get to bring all the supplies on Meet the Teacher night before school starts. The kids find their desks and stack everything on their desks. Then the teacher goes back and puts the stuff in their desk they need, puts up the extras and then gets the kleenex, etc stash and puts it up. It means that the first day of school goes smoother because things are put away and ready to go.

Marissa

 

We brought ours to open house night too. I'd hate to drag it all in the first day of school

 

I imagine your hesitation Becky, it's weighed heavily on my mind for 2 years now. :hug:

I too was thinking about how to send the supplies in. Our list says to send them "the first week", so I'll do a few things each day. :good:


I'm loving all this feedback!! Thanks ladies!! :woo:

 

I have worried about him for over 2yrs also. I am still worried and just hoping he does well and everything works out. He is an out going person but his speech causes him some problems with other kids understanding him. He also needs to learn personal space and I know that bothers some kids (he had some problems with that in preschool).

 

Michelle, I forgot to address the age/cutoff thing. I think that your girls are more than ready for Kindergarten and they'll do awesome.

 

:good: I agree!! And of course me and Mo are always right.

 

If my girls would have been able to go i would have sent them last year. Thank goodness my school had preschool. I'd say go for it Michelle!

 

the cutoff in PA is 9/30 - one of my friends is sending her son who's 5th birthday isn't until 9/24 - I'm sure your two will be just fine! Just remember when we went to school there were no cut offs and no one went to pre-school (hardly anyway) and we're all well educated people!

 

I guess I don't really understand the whole cutoff issue (we do calendar year here, if they are 5 before the end of the year they are eligible for K). I know some people will hold their kids back a year if they just feel they aren't ready, but I don't understand why someone would judge you for sending them in their appropriate year? That is just weird. The cutoff is there for a reason, they are before the cutoff, therefore they should be going unless there is an issue that you are worried about. There isn't an issue, so they should go. Why would anyone judge you for that?!

 

Sounds like it's different in your part of PA because for our district it's 8/31. :good:

Because people don't know how to :hush: I think everyone just says something to say something. I would understand if they knew Michelle's girls and then made an educated "guess" as to if they are ready or not but her girls (for example) are, imo, more then ready. Maybe they are jealous that her girls are smarter then their kid. :blbl:

 

Good question, Tina!! I feel as though some people (around here!) think that those born near the cutoff should be held back. Whatevs. It's our decision and we're comfortable with it. :good:

Liz and Amy, up here the cutoff is decided town by town. Most of the towns around us are 8/31, so my girls would have missed it by 6 hours. :blink: Another town about 10 min. from us has a cutoff of 12/31. Varies so much!


Thank you so much ladies. :wub: You are all too kind. :wub:

 

Liz - I didn't realize it was district by district...I thought it was statewide...

 

Are yours going to public or private school? public

Full day or half day? Half day. I wish it was full day because I know they could handle it since they have bene going to preschool since 2. (Age 2 was a toddler montessori class.

If half, morning or afternoon? They do it by subdivisions and mine is afternoon which is good because we are not morning people! But I bet morning kids are more refreshed and not as tired.

Will they take the bus or be driven? The bus. It picks them up at the driveway and drops them off there too which is so nice. Also it is just for kindergarten students.

(ETA: Thanks TabbiSue!) Together or separate class? They will be separated. THey were separated this year in preschool and it was good for them. The boys in Seamus' class seemed to be older and more boyish then he is so he had some issues to deal with. If Nicholas was in his class, we would have buddied up with him and not had to deal with any issues that eventually could come his way.

Schools around here give you the opportunity to buy supplies through the school and on the 1st day the supplies are on the students desk. Or you can buy them. I chose to buy them through the school. That way they will have just what they need.


I can't believe they are going to Kindergarten!!! When I first joined here it seemed so far away!

 

I feel the same way. It seems so surreal. Kindergarten, our kids, WOW!!!!!

 

Hi: I'm late to post, but here it is.

Are yours going to public or private school? public

Full day or half day? Full day. The schools in our district are all full day kindergarten. I sort of which it was 1/2 day. It just seems like a lot of school to me for that age.

If half, morning or afternoon? It's full day, so no half.

Will they take the bus or be driven? The bus. The bus stop is right across from our house. (yay!) The 5th graders "buddy up" to help the kindergarteners get to/from the right bus.

Together or separate class? They will be separated. They were separated this year in preschool and it was good for them. They've been in separate groups in day camp this summer, too, and that worked out very well, too.

I'm excited (and excited for them), but also sad. It seems to have happened so fast!!!!

Meg -- Mom to 5.25 year old boy girl twins.

 

Hi all! I have not been here in forever, work got insanely crazy. Now I'm back to working full time from home and things have slowed down enough to give me some free time. I also can't believe I have soon-to-be kindergartners. They are very excited!

My girls are going to public school. We are in a great school system, so we're giving it a whirl. If we become unsatisfied, we're planning on switching to private school.

They are going full day, 9:15am to 4:05pm. They will take the bus so no more dropoff for DH and pick up for me. Now the puppy and I will take two walks a day to the bus stop.

They are going to be in separate classes. Lily read her entire last year of preschool and is pretty far ahead academically. Grace read starting about March-April timeframe. She had her tonsils out in March and the teacher gave me some work to do with her, and I could not do it with Lily in the room or she'd blurt out all the answers before Grace could. So based on that, and many other reasons, I think they are better separted and with different homework. I think we may have to divide and conquer on the homework front, but we shall see.

 

Welcome back, Susan!!

 

Welcome back!

We are moving (back) to MI and will be in the Rochester area....just curious if our kiddos would be in the same school system! PM if you want.

 

Nope, we are in the West Bloomfield district. But let me know when you are back, maybe we could meet up sometime!

 

Are yours going to public or private school? Public
Full day or half day? Full day
Will they take the bus or be driven? Driven. They only bus the early childhood and cognitive disabilitied kids. My twins are neither.
Together or separate class? Separate I asked for that. They will see each other enough at lunch, recess, group activities and at home. Maybe they will stop being mean to each other!

 

The cut off age for here is September 1st. So Lennox will probably have nearly 2 full years of early childhood and then prek and finally start kindergarten just days before he turns 6 in 2015.

 

Just go home from Camp Stepping Stone (kindergarten orientation). The girls are so excited! The girls got to go with their teacher and classmates for about an hour while the parents went over technical stuff in the gym. It was really good, the girls found out how to get to the room from the bus, go to meet the librarian, find out about gym, meet their art teacher, and all kinds of things. It was such a good night! They are so excited to be kindergarteners! Can't believe they start Tuesday!!

 

I thought it was interesting when reading this topic. Both of my kids missed the cut off date by Sept 1st to be 5 yrs old, their birthday is Sept 30th. We had a teacher/parent conference this past Spring. Accordingly to the teacher she says both of my twins are ready for K right now. They know all of the things that they should know for K class.

Anyway, this year for K at our local school district only offer half day. When you say 'half day' I thought that would be 4 hours but it is really not the case. Here what it says accordingly to our school district time for Elementary at our subdivision.

Full day: 9:05 a.m. - 3:40 p.m.
5 Hour Day: 9:05 a.m. - 2:05 p.m.
Half day: 9:05 a.m. - 12:05 p.m.
AM Kindergarten: 9:05 a.m. - 11:50 a.m.
PM Kindergarten: 12:55 p.m. - 3:40 p.m.
Kindergarten does not meet on half-days or 5 hour days

I thought the K time is so much short and its' almost the same hours as preschool?! Its' 15 minutes different?! I was telling my friend I wish the school offer the 'option' for those who are stay home, single parents, or full-time parents. This make it easier to decide if your child is ready for half day or full day?

If they were going to K, they are both ready but my biggest concern is my son's ability to 'stick up for himself' if a child is going to 'bully' him in class or during recess time. He always been the quiet boy so it's hard for me to sit back because I have seen other boys coming up to him at play ground. My son doesn't yell or anything, he would say get in line for your turn. He's doing the right thing but how do you get other boys' his age to stop bully him without overstepping the line? Has anyone deal with this type of social issue before entering K?

The count down to 1 more month before I could join all of you!
Diana

 

Our "half" day K is a 3 hour class, it's almost half of the elementary school day. Their school starts at 9 and ends at 3:30, 6.5 hours total. My girls will take the bus so they will be gone from the home close to 4 hours when you factor in time of pickup and time getting to school, getting off/onto bus, etc.

 

My girls missed the cut off lastyer too and went to prek last year. They really didn't learn anything new but they did improve their hand writing

 

We just found out we are AM K. (yay!) 8-11:10. We are in the walking zone (but they gave us a bus # home) Our open house is in a couple of weeks, just before schools starts. The boys are excited but I find myself getting more anxious about it, the closer it gets.
Funny thing...I asked for them to be in the same class and they said they (the school) like to keep twins together for K. Both boys and my DH wanted them in the same class. I was conflicted because they've never been apart and it would be easier for me. =) so, we get the letter in the mail and they are in DIFFERENT classes. At first, I felt relieved but now I'm getting nervous....am I going to be able to attend both parties, or field trips? I honestly feel, in my gut, that the boys will benefit from being in separate classes..

 

I'm so jealous! We haven't had any kind of orientation, really. There was a parent meeting in the cafeteria in December (during the open-enrollment period) where they talked about the school in general, kindergarten in general, how to register, how the half-day and full-day options work, etc.

Then there was an "open house" in June where we could look around the classrooms (not knowing which one our kids would actually be in), and a "meet & greet" last week just to say hi to the teachers and check out the other parents and kids. But all those events were pretty much a free-for-all. No one has even told us things like where to drop them off, what they should bring on the first day, etc. I have no idea if there is an art teacher. I have no idea if they have desks or cubbies or lockers or what. I don't know if I'll ever even see the inside of their classroom again. :unsure:

I'm kind of freaking out about it all. I'm sure they will be fine, but I just feel really unsupported by the school.

 

This is how I am feeling and I'm not sure what more the school could do for me. I just feel like our district waits so long to tell us stuff but after reading in this thread i do feel a tad better since others get their info much later then us. I wish we had a chance to do a 15 minute or so chat with the teacher... now realistically I know that would be alot of work and time. :blush: Like you said, the kids are going to be fine... it's the parents that are worry warts. :lol:

 

I think I'm just sad. Yes, the school could have done a much better job of communicating (plus, it would have helped if they hadn't hired the new kindergarten teacher last week), but I'm also just having trouble letting go. It is ironic because mine have been in daycare since they were 6 weeks old and it never bothered me a bit. I just assumed kindy would be the same, but now I'm feeling like I knew everything about their daily lives in daycare (spent time in the room on dropoff and pickup, talked to the teachers, etc.) and now I know nothing and I don't even get to go inside the school. :cry:

Also, I am not good with change. :blush: