So my daughter started Kindergarten this year and let me tell you I was not expecting everything that came with it. You try and prepare your child and ensure that they know their ABC’s, 123’s, address, phone number, writing (as best they can) and if you are able reading. You don’t want them too far ahead as then they get bored and in some cases become problem children and you don’t want them too far behind as then they can’t keep up and get frustrated/sad. It just amazes me about kindergarten now compared to 30 years ago.
The first difference which we were aware of going in was the class sizes. My daughters class is 24 kids with 15 of them boys and 9 of them girls. Her class is one of 5 classes this size and there are 4 elementary schools in our town (2 private and 2 public). We knew going in that this was going to be a change for us as my husband and I grew up in small towns and the difference between small town and a suburb of a major cities means more kids. I tell you though after volunteering a few days that I give the teacher kudos as there’s a lot of energy in that classroom.
The second difference was that every weekend they have homework. Since when do they do homework in Kindergarten. Oh yea and part of it is supposed to be done on an IPad. What if you don’t have an IPad well too bad you better figure that out or find a way to practice some other way. And its that hard line of kids spending too much screen time to trying to keep up with technology issues. But back to the homework every weekend she comes home with 3-5 homework assignments although they do not have to turn them in. Me being the parent that I am always makes sure that she does them. But who knew there was homework in Kindergarten.
Next every night they are supposed to read for 15 minutes or have there parent read for 15 minutes. That’s not a big deal for us as we read every night anyways. Then besides that they are supposed to practice their numbers thru 20 or patterns every night also and document it so that they can win a coupon at the end of the month. Trying to find a way to get your child to want to practice/work on things after spending all day in school is definitely a challenge some days. I can only imagine parents who work. I’m blessed that I get to stay home for this first year with her.
Another thing which we knew but didn’t know…. Sickness. You all know that when your child gets in to school that they are exposed to more germs. Our daughter has had a cold since the second week of September. It comes and goes but never officially goes away. We finally even got to the point of taking her in to the doctor pretty much to be told its just a cold. Its hard though to have her always having a cold.
The last thing is the separation/mood adjustments. Ever since she started kindergarten she has been having major mood swings it seems. I’m sure that she is just trying to understand the actions/consequences of what she sees at school but let me tell you its not fun. At times its I don’t want to have anything to do with you mom to the next day being why can’t I stay at home with you mom?
Kindergarten’s hard and don’t let anyone tell you differently. Its good and our daughter loves it but its hard.
