How long do your kids get to eat lunch.

Most days they come home with only 1/2 of there lunch eaten and then are starving when they get home. There class is also the only K class to have snack in the am, the other 4 have an afternoon snack. Time to eat is only 20 minutes then they go outside.

Re: How long do your kids get to eat lunch.

My dd is in the 4th grade and this year she has a late lunch so they have snack in the AM. I believe they also have about 20 min. lunch and 20 min. recess.

Re: How long do your kids get to eat lunch.

Last year, when my ds was in K I remember the beginning of the year noone was eating. Lots of moms complained that there kids came home hungry and cranky. We spoke to the lunch aide and she started giving them extra time, which meant they lost some of there playtime. Looking back, I realize it is an adjustment. They have to understand that lunch is timed and that they willgo hungry without it> The extra time helped, but I think the lunch aide needs to stay on top of it. By the end of the year all the kids learned to set there internal clock and move according to time restraints.

Re: How long do your kids get to eat lunch.

30 minute lunch, 30 minute recess. DS gets an AM snack, he's in 1st grade.

It used to be 20 minute lunch, and they changed it this year to 30 minutes. Now school starts 10 minutes earlier to make up that 10 minutes.

Re: How long do your kids get to eat lunch.

I'm fairly certain it's a 25 minute recess followed by a 20 minute lunch. They do recess first to get the kids good and famished so they race through their lunches!!

Re: How long do your kids get to eat lunch.

20 min lunch, 20 minute recess. Later is snack time which is 15 mins. Just came from parent orientation and a lot of mom's said their kids are coming home with a lot of their lunch. Somehow my son comes home with most everything eaten - he must be starving to eat that quick since he rarely eats quick at home. But I will tell you - he does come home starving still...with all his lunch and snacks eaten during the day!

Re: How long do your kids get to eat lunch.

Mine get 20 min and 20 min recess too. This is why I never make anything complicated and stay with sandwiches. If they have to start unwrapping stuff, utilizing spoons, putting on salad dressing, etc. it gets even harder. I make sure everything is ready to go, even start to separate the plastic on a cheese stick for them and loosen water bottle tops so they're easier to open. Your boys will get better at eating more efficiently with a little time.

I wish they would do what Trish's school does, 10 minutes in the AM seems like a small price to pay for an extra 10 at lunch.

Re: How long do your kids get to eat lunch.

20 minutes. We were told back in Kindergarten that the slow eaters eventually catch on and realize that they need to pick up the pace. LOL

Re: How long do your kids get to eat lunch.

The other 3 K classes have snack in the afternoon, but because this is a peanut free room and the room where all the allergies are the teacher wants to do snack in the am when the asst is there. IMO, I think it is too early because I beleive, and I have to double check, that they are eating every 1.5 to 2 hours. They eat breakfast at 8:15 and I beleive snack is at 10ish and then about noon. Then they go 3.5 until the end of the day.

They also both could not finish the lunch they brought the other day and one of my boys eats fast so I think when they buy they are getting less time, and I don't know what they are not eating.

Today Joey ate not even 1/2 a sandwich and then wanted to eat his cupcake but they told him he couldn't becuase there was no time. I just can't see how they can only let him eat less then 1/2 a sandwich for lunch and that is it. At 3:45 when he got home he was starving and ate his other 1/2 and cupcake in 5 minutes.

Also being that they "normally" do it in the afternoon for the other classes, it seems like the timing fo the snack is the problem. One of my boys just won't eat if he is not hungry, even with the thought that you will be later. And truthfully, isn't that a good thing, I wish I didn't eat without being hungry.

Re: How long do your kids get to eat lunch.

DD has 20 min lunch, 20 min recess.
DS (middle school) has 40 min lunch.

The school I work in (elementary), lunches are overlapping, for example, 1st grade eats first then has recess while 2nd grade has recess first then eats...both grades in the same time period. So the 1st graders could technically go to the "back table" to finish and miss part of recess but not so much for the 2nd graders because then they'd be missing class.

Re: How long do your kids get to eat lunch.

DS whose 10 gets a 20 min lunch followed by a 20 min recess..he loves to buy lunch, the problem is by the time he gets his lunch and sits down lunch is over. He is allowed to eat into his recess..

You would think the school would try and do something about the long lunch line...he doesn't like to bring lunch because he doesn't like sandwiches.

Re: How long do your kids get to eat lunch.

I spoke to the teacher this am ahs she said they have snack at 10 am and then eat lunch at 11:40. I can't see how this is good but since this is the nut free classroom she feels more comfotable having the aide there so she has to have snack when the aid is there and she leaves at 1:00. But the other classes have snack after lunch so not sure how this makes sense. She is going to talk to the principal and then get back to me. I think a. forcing my son to eat when he is not hungry is a really bad move, and b. him not having any food in him for the last 4 hours of school is not good either, so we shall see what happens.

Re: How long do your kids get to eat lunch.

20 minutes is an average time for lunch.


If it makes you feel better, teachers usually plan all the heavy learning in the morning when kids are most alert, so having a morning snack will help with that important learning.

Re: How long do your kids get to eat lunch.