Plz give me the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of kindergarten!

Just wondering what to expect (kindergarten is 1 of 2 grades that I haven't taught.) How much HW do they get? Does your dc prefer school lunch or bringing it from home? How much interaction is there with you & the teacher? Things your kids like and dislike about school? Any tips?

I know it's a bit early but we're moving right before kindergarten starts and I want to prepare him & myself as much as I can before the move. Thanks!

Re: Plz give me the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of kindergarten!

DS started in September. He brings his lunch from home, he doesn't ever ask to buy.

I speak to the teacher maybe every other week through e-mail. I think we both prefer e-mail. I've only spoken to her over the phone twice, and 1 parent conference. Not including visits to his class or field trips. He has a behavior chart so she sends home notes daily. Honestly, we interact a lot. Lol I really never expected it to be as much.

DS loves music. They have chicks, tadpoles, and lady bugs in his class. He's super excited about them. He likes school a lot, he's just not a fan of math.

The school- It's different than his private little preschool. It's taken *me* a lot of time to adjust. It feels a little like a business atmosphere, it's much more serious than I would have expected. I feel a little micromanaged sometimes. I don't think it's a bad school by any means, it's just not what I expected.

I'm sure your son will love it and do really well. It's fun for them and they become so independent.

Re: Plz give me the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of kindergarten!

Our school doesn't have email... (I keep asking about it, for 4 years now....), so we only communicate by notes or parent-teacher conferences, so it's much less than I would like.
Both DC are picky eaters, so they bring lunch in.
DD does get homework for the week, but we can do it all in one night, or spread it out.

Re: Plz give me the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of kindergarten!

DS is in kindergarten now. Its been a great experience! He gets homework every night (except Friday). On Mondays his teacher sends home the homework for the week so we spread it out depending on what we have going on after school. His teacher is wonderful and we communicate on a regular basis. She has email so if I have a quick question I just email her and she responds the same day. I also speak with her by telephone if need be. We also have parent teacher conferences.
DS eats the school lunch one time during the week and the rest of the week I send him in with lunch.
I really have no complaints...his teacher has been very supportive and very caring. DS is also very happy and looks forward to going to school everyday!

Re: Plz give me the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of kindergarten!

My son has had an amazing kindergarten experience. I am blessed that he got a phenomenal teacher. She and I email and send noted back and forth whenever needed. I've have made it a point to volunteer when I can and have been in the classroom a few times during the year. He used to bring lunch everyday, but midway through he said he wanted to buy. So he buys most days now, but will ask me to pack him lunch once a week or so. We were shocked at how much homework he got this year, but it was manageable and he learned more then I ever expected. I really have no complaints.

Re: Plz give me the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of kindergarten!

I would speak to the teacher constantly, they didn't have email, but it was frustrating because I was used to speaking face to face in preschool when we dropped off, or DH picked up. I felt like I was out of the loop, dependent on what my child remembered to take home. If he forgot it, I didn't know about it.

I also felt like I didn't really know what was going on all day when I knew the routine in prek since I was there at times since it was a co-operative prek.

Regarding lunch, once they started buying I felt like I had no control over what they were eating, the cashier did not make sure they had a complete lunch, even when I called. I was told that everything is out and the kids need to ask, and that the cashier can't check every tray. My kids will never ask for something to someone they don't know, especially when they were in K.

Good things - they got way more independednt, in a good way. They learned stuff that I would have never thought they were even capable of knowing. I was shocked when the teacer told me they were reading, I didn't think that was until 1st grade.

They learned to do more things for themselves and make friends, being twins they never needed to make friends, they had their best friend with them most of the time.

I do have to say that their first grade experience has been all positives. Their teachers are way different and I don't feel so out of the loop like I did last year. So every teacher and every experience is different, so it is hard to know what to expect.

Re: Plz give me the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of kindergarten!

Thanks so much for the replies, they've been really helpful! I hope the teacher has email and keeps us in the loop. I hate not knowing what's going on. I'm so excited for ds!

Re: Plz give me the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of kindergarten!

DD is in Kindergarten now. I am the class mom, so I find that I am in the loop a little more than I would normally be.

She brings lunch 4/5 days and buys when she likes what's on the menu for the day. Lunches are $4.50, so it's not cheap (they are in Catholic school).

I email the teacher a ton, and when ever a call warranted it, the teacher would call. My kids take the bus, so I have no real interaction with the teacher on a daily basis, but like I said, I can email or call at any time.

They get HW each night, 4-5 pages which includes things like handwriting, math, reading, etc. No homework over the weekends.

The thing I love is that every Friday, her teacher sends home a "What we did this week" page with a bulleted list of things they did, like specific stories read and any specials they had in school. It's great, because aside from seeing what work they did in school, its nice to know the other aspects of their day (which kids are great for forgetting to tell you!).

Re: Plz give me the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of kindergarten!

My son had a great K experience. He was a wreck going into kindergarten but before school started I emailed her and made her aware and made an opportunity to meet her beforehand and it it helped him 100%. Outside of homework and the little DS told me - I really had no clue what they did in class. (which is very different from preschool). My son was quiet, performing well and well behaved so for me equalled no issues so therefore - the teacher and I had very little interaction outside of parent teacher conferences and any events where I had to be in the classroom. She did call a month or so into school to give parents updates which I liked. I did happend to get the teacher who gave what seemed more homework than average. He got typically 3 pages of homework often with several steps and way too much coloring (boys after school do not enjoy to color for the most part). Often the pages had bonus on the other side. At times it took over an hour and my son was good at doing homework - I can't imagine if you had a child who struggled. This was outside of the 15 minute of reading that is required per day.

As for lunch, at first my son was too shy to go up and get lunch so he brought his own. Little by little we added days to lunch - like pizza day, then pasta day, etc. In time, he much preferred to buy lunch.

Message edited 5/8/2012 7:07:25 AM.

Re: Plz give me the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of kindergarten!

How much HW do they get?

A few worksheets/Reading/Writing a night. Usually not more than 15 minutes worth.

Does your dc prefer school lunch or bringing it from home?

DD likes to buy

How much interaction is there with you & the teacher?

The teacher sends home notes all the time with updates about the room. When I need contact, she contacts her.


Things your kids like and dislike about school?

DD loves school. I don't really have anything specific to say, but I can't say enough about how much she has grown this year in terms of academics and maturity.

Re: Plz give me the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of kindergarten!

DD got 2 pages of homework in kindergarten
per night (mon-thurs)

DD would bring her lunch half the time, and buy the other half...depending what her mood was or what was on the lunch menu

I had good communication with the teacher she sent home a paper every mon, what was going on for the week and she was always available to talk through email. I was lucky enough to also see her after school because DD was a walker an they let the kindergarteners out seperate from the other grades.

DD loved kindergarten (she also loves this year too in 1st grade) only bad part was she was very tired after school because it was a rough day...and she also had a bit of seperation anxiety in the mornings for a few months .

Re: Plz give me the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of kindergarten!

DS has another year and I'm so sad reading this - like DS is growing up so fast. I can't imagine not talking to the teacher every day.