my dd (kindergarten) insisted she wanted to go to school. i knew she wouldnt like it but agreed that she should try it to see for herself and at the first sight of issues she would be immediately removed. when she entered she was reading small words with help and doing addition she was THAT far ahead! she has not been in school a month and she has moved backward acedemically plus she is no longer the sweet well mannered kid i sent there. she screams is demanding and insists she doesnt love us hates school and no one will tell her what to do. im at a loss for words i never expected this in a million years. i love my dd more than anything and have no idea whats going on with her. finding a good time to talk to her teacher is impossible but i am going to this afternoon if i have to hold up her paper grading. kate insists shes bored with school. i need answers. do any of u wonderful ladies have any similar experiences or ideas? please help!
Is she in full day k or 1/2 day? If it is full day it might be too much for her. Also if she is bored that can cause problems too. My dd went to ps for k (we pulled her out for 1st) but it was only a 1/2 day program. We did math and phonics in the morning at home (she was a head of the k class) and then she went to k in the afternoon. The teacher was good at keeping all the kids engaged so dd did not get bored when they were doing things she already knew. If I had seen any negative attitude changes I probably would have pulled her out right then and there but that is me. I hope all goes well with the teacher.
None of my boys have been to PS, but I wanted to reassure you that the attitude change is fairly typical. Many, many of my non-homeschooling friends have said the very same thing. Matter fact, one posted just last night about her horrible her son's attitude has become after just 2 weeks in PS. I'm not saying to excuse it or let it go, but it is a common experience.
My friends say with ps kids say the same thing. One told me it takes half the summer to deprogram her of the bad attitude she got from school. :angel:
there is no such thing as 1/2 day classes down here.. its all day or nothing. i do not blame her teacher for her boredom, she has to get and keep all kids on the same level. my dd is just really advanced compared to the other kids (not bragging here, she just caught on fast at home). I DO however need a solution to this problem, i had hoped school would be positive and i would be wrong but as it turns out, spelling and science in her pjs is looking better to her. i am going to talk to her teacher today and if i dont like what i hear she will be coming home to learn. her main complaints are that she is bored recess isnt long enough and she doesnt get a nap. ive noticed on some of her papers (mostly tracing letters and numbers stuff she mastered last year) she does a handful of it and draws pictures or rewrites instructions. in arkansas can i pull her out now or do i have to wait till next semester? are they allowed to ask what programs i will use or my reasons for withdrawing her? as a parent to one i have no idea. you lovely ladies provide such a great comfort and sounding board to me. thank you all for everything. really thank you!
You have to give two week's notice to pull her (since the year has already started). You need to fill out a NOI and hand deliver it to the superintendent's office. You date your start date exactly 2 weeks out from the day your drop it off. On the NOI form is a place to write in what your curriculum and attendance plan is. Write whatever you want, there is no oversight or "approval" (and you don't have to stick to what you write down). Fill out the entire form, make a copy for yourself, and deliver it. You can request a copy from the office that is marked "received," but they may or may not give it to you. You do NOT need to answer any questions the office may ask.
Pull her out NOW!!!! Take some time to undo the damage!!!! Sorry, that's my first instinct...I would say that for this drastic of a change in such a short time that there is more to the story.
thank you actressdancer! i talked to my mom about this and she has a point. in a school as large as my dds there is a possibility that the teacher will not have any answers to give me other than "curriculum will pick up" or "all kids want more recess" im considering picking her up early and let her get relaxed and really thoroughly discuss this with her instead of trying to talk while shes taking a bath or rushed with other things. talk to her teacher first thing in the morning and the way things are looking travel across town to the superintendants offices for a noi. thank you all for the advice!
I saw the same changes in my sweet boy when he started prek. IMHO, I'd be filing that NOI today! The longer she is there in that environment that is affecting her negatively the longer it will take to reverse it once you pull her out. No offense tot he teacher, but she has a classroom full of kids, many that probably don't know a single letter, others who are far above 'grade level' but her hands are tied by the government rules and regulations and there probably isn't much she can do.
I went to get her a bit early today. It was her 16th day of school and she has had 2, count em TWO accidents (wetting) in 10 days. She is a soft spoken child and I'm sure cannot be overheard with other screaming kids, adults talking, intercoms. She said she was in her classroom when it happened, there is the teacher and her assistant so each are in charge of watching 11 children and she still managed to NOT get bathroom permission until it was too late. I AM LIVID. She has not wet her bed or had an accident here at home (even with the excitement of other children around) in over a year and a half. Amazingly, this afternoon she was happy, liked school, and was ready to go back. We shall see what the story is like in the morning. I will be going in early and getting some answers, I don't care if it hairlips everyone in the county. Her homework tonight was writing lower case letters. The child can read the instructions on the worksheet by herself! GRR! Frusteration, aggrivation. I'm sure that a trip to the si office to get a noi is in order. I just hope they give me no grief and the teacher can at least tell me why they are falling so short.
Falling so short? Honey, this is "school normal". When we first started homeschooling our DS in fifth grade, the first positive we saw was that we started getting our sweet happy boy back...
This current state of infuriating, chaotic, snail paced learning and lack of proper child supervision is the norm for school these days?! I had no idea! She's my only one. When we registered the school looked so advanced and I was assured that they would work with her even though she is intellectually a grade ahead of her age. I never wanted her to go to ps in the first place, but she insisted and I thought she could use the interaction with others. MAN OH MAN, was I wrong. I'm still puzzled by the "mama I hate school please don't make me go" attitude some days and the "schools not so bad" someday attitude from her. I will try to find out tomorrow morning. Who is willing to bet me that her teacher will not be able to give me the answers I'm looking for? I want to know why she obviously isn't getting to the bathroom on time while she's there. I want to know what can be done about moving her on to a curriculum that is something she doesn't already know. I want to know where her poor attitude is coming from. Are those questions too nitpicky? Is it asking too much of them? I don't think so.
What do you mean, SHE insisted? This is a PARENTAL decision, not one made by a 6yo! What do YOU think is best for her? If you feel she's best where she is, that's fine. If you feel she's best coming home, she comes home. PERIOD. As you said, her attitude changes day to day; you can't let her decide day to day what she wants to do.
My DS was in public school K. We had attitude problems ALL the time! He got picked on by other kids, and in turn, he would come home and pick on his sister. Some of the things he "learned" were not what I would call edifying, and there was definitely a deprogramming that had to be done at the end of the school year. He is now in 2nd grade, and doing very well! During that year in K, they had him tested with the standardized tests, and he scored pretty average. A few months ago (after 1st) I had him retested, and his LOWEST score was in the 88th percentile (which means that he scored as well as or better than 88% of other first graders). His highest score was the 99th percentile. Public school was holding him back, and it sounds like the same is true of your DD. I wish I had pulled him out earlier. Good luck!
I agree with Lindina and Jackie's last posts. You can talk all you want, but will probably get no where with the school. Schools teach to the masses because they have to teach the masses. There isn't enough funding or enough people in power who actually know anything about educating children for any of that to change. Even if her teacher sees the problem and wants to help, there isn't likely much she's going to be able to actually do. As far as one day she likes it, one day she doesn't...well, that's the emotional maturity of a 5 year old. That's normal for her age. You can't base parenting decisions on the emotions of a 5 year old. Yes. Check out all the links in the homeschooling in the news section of this board-it's mostly links we share with each other about horrid public school stories-from all over. It's bad. Because they have a classroom full of kids-bathroom breaks are scheduled and it may be against the rules for them to go any other time. This is normal. Probably nothing. Most of our local schools don't have 'advanced' classes until 2nd grade. Until then you might be lucky to get different level reading groups in the 2nd half of K or in 1st grade, but that's about it. (or you could homeschooler her and chose a curriculum that fits her LOL) The teacher probably doesn't know becuase, from my experience from talking to other mothers-this seems to be quite a normal response to children entering the PS system. Too nitpicky as a parent? No. Asking too much of the public school system...sadly, yes.
My granddaughter is in public kindy this year, after being in public pre-K last year, and the first thing my daughter noticed was the change in attitude. I've begged them to consider homeschooling, but ... no! >sigh< The precious, sweet, brilliant child now runneth over with attitude, resistance, mouthiness...
((((dawn)))) I homeschooled my twin boys because I just couldn't send them to school yet, I wasn't ready lol. They like your daughter were very sweet,and so well mannnered. their volcabulary blew the teachers away, they were never ever told they were bad. I always said they were being unaccepable. So at 5 when they went to class and the teacher was telling them your being bad. They just looked at her like what? she called and I explained that we used big words and actually talked to them. That if she would also do that they would understand. They had never been baby talked to. They had only been in school 2 weeks,and I heard words coming out of their mouths that literally made me cry. I cringe when I hear kids say they are "bad" and my kids were saying it. I told them that the teachers were the adults to listen to and what they said goes. So since she was saying they were bad,they began saying. :x I had spent years and years giving my kids a wonderful vocabulary. And in 2 weeks these others kids and teachers had wrecked all I did. :cry: They too slowly regressed as far as school work went. i've decided this year that we are back to homeschool!! I would take your little girl back now. i'm sorry that you are having to watch this,i'e seen it and its sad. many many (((hugs)))
I had a wonderful ps experience and seeing as this is my first and only child I thought maybe some of my reluctance to send her to ps was due to me being overprotective. She doesn't get much interaction with other kids. No hs groups here, cannot afford 200 a month for lessons of anything, no family with kids, nothing offered at the library. park, ect. It seemed like a logical step and I would supplement her learning at home or help her catch up if need be. Naturally, I considered what she wanted in my desicion. I had no idea that in the 7 years since I've graduated, school had become so....this. Jackie, you're reply was not what I expected, yet it was straight forward and honest. Thank you for that. Kim01 it breaks my heart when I hear people tell kids they ARE something. I've always told mine she is ACTING like something, explaining that it is not how she is and I would like her to resume her good behavior. Kids ARE not anything yet, their personalities and minds are still forming and changing. Negativity definately has an impact on who they become, lift them up instead of making them think they are already "bad" or something worse.
