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Back-to-school is in 3 weeks and something is going to be different for many kindergartners in the Lane County School District: Full-day kindergarten. This will not be new. Used to be that many elementary schools, as well as many K-8 grade schools, had full day kindergarten in the past. For a while there, however, they switched to half-day kindergarten. I figured this was done for financial reasons. I get it that schools have to do what they have to do to keep their doors open and continue to pay teachers. (Sadly, many schools in this area have been forced to close and many teachers have lost their jobs.) I totally get that switching to half-day kindergarten was just one way for schools to cut costs. I am all for keeping schools in a good financial situation. In the past, I’ve donated to fundraisers and financially supported my kids’ school in whatever way possible. But given that each of my children have experienced full-day kindergarten as well as half-day kindergarten, I gotta say that given a choice between the two, I support full-day kindergarten.
These are just some of the things I learned from my son’s experience of going to half-day kindergarten compared to what my daughter got out of full-day kindergarten:
Full-day kindergarten prepares students for normal school hours.
Both of my kids attended preschool and sometimes they were not there for a full-day. I tried to have them attend full-day whenever possible because they LOVED their preschool and I felt it was a great way for them to prepare for being at school, albeit “Big Kid School,” for a longer period of time. This, however, didn’t happen and, wow, did my daughter have a time adjusting to being away from home for so long. She was used to it by the time she got to first grade, however. With my son, he was only at Big Kid School for a few hours – a BIG change from his preschool hours! Then after he went to school fulltime in the first grade, it was hard for him to adjust to being at school for so long. He just was not used to it, even though he was going to the same school he attended in kindergarten.
I understand that not all parents can afford to put their kids into preschool. I can’t judge how first going half-day then full-day in between grades would affect young children. That’s something for another parent to share about, I suppose.
Half-day kindergarten seemed like a waste of time.
As I went back and forth dropping my son off for school then driving to pick him up again, there were MANY times when I’d arrive at his school or his bus stop asking myself, Wasn’t I just here? Seriously, it seemed like only a few hours ago he was off to school. I seriously began to doubt if he was gaining much out of that very brief time he was there. Exactly how much teaching can you squeeze into that short amount of time? His teacher often sent home “supplemental schoolwork” for him to do at home and this further made me wonder if that stuff could’ve been worked on at school IF he was there long enough for it. With my daughter, she often came home from school with so many stories of ALL the things they did in her school day and things that happened at the school. It just seemed like my son barely even had any kind of kindergarten education when he attended for half-day.
The half-day schedules were CHAOS compared to full-day schedules.
Many schools have “no school” days. When my son was attending half-day kindergarten, however, the “no school” days became a game of cat and mouse. My son attended P.M. kindergarten and when it came to a “no school” days or half days, it was not easy figuring out who REALLY did not have school. On some days, the A.M. kinders had school but not the P.M. kinders – or vice versa. I always had to figure out myself if my son had to be at school on a certain day or no. Plus, they often changed release times for special days. Then if that wasn’t enough, it messed around with his bus schedule. I found that out the hard way when a bus driver on a different route had to let me know my son was on his bus. So what bus he got off on those special hours was always a mystery to figure out. With my daughter, however, on full-day kindergarten, “no school” meant no school.
Lunch was an issue.
The brutal truth about children: They get hungry. A LOT. And when a child is in school for even a few hours, he/she is gonna start asking for a snack every now and then. Being hungry at school was not an issue for my daughter because she was there for a full-day and got to eat lunch in the cafeteria and they also had snacks. But with my son, they didn’t serve lunch at first. I would, of course, feed my son breakfast before driving him to the bus stop, but eventually he started coming home and complaining about not being able to eat anything at school. Not even a snack. I took this up with the school and soon they started giving the P.M. kinders a brown bag lunch. The children were not able to eat in the cafeteria like the other kids, unfortunately, and, because they got a brown bag lunch, their choice of food was limited to a sandwich, fruit or veggie, milk and a cheese stick. This was not much of an improvement for my son because the only sandwich he would eat at that time was a peanut butter sandwich, and because a child in his classroom (where they were eating their food) had a peanut allergy, that kind of sandwich was forbidden. I really tried to get Jesse to eat the meat sandwich the school gave to him but he WOULD NOT touch it. (Even today, he doesn’t eat a meat sandwich!) I had to resort to sending along snacks, like crackers, for him to eat during their lunch time. When he went to first grade, however, the variety of foods available at the cafeteria took care of his lunch time problem.
Full-day kindergarten was SO much better than half-day because I had more time.
Now I have a personal reason why I like full-day kindergarten better than half-day: I got so much more done while my child was at school longer. I was able to work on my books longer, write more articles, read longer and run more errands – all because I had the time. I was able to get SO MUCH done in that uninterrupted time and it made for a better afternoon for myself and my child because, after a productive day, I could spend more time with her and give her more of my attention. I worked from home when both of my kids were in kindergarten so I did the bulk of my work while my daughter was at school. With my son, I did spend time with him for a while after he came home, but then I was back at the desk working on finishing up that last article I had to turn in to meet my deadline.
Going to kindergarten for half-day was not a complete disaster for my son, however. He still got to experience being in an elementary school setting. He still went on the annual field trips and got to attend the annual events. He still got to experience riding the bus to and from school. And he still got used to what kind of behavior was expected of him with his classmates and his teacher. I just really think full-day kindergarten would have been better for him because he would have been at school the same time that everybody else is at school and he would have been able to do more things. Learn more things.
Full-day kindergarten seems to have more benefit to children, in my opinion. I just really think it’s best for a child to attend kindergarten during the same hours their first grade and fifth grade classmates attend, because it will cause less confusion. I also feel they will be able to do more “kindergarten” stuff. I am glad students will be attending kindergarten fulltime this school year and I hope it will help ease their transition to regular first grade schedules when that time comes.
It seems like it’s one of the great laws of the universe: Every child is a picky eater. Both of my kids have been in a position to receive the World’s Pickiest Eater Award, if there was one to receive! Jennifer outgrew being a picky eater. I try to make the foods she likes, but she has grudgingly eaten even some of the foods she doesn’t like. With Jesse, on the other hand, it’s like I’m going through the Food Wars all over again – and this time, it’s interfering with his ability to eat lunch at school.
Recently, I asked Jesse what he ate for lunch at school. He told me he didn’t eat anything. I asked him why and he said he didn’t know. Then I asked him some other questions in order to understand what happened, such as if he was offered any food or if he wasn’t hungry, etc. He pretty much said he didn’t get to eat while everybody else did. And he told me he wasn’t offered anything to eat! I was upset about this, of course, as was my husband when I told him. Jesse normally takes a lunch to school, but today he was not able to. So I brought up this issue to find out what was going on.
I got a response this evening – a little too late for him to get a sack lunch from the cafeteria today. But when I read the teacher’s reply, it was definitely NOT the way Jesse had told it.
According to his teacher, Jesse IS being offered food at lunchtime, but the problem is, he’s not eating it. This was why I decided to send him a lunch from home in the first place; they gave him sack lunches and he never ate any of it! The food usually went to waste, and I hate wasting food. So I started to pack him a lunch, but when I couldn’t today, I just hoped he wouldn’t go hungry today.
Well, he did, but it wasn’t the school’s fault. According to the teacher’s email, there was a tray of sandwiches, fruits and veggies available for kids who didn’t have a lunch, but Jesse only picked an apple that he did not eat.
So, the bottom line is, he IS getting food at school, but he’s just not eating it. Ugh! No wonder he always comes home from school so hungry. (I usually fix him something to eat when he gets home from school. I know what kinds of things he likes -- hot dogs, cheese quesadillas, corn dogs, chicken nuggets and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches -- all things he can't get at school. Especially the peanut butter since a child in his class has a severe peanut allergy and his classroom is a "peanut-free zone.")
The reason why I could not send a lunch with Jesse today is because we were out of juice boxes. I did not have a cold drink to stick into his lunch. But I just remembered we have bottled water in storage for emergencies, so maybe the next time this happens, I’ll just give him bottled water to take along with his food. It seems like he’s just not going to eat school lunches at this time. Maybe later, he will eat the school lunches, but it’s just not going to happen now.
Today, my son went on his very first kindergarten field trip. We were both excited about it, but I was also nervous. He was going to ride on that big bus and go to a big farm where he’d be walking through a big pumpkin patch! Eek! My baby! So of course, I volunteered to go along on the field trip. When Jennifer was Jesse’s age, she was a tough little kiddo, so I didn’t worry about her at all. (She’s STILL tough, too! She once punched a boy who was fighting with one of her friends. Yep, my daughter has fists, and she knows how to use them!) But with Jesse, I did worry. I just HAD to be with him.
Even though I’ve been struggling with a bad cough for over a week. I STILL had to be with him for this field trip! So I volunteered. It was the first time I ever volunteered to go on a field trip, so I was a little excited, too. (Later, I realized this would be a good experience, because in one of the stories I just wrote, my characters go on a field trip and there are a couple of parents who volunteered to go on the trip, too, so I got a better idea of just what that kinda thing is like.) I was very close to canceling, though, because of my cough, but then I learned that I just wasn’t gonna be tagging along here. Oh, no! I was gonna have a job! I had to help out!
I was assigned four children to be responsible for, and Jesse was among them. I couldn’t back out, now! Good thing I’d brought extra cough drops along with me. (The cough syrup I started taking today and the cough drops are not a huge help, but they do help a little bit. And, thankfully, my cough was not as bad while I was on the trip.)
When we got on the bus, I let Jesse pick where we would sit. And he just HAD to pick a seat that was at one of the emergency exits! I saw that and thought, ‘Oh, no.’ I remembered an essay in a book written by my friend, Tara Chevrestt, about how she was forced to change seats on a flight because she is deaf and was sitting next to an emergency exit, and the airline staff wouldn’t allow her to sit next to an emergency exit because she is deaf. Even though Tara KNEW how to easily open an emergency exit on a plane, they still made her move, because she’s deaf! I hoped that nobody would make me move from my seat just because I was a deaf person sitting next to the emergency exit. I mean, I understand why they do it, but it’s just really annoying. I’d probably get a little mad about it.
But, thankfully, nobody pointed any fingers saying, “Hey! That deaf woman is sitting next to the emergency exit! We’re all doomed!” Nobody asked me to move. And I was grateful for that!
On the way to the farm we went out to, I saw another farm I’ve been trying to figure out how to get to, because they have a harvest celebration going on later this month and I want to take the kids this year for sure. I saw it and was like, ‘Oh, there it is.’
When we got to the farm, I was taken aback at just how HUGE it is! There’s a store selling things grown on the farm, and the animals of course, but A LOT of acres and so many things planted. There was the cornfield, assorted flowers, assorted trees and vegetables, and a ginormous pumpkin patch! It was just so big. Looking around, I started to wonder if people who worked there needed to carry a map so they didn’t get lost!
We got on a hay truck, sitting on bales of hay, and rode out to the pumpkin patch. I made sure I had all four of my young charges with me the whole time, as well as when we went through the pumpkin patch looking for pumpkins. It was wet and muddy! (The teacher was smart to wear mud boots.) I helped all four of the kids with cleaning off their chosen pumpkins and placing their pumpkins into their bags. Jesse and one other boy in the group selected big pumpkins, which I ended up carrying for them later on when it was time to leave. (I was not allowed to, because the kids have to be able to carry their own pumpkins, but I felt bad for them, especially the little boy who had to keep sitting his big pumpkin down.)
We adults also worked together to keep track of all the kids and help them out. It was just such a positive and welcoming environment. One other mom had volunteered as well as the teacher aide and it was just a great feeling of acceptance and teamwork among us all. I was grateful to them for their kindness and smiles.
After the kids got pumpkins, we all took pictures as they checked out the scarecrow, fed the goats, visited the rabbits, saw the chickens and played in a little play area. We all had a great time.
Then it was time to go back to the school. Boo-hoo! We didn’t want to leave. While I did pick up on a sad feeling while I was in the pumpkin patch, I really enjoyed visiting that farm and found it so hard to leave. It was like I couldn’t pull myself away from there! I wanted to run through the mud! Go out into the fields! Be among all those growing plants and all those roaming animals! It’s so fun to visit a farm and I could just stay there all day.
But we did have to leave. I am grateful for this experience. It was awesome! Jesse and I have pictures and a video I made to remember his field trip with, and a nice pumpkin he’ll get to carve for Halloween.
Tonight was Jesse’s first Open House at his new school, as a kindergartner. Jennifer was not feeling well today and had missed school, but I could not leave her home alone, so she had to come with us. She wasn’t happy about it but she got into day clothes, put on her sneakers and put on her hoodie to go with us. I was excited because this was Jesse’s very first Open House. I remember Jennifer’s very first Open House; Jesse had been a baby in the stroller at that time. Now it was his turn.
It was nice to see his teacher tonight. I also got to check out a special picture he made that was hanging on the wall. I got to check out his desk and go through his classroom, looking at everything. I also signed up for a parent-teacher conference.
Jennifer enjoyed meeting Jesse’s teacher but she wanted to go visit with her 5th grade teacher. I told her to go on ahead and we’ll catch up with her.
From the classroom, we explored the library then we went to the Music Room. While I chatted with the music teacher, Jesse went straight for the piano to try it out. I was surprised because he’d never shown any interest in playing a piano before. Jennifer has been asking for piano lessons for months. I asked the music teacher about it and she said every time Jesse’s class is in there, he goes for the piano. I made a mental note to consider piano lessons for him, as well. (Hey, if a kid has an interest in a musical instrument, I think parents should run with that!)
We also toured the cafeteria then spent some time talking with the principal after Jennifer rejoined us, as well as some other staff members of the school. It was nice to see some familiar faces again.
Finally, we checked out the playground, and Jesse pointed out what he liked to play on during recess. Walking around the campus, Jennifer got nostalgic. I could tell just by the way she was looking around that she was recalling special memories from when she attended that school. She smiled at me and said, “I’m happy I came here.” I am so glad she had some good times at that school.
It was a very nice first Open House for my kindergartner and I look forward to going to future events.
Tuesday was Jennifer’s first day of sixth grade and yesterday was Jesse’s first day of kindergarten. My daughter is now in middle school and my son is now in elementary school. Wow! I wanted to get a blog post about their first days and I wanted to do this after they have both had their first days at school, so that I could have their pictures together. Because yesterday was 9/11 and pretty much a day of “blogging silence” for me, I did not post about it then.
But I will post about it now.
Here are their first day pictures:
For Jennifer, it was an exciting day. Her first day at middle school! Quite a big deal. I remembered my first day in junior high. It was awesome! I wanted this day for Jennifer to be awesome, too. We were going back and forth to make sure she had everything she needed and that she did not need any other papers or anything signed or filled out. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to take her lock for her locker and I told her it was probably a good idea to take it. She was not worried or freaked out at all. She was actually pretty excited and ready to take middle school on! I was proud of her. I chose not to go into the school with her to say goodbye; didn’t want to embarrass her. She was confident and focused and didn’t seem nervous at all. It was a good first day for her.
For Jesse, he was also excited about starting kindergarten. He was ready to go! I made sure he had his backpack and extra T-shirt labeled and reminded him that he would not be having lunch at the school. I made sure he had a good breakfast and snack before he left. When we got to the school, he actually ran to go inside! He couldn’t wait to get to school. When we went through the office, the principal smiled at him and the secretaries cheered him and gave a thumbs-up on our way to his classroom. He found his cubby just fine and even said hi to some of the kids in the class. He wasn't nervous or clingy at all. It was just a day back at school for him. Some parents were sticking around with their kids for their first day but I decided it was best if I did not do the same. Didn’t want to cause him to worry. And I didn’t want him to see his mommy cry, either. I actually got emotional and teared up watching my baby in his first day of kindergarten. I wanted to run over and pick him up and hold him close to me for the longest time. I actually had to FORCE myself to leave the classroom! I had to repeat to myself “keep walking, keep walking” and try to assure myself he would be FINE. I was so proud of him but also sad because he wasn’t so much of a baby anymore.
My kids are growing up. Waaah!!
As I was leaving, I kept seeing familiar faces from when Jennifer was a student there. It was nice to see everybody again and say hi. When I walked out of the school, the other classes were at recess and I remembered how I’d often run to the school for something or another and see Jen at recess. I can still remember the same door she walked out of when in kindergarten; not it’s Jesse’s turn to walk out that door when school is out. It will definitely take me time to get used to this now being JESSE’S school instead of Jennifer’s.
After school was out, both of the kids told me about their days. And, of course, I had more paperwork to fill out. Yippee skip! I was surprised by one notice I got from Jesse’s school: They are now going to serve lunch to the kindergartners. Yay! The kids will get a sack lunch starting next week. I am so relieved and so happy. I was worried about Jesse and other children going hungry. (But I don’t think they would make the children go hungry. In fact, when I was there this morning, one student was sitting at a desk eating fruit salad. I’m sure they’d give a child an apple or something in the event of being hungry.) But I am just so very glad they will have lunch now. Yay! Thank you to whoever made that possible.
The kids love their schools and we have been spending the week getting settled into a routine. I’m loving the afternoon school Jesse has and Jen is grateful she doesn’t have to get up as early as she used to for elementary school. We look forward to seeing what else the new school year will bring.
Today was a “meet and greet” kinda day for the kids. Both of them will be going into new schools for the new school year and today they met their teachers and saw where their classrooms was. (Well, Jesse did. The teacher for Jen’s room had the door locked the WHOLE time and we didn’t get to go inside! What the heck?) Jesse's teacher has a last name that is hard to pronounce but, thankfully, Jennifer's teacher does not. It's a common last name easy for me to pronounce. We also got the final paperwork taken care of and the school fee paid for Jen’s school. (I have to pay the fee for Jesse’s school on Wednesday – it is an annual school supply fee, which means I don’t have to buy him any school supplies. Yes! But I did have to buy school supplies for Jennifer. Sigh! The kids also got new clothes and Jen's dad bought her a backpack.)
When I was in the process of enrolling Jesse into his new school, I could not help but think how much enrollment has changed ever since I enrolled Jennifer into kindergarten. But the surprises did not end with enrollment! Now this school has morning and afternoon school for kindergartners. Additionally, the kindergartners don’t get lunch! When Jennifer was in kindergarten, she was there for a full day (except on early release days) and she DID get lunch! But now that won’t be the case for Jesse. Wow, I wonder when they stopped giving kindergartners lunch?
So I explained the situation to Jesse. I told him that, not only would he be having breakfast with me because he’s going to afternoon school, but he will also be having lunch with me. Of course I’m concerned he’ll get hungry at school (my kids are ALWAYS hungry!), but it’s only for a few hours so I think he’ll be okay. I assured him he WILL get lunch no matter what happens.
At Jen's new school, we got a little lost, even though we had a map. That place is like a maze! We had to ask some people where certain places were. After a while, we found an easy route for Jen to get to her locker then to her classroom. Easy enough to remember. But the funny thing was that, as we were leaving, we got lost again! We couldn't find a way out! And it was like we were the last people there because lights were off and doors were locked in some parts of the building. (It was almost 8 p.m.) I joked to Jen that maybe they locked us in. Eventually, though, we found our way to a door that opened to outside and not to some fenced-in court like with one door.
After everything was done and settled, Jennifer spent time texting with her friends to see what classes they had together. For Jesse, it’ll be brand new; none of his friends who graduated from preschool will be there and neither will his friend who lives next door. I am confident he will make new friends at his new school and I’m glad he’ll be at a school where I know so many of the staff.
Tomorrow is the big day and we are excited about the new school year!
On Thursday, September 6th, my daughter started her first day of kindergarten. We were both excited about this new big change in her life. No more preschool; she was going to school with the BIG kids now. She was going to a school that had OTHER grades, too, and not just hers.
At the same time, I was worried. I had ALL of these worries hanging over me: What if she gets bullied? What if her teachers are mean? What if she gets lost? Etc., etc. My biggest worry, though, was being able to LEAVE her there for 6 1/2 hours. HOW WAS I GOING TO SURVIVE THAT LONG WITHOUT HER??!!!
Still, I pushed these worries aside and tried to maintain a positive attitude about her big day. We did all of the pre-school stuff, enrollment paperwork and meeting everyone before the big day arrived. We attended the open house and toured her classroom. I, of course, asked every question I could think of during all of it.
Then Thursday came. Jennifer was excited about her big day. She LOVED her new school clothes and said she hoped she'd get some more later (she got her wish on Sunday). But once we got to the school and started walking in that HUGE crowd of children, her excitement faded and she started clinging to me. She was obviously nervous about being around soooo many children, some of them older than her. I stayed by her side as we went into the cafeteria and sat down. The place was PACKED!! There were sooo many children. The teachers came in to collect their students. When Jennifer's teacher called them to the front, she lined them up and gave them all a public welcome to the school. Everybody clapped. Some parents took pictures. Then I followed her to her classroom and made sure she knew what to do: Put her backpack, lunch box and jacket in her cubby. Then I helped her find her name tag, which all of the children in the class had to wear. Then I stayed back and watched as she sat on the carpet with the other children and the teacher talked with them. Soon, the children had to say goodbye to their parents. Jennifer got up to gave me a hug and we signed "I love you" to each other before she walked back to the carpet.
It was NOT easy leaving her there. I sort of stuck around outside of the door to watch for a little bit as she talked with children in the group then with the teacher. Of course, I KNEW I couldn't stay there, and I finally pulled myself away to leave.
Later that day, the parking lot was CHAOS when school let out. If I had thought the inside of the school had been full, then the outside at the end of school was PACKED. I mean, I had to drive VERRRY slowly through the parking lot to where Jennifer was with her teacher and classmates, waiting for the parents. Her teacher walked her to the car and helped her in. Then I had to drive with my foot on the brake just to get out of there. Boy, oh boy, I'd never realized how CRAZY school parking lots were when school was out. And it's not just cars everywhere, but children, too.
The next day, I again walked with her through the cafeteria and to her class. This time, though, I hung back to watch her, just to make sure she knew where to go and what to do. And also make sure she didn't get separated from her group on the way to her class! Unfortunately, she fell behind, but she still walked right to her classroom so I was relieved she at least knew how to get there if she gets separated from the group again. She was also more comfortable being around all of the children and even started conversations with some of them. And, yes, even I was able to pull myself away once again. Heh.
Today she wanted to buy lunch at her school. All jokes about the food I make aside, I decided we should give it a shot and see how it works out. This morning, though, I was too dizzy to drive her to school, so I constantly reminded her to give her teacher her lunch money and tell her that she wanted to buy her lunch. (The children are allowed to give the teacher their lunch money if the parents don't have other arrangements with the school lunch program. One arrangement is for parents to have a tab running and the child is assigned a number and each time they buy lunch, the amount is deducted from the tab.) I had confidence in Jennifer's ability to remember to tell her teacher about her lunch plans and I kept trying to assure myself she would be fine. I had even drilled her on if she knew what to do in the cafeteria -- where to go, etc. -- and she said, "Aw, Mom. I know how to buy lunch." All the same, I caved in and called the office, just to be sure. (Yeah, I know. I think I need help!) I talked to someone in the office about Jen's situation and she assured me not to worry, they have staff in the cafeteria to help the children buying lunch and she would make sure Jennifer would have no trouble buying her lunch. (Yup, I had just managed to single my child out at lunch time. She'll never forgive me for this.)
Her 3rd day at school went well. The more she attends, the more excited she is about it. She told an interpreter at my doctor appointment "I love school!" and she keeps going on and on about it. I think the more we get through each day, the more easier it'll be for me to let her go, too.
...but only for a little while.
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