I would say that DS's K class was better behaved than his First grade class. The reason--Mrs. K was a really good teacher and set up the classroom in a way that worked well for the kids, clear rules, lots of personal attention, lots of opportunities to learn physically, visually, aurally and through interacting with each other. Mrs. 1st, OTOH, was having problems in her home life, was tired and had trouble getting the kids to behave. These were many of the same kids in both classes and their behavior went down hill between K and first.
This was EXACTLY our kindergarten and first grade experience. Kindergarten was an enjoyable environment where there was mutual respect between the teacher and the kids. I couldn't believe how well the class of 24 kindergartners acted.
First grade, every child needed to fit into the mold the teacher envisioned or it wasn't pretty. She also had some personal issues that I think made her less emotionally present in the classroom.
