Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Elementary School Kindergarten 2009-2010

Wow, JJsmom, you are lucky to have such small classes at your school! Our local public school is expecting about 200 students, and last I checked there were only 7 teachers! (I think there will be 8, but that still makes 25 kids/class).

I have been busy trying to contact folks at our school, so we can meet with the teacher, the school nurse, and the food services director. (DS5 has peanut/tree nut/dairy allergies, just to make him even more different!) School doesn't start until after Labor Day, so it's been tough getting hold of people. And though the principal promised hand-picking of the teacher, I still don't know if this has happened, so of course I worry. (And I have heard wonderful things about the teacher he's supposed to get, so I really hope it happens!)

LOL. This is so true! I am glad you liked the teacher. The small class size is a really nice bonus. Is it possible that his class has lots of kids with IEP and therefore is smaller than the other K classes?

I assume that is like an extra person....we usually call them paras or paraprofessionals. Every place calls them something different. But not in our district, we don't have them at all, except for in self-contained special education classrooms. We also don't have bus monitors either, which really bothers me because I have a hard time driving and keeping control of my vehicle at times with 2 in the seat....imagine busdrivers doing it by themselves, that is pretty irresponsible to me. Anyhow I do work in a school that has pre-k and K and they have paras in every classroom (and bus monitors)....and their classes are smaller as well. It's a great school but is also in a district with a lot of "needs improvement" schools.

Yeah, they call them parapros down here (or paraprofessionals, which of course is what they are). DS5's school has them in every classroom. They don't have bus monitors, but they also don't completely fill them up completely and have assigned seats, etc... of course, DS is not riding the bus yet. He's my first DC, so I'm a mess with him just going into elementary, let alone riding the bus!!!

Sorry for the late reply, but count me in!

DS5 will be starting K in the local public school in a few weeks. We requested a skip to 1st grade, but the policy here is that they must start in the grade they would normally start in (by age) and then they will assess and move up as appropriate.

I am completely stressed out about the upcoming school year! The school, so far, has been completely wonderful! I just spoke to the teacher who is coordinating my son's education plan, and she said that a team of people will be meeting the week before school to go over the plan, provide input, etc. Then they want to meet with me to go over the plan. I'm a bit nervous to see what they have come up with, but I think they really "get" my son, so hopefully it will be challenging for him.

The real wildcard is DS himself! We've had various behavior issues with him, which I hope won't continue this year. So, things will be very interesting. Ah! The number of gray hairs on my head grows by the day....

I look forward to hearing how everyone is doing this year, and wish everyone a successful school year!

I hear you, I am anxious about the whole bus thing too as he is my first child going to school as well. This is all new to me and the bus idea is a little overwhelming. I am sure he will survive it. I guess we will see.

I just want to say I feel the same exact way, DS definitely has his behaviors as well. Mostly in groups and settings that seem somewhat like school will be. At home he is pretty decent (although we had two horrible days last week but he seems to be over whatever hormones were going on there). He has his moments, and I keep praying that in the next few weeks before school starts that he matures greatly....although I am a little skeptical that that can happen in 4 weeks.

m2gts - I'm the same way. Like at the orientation thing, DS had a meltdown from being totally overwhelmed with how many people were there, not knowing anyone in his class, etc... then today, he didn't even want anyone to walk him to his classroom for the first day. It's like he's Mr. Independent Amazingly Behaved one day and the next he's 2yrs old again. And I'm hoping the same thing happens with my DS - the whole start in K, then assess him to see if he needs to be in a different class/grade.

I do find it "funny" that he was watching the weather like a hawk this morning. He was very upset when they said there was a chance of rain b/c he has PE today (they do an "extras" rotation for PE, Music, Art, etc). He was so sad that he might not have it b/c of the weather. But when I explained there was a gym, he was like "whew"! He's more excited about PE (and his other "extras") than regular class b/c he knows he's going to be bored.

PS. Mom was a little bit of a mess this morning, but she survived - LOL

DS didn't even have an orientation, which worries me a lot. He is just going to take a bus (thankfully we did have a tour ride with just our family) and then they mill them all into the cafeteria and his teacher will take them to their classroom (which he hasn't seen yet). He is skipping K, so this is all new to him. He went to the school once for a couple hours in the spring and they stuck him in a couple classrooms to see how he did. He enjoyed that. So that is what he knows. It makes me kind of sad because for K they have an orientation, and he is K age, but not going into K...so no orientation. The did do a bus ride for us, and I requested going in the day before school but was told that we would have to check with teacher and see because they are going to be really busy. I do think the school is good so far, but I am still a little justifiably apprehensive.

Good luck! to all the families starting today.

Hang in there! to all the parents who have to wait another few weeks before the first day.

Good wishes! to all the homeschoolers...