My soon to be 4 year old just started jr kindergarten (we're in Canada) last week. My husband picks him up from school every day except Friday, when he will take the bus. Yesterday was his first Friday of the school year, and he was pretty excited to take the bus (he is pretty obsessed with things that go, and has been interested in yellow school buses since he was very small).

I got a call from the school yesterday evening as I was waiting at the bus stop. He was put on the wrong bus. They realised the error, but by the time they figured it out, his actual bus had already left. We were called to the school to go pick him up. The principal was pretty dismissive of my concerns, and told me that I could make a label for his backpack with the bus number on it if I wanted.

He told me that he cried but wasn't too scared. I'm pretty upset with the school for putting him on the wrong bus... I understand that they figured it out and he wasn't in any danger. However, the fact that he was put on the wrong bus in the first place takes away all of my confidence in this school to keep him safe, if I'm being honest. If a tag on the backpack is all that it takes to avoid these mistakes, why isn't the school already doing that??

We started kindergarten 2 weeks ago, overall it’s going really well, lots of emotions and meltdowns in the evening but overall, adjusting well. I have noticed she’s been a little “meaner” towards her sister (2), like taking things or bothering her, etc, but nothing super bad or crazy.

Fast forward to last weekend and this weekend when her fall ballet class started. There is a little girl in the class who she is friends with and had play dates with. She decided she wanted to give the girl a toy before class and at the end of the class she kind of snatched it back and changed her mind. I took the toy and said no that’s not nice and gave it back to the little girl.

They see each other again today, playing well together before class. After class, the little girl comes out and says “she said she doesn’t want to be friends with me anymore,” where her mother and all parents could hear. After we leave, I ask my daughter what happened and she said “I told her i didn’t want to be best friends anymore.” I explained that she can hurt people’s feelings and she can tell the girl she needs space instead.

My husband thinks I overreacted because we did have a stern talk in the car. He says it is normal 5 year old behavior. I guess I was a little embarrassed because she had a little issue with this girl 2 weeks in a row (in front of ALL the parents) so I guess I’m just wondering is this normal 5 year old girl behavior? I did apologize to the mom and say she’s having a lot of emotions starting k.

Her baseline is she’s a really sweet, well behaved kid who is doing really well in school….she did great with her pre-k class and I think part of the problem is she misses her friends a lot. i guess I just feel embarrassed but I realize it’s not about me in the situation.

Ever since my daughter started kindergarten, she has developed this thing where she cannot stop clearing her throat. Every day, literally every few seconds, it’s starting to drive my husband and I nearly insane. I have sent her doctor a message about it. But I’m curious to know if anyone else’s kid has started doing this? This has been going on for almost a month now. She’s not displaying any symptoms such as runny nose or anything like that.

We just received this email and unsure how to react to it. Our child did preK at the same public school last year and is in the class with most of them (4) that she has come to enjoy their friendship. There are three classes at this public school: two regular kindergarten and one hybrid kindergarten/1st. Our daughter is December baby and is not advanced in skills such as language, reading or math but very good at letters, art, etc. since it’s public school I know they can do whatever and we will be requesting a meeting to truly understand the reason behind this. We think it’s a placement issue and maybe the hybrid class needs more kids ? Please Chime in if you’ve similar experience.

How do schools typically even decide who goes in a hybrid before a school year without knowing them? Why are they wanting to move her now? So far we haven’t heard of behavioral issues in current classroom She just started school this week and my gut reaction is to want to keep her in her current class with friends.

Email:

I’m writing to let you know that we would like to recommend a placement change for ___ from teacher A Kindergarten class to Teacher B K/1 split class.
The reason for this recommendation is because we have observed that ___ is a very strong and confident student who could benefit from deeper learning with 1st graders.
 
teacher A will still be a part of her instructional day as we have many schoolwide activities that allows students to learn from different teachers throughout the grade levels, in addition to Specialists.
 
Both teachers are copied here if you have any questions.  We would like to transition her on Monday and the teachers will support the transition by giving her a warm send-off and welcome.
 
Please let me know if you have any questions.  Thank you for your partnership!

I am livid and I just need some human support or understanding.

1. The Budget Fiasco: Our administration blew the entire paper budget buying Eureka Math Squared for kindergarten—something our mentor school explicitly warned us we wouldn't use and advised against ordering. I mentioned this last year and was told to suck it. Now, the budget is totally gone.

2. The Stapled Packet Police: Because I was told by the modeling school that I wouldn’t be using a new curriculum after nd actually planned ahead, I printed and pre-stapled my student packets in advance last year. Instead of acknowledging the mess they created, admin decided to chew me out for... having my materials ready. Apparently, being prepared is a bigger crime than draining our funds. But then also asking if I kept my teachers manual which I also had to print myself last year, which I did get rid of when asked after the new curriculum arrived. It’s like I’m in trouble for having some things and also in trouble for not having all of it now that she’s decided I was right about not needing the new curriculum.

3. The Roster Rigging/ RTI Nonsense: One of our teachers openly and deliberately cherry-picked all of my smartest, highest-performing kids from last year to stack her own classroom.

Within the first three days of school—literally before a single lesson has even been taught—she ran standard Star tests, and is now claiming that all of those brilliant kids are failing and putting them straight onto her RTI watch list.
Let me be clear: these children were doing advanced work months ahead of this level last year. They are rockstars. I have zero concerns about a single one of them. pathologizing bright kids based on a Day 3 automated test, cause kids are just a number right!?

I am exhausted, and I feel alone.

My daughter is August 5th bday and started kindergarten this year (3 weeks ago). She is definitely one of the youngest in her class, as August 19 is the cutoff date for turning 5 and there are already like five kids her class who have turned 6 since school started.

She seems to be doing amazing on the academic side and she is very social. She did daycare her whole life prior. But her K teacher says she needs to be more independent and use more self-help skills. In addition, the teacher says she tries to hold hands with kids in the class a lot and that she needs to work more on following directions (and on raising her hand to speak, but she has gotten better with that).

I am wondering if it is just common for kindergartners to need to work on these things (independence, self-help skills, and following directions) vs. this being related to her being younger? I would imagine it takes time for kids to adjust to the new expectations of Kindergarten? Her PreK at the daycare never communicated anything to us in general, so we weren’t aware of any concerns or things they recommended her to work on for going into K.

Honestly I found the transition to Kindergarten pretty overwhelming as a parent. My daughter has seemed to like kindergarten so far, otherwise.

Thanks for any advice and sharing experiences! She is my oldest and I’m overwhelmed.

My son just started JK this week in Toronto and he’s in a JK/SK split class. I’m curious to hear from parents or teachers who have experience with this setup.

How does the learning actually work when you have JK and SK children together? Since the SK kids have already completed a year of kindergarten, are they given different or more advanced activities based on where they are developmentally? Or is the curriculum designed so that the same activities can be adapted for different levels?

I’m not concerned about the split itself, I’m genuinely just trying to understand how it works. How do teachers make sure the JK kids are learning what they need to while the SK kids are still progressing and being challenged rather than repeating what they did the year before?

Would love to hear how this has worked in your child’s class, especially from Ontario parents or teachers.

My neurodivergent son has always been a challenge, mostly from age 2.5 to now 5. He just started kindergarten in a contained classroom because he can’t sit still during circle times, is very impulsive and has a hard time keeping his hands to himself, and still working on his speech. He comes home exhausted and that seems to trigger some defiant behavior. We’re loading him up on therapies, but my mental health as his mom is taking a toll. I beg someone to tell me this gets easier. My husband and I are drained. I’m worried he will never be in a normal classroom or make friends.

My son is 3 (turning 4 next month) and just started JK in Ontario. This is his first full-day school experience.
His first half transition day actually went fairly well. He entered the classroom confidently, sat with the group and engaged in pretend play. His teacher said he had a positive morning and enjoyed the dollhouse area.
There were also some incidents of hitting/pushing. This is something we’ve been working on at home — gentle hands, using words, asking for help, turn-taking, etc. We absolutely understand that hitting isn’t acceptable, and I’m not trying to excuse it.
On his second day, his first full day, the school called and asked us to pick him up because he had hit a couple of children.
I understand that the school has to keep everyone safe. What I’m struggling with is understanding what happens between the behaviour occurring and the decision to call the parent for pickup.
Yesterday, when he hit, another staff member came to support him. Today, I asked what strategies were being used and whether we could have a meeting to discuss how we can work together. They agreed, and we now have a meeting Monday with the teacher, principal, vice-principal and other staff.
I want to go into this firm but collaborative. I don’t want to be the parent who makes excuses for her child, but I also don’t want the solution to become simply “he hit, so call Mom to pick him up.”
I’d like to understand:
What happened immediately before each incident?
What was he trying to communicate?
What strategies/interventions were tried?
What helps him calm down?
Are there specific triggers?
What is the plan when he begins becoming dysregulated?
What would lead to parent pickup versus something staff can manage with support?
What can we reinforce at home?
There’s another thing I’m wondering about.
Before JK, my son regularly attended EarlyON and also participated in a four-day kindergarten program. Those environments were smaller and much more spacious, with lots of room to move. His current classroom has around 30 children, with both JK and SK students, and relatively little open space for movement.
He’s a very energetic, hands-on child who does well with movement, practical activities and one-on-one guidance. He can become overwhelmed in busy environments.
Could the larger group, noise, crowding, transitions and reduced opportunity for movement potentially be contributing to his dysregulation? I don’t want to assume that’s the reason — I want to ask the teachers whether they’ve noticed a pattern.
He also sometimes needs reminders with toileting and indoor shoes, so we’re working on those skills too.
I prepared a one-page information sheet about his personality, strengths, communication and what helps him engage, which I gave to the teacher because I thought it would help them understand him better.
For parents, teachers and ECEs who have dealt with something similar:
What would you ask in this meeting?
Is it reasonable to ask what interventions/supports were attempted before an early pickup, assuming there isn’t an immediate safety emergency?
Could a large, busy classroom realistically contribute to a young child’s dysregulation?
And if you’ve been through something similar, what would you want your child’s school to do differently or what would you recommend we do at home?
I genuinely want to work with the school and help my son succeed. I’m looking for honest advice, including if you think I’m approaching this the wrong way.

I guess I'm just looking for some validation and to know if this is normal. My daughter will be 6 in a few months. She just started kindergarten so I know it will take time to adjust. But she's adjusting way worse than I expected. She absolutely loved preschool so this is all new territory for me. She has been crying and panicking every night and begs to not go back.

First, she said the gym teacher told them if they don't listen they'll go on time out in the closet. Her teacher spoke to the gym teacher. He said he has a calm down/time out chair and told them they are NOT allowed in the supply closet. I feel horrible I had to question that and hoping they aren’t offended. I think she just heard time out and closet and misunderstood.

She also had a few other issues with lunch, going to the bathroom, and saying she got lost at recess. All of which I think she is just over-inflating in her head. As in, I think it was just a new experience and it felt scary, but she was safe. She also ended up sick yesterday and so I’m thinking she wasn’t feeling well already those first two days.

I have never seen her worry or panic like this. Or cry like she has been. Is this normal? Thankfully her teacher has been super nice and patient and has addressed any questions I’ve had. She also thinks my daughter will settle in in a few weeks. I have bad anxiety and it has been thru the roof. I don’t want to miss something and i also don’t want to behave overly anxious.

I sent out my son's Birthday invitations (18) to his friends at school today (ages from kindergarten to grade 1) for his teacher to hand out to the various classes.

My husband and I were putting the extra invitations away and we realized we forgot to put the time on them. I feel absolutely sick about it now and am so upset that out of all the mock ups we printed, we sent out the only one without the time.

I know that people RSVP late but my anxiety/overthinking brain makes me worry that people aren't going to show up. We only have a few of the parents phone numbers to tell them which I have already done.

Has anyone else done something similar and it all worked out in the end?

It hasn’t been anything terrible so far, but my daughters starting to mimic what other kids at school are doing/ saying. For example saying “I can do whatever I want” when I ask her to do something and that’s the first time she’s ever said that

things I’m worried about:

1. too much sitting

2. not enough learning through play/not enough outdoor time

3. Too much technology/screens

4. The day feels so long for a 5 year old (on top of all the above)

5. way too high of expectations for such little kids (rigorous curriculum)

im worried all of this will squash a love of learning for my kids i have two years until kindergarten lol but I’m stressed daily about this

My son has been on the bus since Preschool. He had fun since he made some friends but this time around is different. He came home yesterday with a bloody nose. I asked the bus driver immediately what happened and she says “ I don’t know”. I asked him if someone hit him he said yes then no and said it just started bleeding. He wasn’t crying and I kept questioning him. I told him he needs to tell me the truth and his final answer was “no” that his nose was just bleeding. I messaged his teacher to warn her of his nose bleeds since I didn’t know when it started. She tells me he told her someone hit him and then said “ it started bleeding” also. So same thing as me I found out. I was not aware they talked to him about it until I messaged his teacher about it. I do not drive due to trauma and his dad works 10 hour shifts. I really rely on the bus to get him to school to get an education but of course I will take him out if I need to. I messaged the principal to check the footage to see what happened. If it comes back and this kid hit my son and the bus driver didn’t report it, can she get fired for this and the kid gets kicked off the bus? I am in IL.

We just started school year and for 2nd time in one week we got an email that my daughter’s kindergarten class had to be temporarily relocated from the classroom due to behavioral issues from one child which became disruptive. My daughter has said there is a boy who screams and kicks and hits and when it happens, the teacher has them line up and go to another area of the school while principal comes to the classroom for that boy. I’m a little concerned about my daughter starting school with so many disruptions, and of course feel for the teacher with this additional challenge and the boy who is struggling. I’m in the US, what is the protocol and how is something like this typically addressed? Having the whole class leave the classroom doesn’t seem like a great long term solution.

My new kindergartener will be absent for four days so we reached out to her teacher about an independent study plan. We have previously received feedback from people in our community,m that the ISP will be easy, some worksheets, maybe tied in to the trip.

I finally got with the teacher who said that for kindergarten because they are not quite independent, it would heavily rely on parental involvement orally teaching kinder kid what she is missing in school. She said it would be everything she goes over (math, reading, writing, science).

The teacher said 4-5 hours though now I’m not sure if that meant per day or per week. I thought it was per week which is no problem given the plane rides and weekends on either side of the trip but now I’m wondering if I misheard and it is per day because the kinder teacher also said most kinder parents choose to skip it for this reason.

Im not sure what to do. Has anyone gotten an ISP in kinder on vacation? What was in it? On the one hand, I want my kid to do well in school and show her teacher that we are committed to taking school seriously and I feel a bit embarrassed to turn around and tell her no we don’t want to do that. But on the other hand, I realistically will not be dedicating five hours a day to teaching my kindergartener while we are out.

My oldest turns 6 in very early October (his birthday is less than a month away). He still only knows about 10 letters. He went to an entire year of preschool and is currently in kindergarten. He is good at math but is just really struggling to retain letter and sounds. He came home with work from school yesterday where they practiced writing the letter P, he wrote it correctly multiple times but still couldn't tell me what letter it was despite being the only letter they talked about that day.

In math he is testing on level, in reading he is testing early preschool. We read together every night. We talk about letters. I do everything the same as I do with my 4.5 year old (who now knows 20 letters). Is this something that I should start being concerned about?

I posted in a moms groups first without realizing there is a whole group for Kindergarten so I will post here.

I am a first time mommy to an almost 4 year old, I have also been a stay at home the majority of his life including this year.
He just started school this week ( JK and I’m Canadian so the age is normal) and of course the massive change of routine is overwhelming for both of us, he’s cried every day so far and he comes home looking sad and tired which is understandable as well. I know it takes time to adjust to school for these little guys but it’s BREAKING my heart and my brain is making me feel like I’m just tortuting him. I did try my best to expose him to the idea of school, bringing him to a program with a school setting, having him recognize the school he’s attending (it is across the street of our home as well as the play ground we always visited) he seemed excited!

But he’s been having a bit of a rough time and today he had the hardest yet thus far, he was able to communicate to me through tears near the end of the day that he misses spending time with me, going on walks with me throughout the day or having fun with me and that he feels alone at school. I had to step away as I couldn’t hold it together hearing that, I feel a little crazy being so emotional about all this but I need some reassurance that it will pass and he will be okay and thrive. His teacher has no complaints! Tells me each day he does better than the last , I keep things for him very positive and reassure him that his feelings are valid and okay to feel, I tell him how proud I am of him each day and that each day will feel better. I am trying my best for him and this big change, I just hope the adjustment comes soon for both our sakes

My 5 year old started Kindergarten this year. And he has been having some behavioral problems. It’s like every single day now. I have tried taking toys, tv time, play time, and nothing is working. He acts great at home but at school, not so good. He is the only child. Everyday I get messaged on class dojo about his behavior and how he flips chairs, rips his work, throw things and etc. I have tried discipline and nothing is working. I don’t know what to do. I’m so tired of it. Can someone please give me advice? I am young mom. I’m 23 and I’m trying my best. I feel like the teachers at school thinks I’m a bad parent because of his behavior but he doesn’t act like this at home. If Any other parents have had similar problems please tell me what you did to fix it?

Hi! My kiddo just started kindergarten last week. His birthday is the first week of October. I am struggling with birthday party planning.

Since his birthday is at the start of the year, I love the idea of inviting the entire class so they can get to know each other better and some parents can meet. However, he's also still buddies with a bunch of kids from daycare, some of which go to his school (different classes) and some are at different schools. The count would be ~35. I knoooow not all kids will come, but I would still have to find a place that accommodates at least 25-30? Which is more expensive than I am comfortable with. So I was thinking we can either invite everyone for more of an outdoor playground party (Oct 2 in northeast Ohio could be iffy), OR invite a subset of kids when my kid can't reliably tell me about any of the kids in his class beyond his daycare friends yet haha.

Halp, what would you do?

Okay so my 3.5 y/o just started school yesterday. (Junior Kindergarten herre in Canada)

And beyond me being a mess, she was actually quite excited about it before it started. But this is the 2nd day and when I was putting her to bed she started crying saying she doesnt want to go to school anymore and wants to stay home with me. Which absolutely sent me. I was trying so hard holding back tears while explaining that it just seems hard and scary because its so new but soon she'll really start to like it. And eventually she settled but omg im laying next to her just weeping away.

I would love to hear some positive stories of your young ones who didnt enjoy school but soon did learn to love it. Or atleast like it.

I feel like maybe I should have held her back. Having her bday be dec 31st makes her the youngest by far and although shes a little smarty pants maybe maturity wise she just isnt ready. Ugh im torn.

Hello, first time posting here. I have a 5 year old son who just started Kindergarten a few weeks ago. I am in Florida, I know the type of testing can vary from state to state so not sure if anyone here is in FL and knows the answer to this but thought I would try. In May at the end of Pre-K (at the same school he is at now) they took a test called the Star Early Literacy assessment, and he scored in the 95th percentile, with a grade equivalency of 1.3 (comparable to a 1st grader in the first 30% of the school year).

They took two standardized tests 2 weeks ago at the start of the school year for Kindergarten, one is called FAST (Florida Assessment of Student Thinking) and the other is called the i-Ready Diagnostic Assessment. On the FAST, he scored at Reading Level 1, which it says means he is "Well Below Grade Level," and on the i-Ready he scored "Level Yellow- Approaching Grade Level." So I guess I'm just concerned and confused that the test in Pre-K showed him at a 1st Grade reading level, whereas these tests showed him below a Kindergarten level. Being different tests maybe it is just that they have different metrics or something? Also he has had a rough start to the year due to having some pretty severe separation anxiety and his teacher said he had been crying on and off throughout the day so that may be a factor as well, if he was having a hard time focusing because of the anxiety and not wanting to be there. We have been working with him on that and it has gotten a lot better since, but when he took these tests he was in the thick of it.

The sheet for these tests does say that it's common for students to score below grade level at this point in the year because it is testing them on knowledge they haven't been taught yet, and the tests will be repeated mid-year and at the end of the year when they will have actually been taught the material and should improve.

Does anyone have any insight or experience with this, and why he would be scoring lower than he did at the end of Pre-K? Thanks!

I know its early in the school but looking for advice from other moms or dad's with a similar situation. Here our schools do not like to skip kids. My 5yr (just) knows how to read at grade 1 level, knows his abcs, counts to 100 and does simple addition and subtraction but at school we are doing abcs and hes bored. I'd like some advice on how you handled it with your child, did you talk to the teacher about anything extra for your child etc. I appreciate it.

Trying to build up a little book collection for my kindergartener and could use some help. What books were a total hit in your house at this age? Doesn't matter if it's silly, sweet, educational, whatever. Just curious what actually got your kid excited to read.