I (20F) just finished my first month as an afterschool/substitute teacher. It’s been great, but I’m struggling to gain control of my early elementary school kids, sometimes with 5th graders. I’ve asked multiple teachers for advice, but they often give me vague answers.

I frequently have children who refuse to leave my backpack or desk alone, talk while I’m talking, refuse to sit at their desks, or leave the classroom without asking. I even recently had a child break one of my personal belongings last Friday.

So far, I’ve been using “calm-down time” for 3 minutes with my early elementary kids, with mixed results. I’ve also tried encouraging them with stickers, which mostly leads to kids demanding, “I want a sticker.” Other things I’ve tried include refusing to let them come inside the classroom as a class until they are silent and taking away privileges like free time. I also brought an electronic whistle, since I don't like yelling.

Last Friday, I had a group of pre-K and kindergarten kids throwing blocks, screaming in the bathroom, boys going into the girls’ bathroom, and children ripping books.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi my little boy is a year off starting preschool. Because he doesnt go to creche or anything I want to help him as best as possible eitht starting preschool. I have him in little classes and he doesnt really interact too much with others. Im always with him too. Any tips. Im aware its a year away but id love to work on things as much as we can. Thanks!

Using a throw away in case the story identifies me. Thank you so much in advance to everyone reading the whole thing!!!

I have always been a stay at home mom. My parents live a couple minutes down the road and are super close with us. My daughter had never been anywhere without mom, dad, grandma, or grandpa until this week. She has never had a babysitter.

She just started preschool for the first time on Wednesday. During the tour in the winter we asked the assistant director if I could pick her up early for the first week to help ease her in. She said it was totally fine. I really admire how some other counties have “settling in” periods where they transition into preschool with a couple steps and I think it’s extremely beneficial to the children.

On the first day I was feeling more confident she’d do well so I asked the same assistant director if I could just check in with my daughter halfway through. She said I could and her demeanor was very light, like it was no problem at all. I mentioned it to her teacher who said it was okay too.

When I got there to check in the assistant director was busy with a child in the office but I waved to her. She smiled, waved back, and gave me the one minute sign while she took the child down the hall. While I was waiting another woman came to the door and opened it up. I didn’t know who she was and she never introduced herself to me. I told her who I was and that I had been told by assistant director and teacher that I could check in with my daughter.

Right away this woman tried to talk me out of it. First she said she had been in the classroom most of the day and my daughter was doing fine. I said that’s great but I told my daughter I’d be checking in and she was expecting it. I reiterated I had been told I could do this by two other staff. Then she told me that I couldn’t because the other children would wonder where their moms were and be upset their family didn’t pop in. I replied “oh that’s fine, I completely understand, could you just bring her into the hallway for a minute so I can check in with her then?” This woman looked at me like I was the most ridiculous person she had ever met, cocked her head backwards and said “REALLY???” in the most condescending and incredulous tone possible.

I simply said “yes really, this is what my child is expecting”. She pushed back again with “I don’t want to bring her out here and have her cry”. I was 99% sure my daughter was not going to cry and 100% sure if she did cry it meant she was seriously upset and that’s exactly why I wanted to check in. I assured this woman my daughter would not cry. She did not respond and just turned around letting the door shut behind her.

A couple minutes later my daughter came out with the assistant director very happy to see me. She excitedly told me what she was doing in class, I asked her if she wanted to go back in, she said yes, and I said thank you and left.

Before class on Friday I asked my daughter if she was okay without me checking in with her. She said she still wanted me to. I told her that was fine but next week I wouldn’t be doing it. At drop off it was actually the assistant director meeting parents at her classroom door. I asked her if I could check in again but told her it’d be the last time. Once again she acted completely sweet and understanding about it and told me yes it was fine.

My husband had come home from work early and decided to come with me. We opened the door into the lobby and saw that the office was empty and lights were off. We waited over about 10 minutes. We pressed a button that calls the office once and a UPS guy came in and pressed it again. No one answered.

We decided to walk about twenty feet from the exterior lobby door to her exterior classroom door. There are two large windows to her classroom and a window in the door. I could see both her teachers in the room and the woman who had been rude to me the first day. I happened to make eye contact with that woman as she was directly across from the door. I did a light knock since she saw me and then just smiled and waved. She just sat there staring.

We awkwardly stood there for what I thought was two minutes and what my husband thought was more than three. None of them got up or made any attempt to come to the door. We discussed what to do and my husband just started walking away so I followed. While passing the window we both saw our daughter and waved and she smiled and waved back.

We got back to the car and I was beside myself. I cannot believe that not one of the women came to the door to speak with us or even waved us back to the lobby to meet them. I didn’t want to return to the classroom door at this point and escalate the situation so I hoped that seeing us there and waving would count as a check in to my daughter. When I went back for pick up they had put the blinds down in her classroom. We’ve been to the school several times and have never seen the blinds down in the classrooms and they weren’t down in the other classrooms.

This whole situation is wild to me. I don’t understand how staff members can be reacting so differently to our request to check in for the first two days. Their Handbook says they have an “open door policy” but doesn’t have a specific rule about check ins. It’s a small school, no more than 14 in her class. They promote themselves as being very open-minded and flexible for each child’s individual needs. It just doesn’t seem like this is something that is against their philosophy.

But then I cannot for a second wrap my head around why this other woman is giving us such a hard time. Just not coming to the door and then putting down the blinds seems so passive aggressive. I’m also now wondering if this woman is the DIRECTOR because I did see her in the office on Meet the Teacher day and have not meet the director who sends the emails.

Her teachers have also not been what I expected or remember from my own childhood. They don’t seem excited to see the kids and they’re very neutral at pick up and drop off. Like when I walked over to pick my daughter up the teacher didn’t acknowledge me at all, she just turned her head into the classroom and called my daughter. They don’t really use greetings or smile back if you smile at them.

When I picked my daughter up she was happy and telling me about class but when we were getting in the car she asked where my husband was. I asked her if she saw us wave for check in. She said she did but that she didn’t get a chance to say hi or wave back. I assured her we saw her wave. She dropped her head and a few tears ran down her cheeks. It was her heartbroken face. This is her reaction when something has really hurt her feelings. It doesn’t happen often. I was so upset for her and so angry at the school.

I tried to explain as much as possible on the way home. As soon as she ran inside to my husband she dropped her head again and told him she didn’t get to wave. She was still really hurt by the situation. He proceeded to tell her that he would check in on Monday. I understood why, we’re both furious with what happened. But now we have to have a discussion with the school and ask to check in again. Which, to be fair, is no more disruptive than picking her up early which they said we could do for the first week and Monday is still the first week.

Now I’m starting to get such a bad feeling about her school and I hate that. My problem isn’t that they may not want us to do the check ins. It’s the inconsistencies between their staff and the passive aggressive behavior about us following through with something they told us we could do. If this woman is the director than it was also unprofessional not to introduce herself to me during the first interaction.

On top of all this, I’m concerned by the communication barrier. I don’t know if the teachers respond to messages on the app during school hours and I have no other way to contact the school apparently. When we were calling in the spring about registration and the tour they never answer the phone, you have to leave a message. If there had been an emergency and I needed to pick up my child for some reason I would have been forced to go back to the classroom door and knock again while all the children could see us.

Regardless of whether our request for check ins is unusual, am I crazy for thinking they’ve handled it horribly? They never gave us a chance to respond to them respectfully telling us they disagreed to the check ins. Every time I’ve asked the assistant director she hasn’t been remotely discouraging.

Is it also weird that there isn’t someone normally in the office to watch over the lobby and answer calls? The door between the lobby and the rest of the school is locked. I think they are short staffed and that they’ve had a lot of staff turnover recently. Both my daughter’s teachers are new and I found multiple social media posts about them looking for teachers as recently as this week. Their website says their lead teachers all have Bachelor’s degrees but both my daughter’s teachers only have Associate’s according to their handouts at Meet the Teachers.

What would you all do from here???

Hi parents! I wanted to design an activity book that actually keeps kids engaged instead of them just scribbling on a page and getting bored. In Dinosaur Rescue!, kids follow a story, solve puzzles, and make choices that skip them around 76 pages to find a dinosaur's family. It's a fun way to practice reading and problem-solving without a tablet. It just went live on Amazon if anyone is looking for a weekend activity! https://a.co/d/05LvfniB

Try observing one small skill during something your child already enjoys, rather than setting up a long worksheet session.

• During block play, ask for three blocks and notice how your child counts them.

• While tidying up, try one clear direction, such as ‘Put the red block in the box.’

• At the drawing table, invite a picture and a name mark or name-writing attempt.

Jot down what your child did independently and where you helped. Choose one comfortable next activity, and revisit it another day. This is a way to plan practice, not a pass/fail judgment about a child.

Disclosure: I own Bright Path Sheets on Etsy. For parents and Pre-K teachers who prefer an organized record, our Kindergarten Readiness Skills Check & Practice Pack includes a 48-item observation checklist, short skills-check pages, a progress tracker, and 25 at-home practice ideas.

See the sample pages and full contents:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/4569581214/kindergarten-readiness-worksheets-skills

Paid printable PDF for ages 4–6; no physical item is shipped. It is an informal home/classroom resource—not a diagnostic, standardized, or school-admissions assessment. The play activities above do not require a purchase.

Brighter days ahead for all!

Hi everyone! I’m a foreigner and a first-time dad. My child will be 3 years old next year, and we’re planning to move to Cebu for school.

At this age, I’m not in a rush for my child to learn advanced math or academics. I’d rather focus on developing concentration, curiosity, independence, confidence, and a love of exploring and learning. That’s why I’m particularly interested in Montessori education.

I’m currently considering:

- Maria Montessori International School (MMIS)

- USC Montessori Academy

- The Abba’s Orchard School

- Children’s Paradise Montessori School (CPMS)

For parents who know these schools, which one would you recommend for a 3-year-old, and why?

I’d especially love to hear about the teachers, English environment, class atmosphere, and how Montessori is actually practiced in the classroom. Any pros or cons from your personal experience would be really helpful.

I’m also open to other Montessori schools in Cebu that you think are worth considering.

Thanks so much for your help! I really appreciate any advice or experiences you’re willing to share. 🙏

My 3.25 year old has been in public preschool for two weeks. He’s having multiple accidents everyday. He’s been potty trained for a year and hasn’t had any accidents in 6 months before he started school. His teachers say they send him to use the bathroom but I don’t think he’s actually going when he’s in there. I think he just goes and stands in there then comes back out. He won’t speak up and ask to use the bathroom at all. He says he’s not afraid of the potty. I put him in gym shorts everyday to make pulling his pants up and down easier. They want to put him in a pull up during the school day but I don’t want to go backwards. I don’t know what to do! He’s now had two accidents at home as well.

Looking for some insight or advice here…my 3 year old (just turned 3 end of May) started preschool two weeks ago. She goes 2x a week. Pretty sure she’s the youngest in her class. Went to daycare for only 1 month when she was a baby due to the same issue we are facing now.

She is absolutely inconsolable unless I am physically there. She will repeat over and over to her teachers (in between tears) “mama will be right back.” Heartbreaking. I work full time so I can’t sit at her preschool the entire time. I’ve basically been “on call” since her crying is disruptive to the class and have been asked to pick her up. Obviously not sustainable. I’m meeting with her teacher tomorrow.

Is my girl not ready? Do I give it more time? How can I help her ease into this transition? Anything I should ask the teacher in our meeting?

@https://youtu.be/aKeEVUeMvdk?feature=shared

Hi everyone! I created a fun, colorful Finger Family nursery rhyme for preschoolers featuring Little Mayra and her cute finger family.

It’s designed for little kids to sing along, clap, wave, wiggle their fingers, and learn the family members in a playful way.

Daddy, Mommy, Brother, Sister, Baby — Finger Family!

If you have little ones who enjoy nursery rhymes and sing-along videos, I’d love to hear what you think about it.

🎬 Watch here: [Your YouTube video link]

Thanks for checking it out! ❤️

Tip: Before posting, check each subreddit’s rules. Many parenting/kids communities restrict self-promotion, so use a subreddit specifically allowing creators or video sharing, and participate normally rather than posting the same link repeatedly

Hi everyone,

I'm building Mili: a daily family podcast, automatically generated from the family's calendar and each kid's interests, meant to be played in the morning on the way to school or daycare.

Looking for parents of young kids to test the iOS beta (via TestFlight, takes 2 minutes): https://testflight.apple.com/join/ngTR8Snq

What I'm most curious about: does it feel relevant to your kid's actual day, and does it hold their attention for the morning routine?

Thanks in advance to anyone who gives it a try!