Parent Chat Thread

[gentlearts]

I wasn’t sure where to put this question…..How are kindergartens are grouped? Is there screening for placement?

I’m a grandmother, so it’s been a long time since my kids were in kindergarten, and when I went to kindergarten, I don’t remember learning much.

I have volunteered at two different elementary schools in my town. I read stories to kindergarteners.

At the school I used to go to, the teacher was very soft spoken and kind, but she was very strict about behavior and the children were doing work that I don’t think my kids did until first grade. The children were attentive and engaged.

Post pandemic, I’m reading again but in a different school. This kindergarten has very “babyish” children. Some are attentive, but most are not. There is both a teacher and an aid, who are wrangling the squirmy kids the entire time I’m there. One little boy slept the whole time.

The teacher is young. Do they give the less mature children to new teachers? If so, how would this even be known ahead of time? It seems like the teacher is more of a babysitter.

I’m also thinking about my little grandchildren. One will start school this year. She has had a lot of pre school, her mother works with her, and she’s been exposed to a lot of enrichment activities. She’s also bilingual. She would not thrive in the kindergarten I go to now.