Schooling Central

As Annabel and I discovered, Kindergarten means something different here than in Victoria, so I hope everyone can relate in some way.

Anyway, Jack is not very forthcoming with info at the end of the day I know Annabel said her ds was like this too, so how do you ever find out what is going on in the classroom? I cornered Jack's teacher yesterday at pickup and asked how he was doing - "fine". Apparently he tries to take the lead all the time, but, and I quote "We'll sort that out" ?? Why? Someone has to be a leader, why squash it out of them so young? And then leading on to that I asked if he was being disruptive, and she said no, he's "fine" *rolleyes*

And I needn't have worried about his ability to paint pictures, because although he hates doing it, there was his self portrait on the wall this morning, and damn it was good! Better than he's ever done for me here at home


When I asked him about what he did yesterday, he told me it was a "very, very, very, very, very BIG secret!" *rolleyes again* Although I did find out that someone had bought some mice in for the kids to look at, and he had been paired up with a grade six boy, who was going to be his book buddy. And the book buddy helped Jack play outside and also learn some new words in a book.

Am I expecting too much info? Is that about how much I'm going to get out of him everyday? It's just so different coming from them having childcare one day a week, where everything is logged and written down for me. I can tell you exactly when the kids ate, slept, and pooped, and who they played with at childcare, so it's hard to just pick him up and not get any info about the day from someone.

We did get a info letter about when evaluations were starting and when Parent Teacher night was going to be, and also about them bringing home readers in term 2, so that was good.

Maybe I am expecting too much? It is only his 3rd day today *rolleyes* I'm just so excited about it all

Ahhh dear, welcome to the frustrating world of being a school parent

I so hear you on wondering what they are doing all day. Our teacher doesn't come out at the end of the day so we don't get a chance to casually talk to her very often. We are also feeling very frustrated with the amount of information coming from the school. We are left standing outside the classroom comparing notes with other parents to see what snippet of information they may have been able to extract from their kids I have one piece of advice for you, and that is to get in there yourself as soon as you can. Are parents allowed to help out in the classroom? If they are then I suggest you organise baby sitting and volunteer as soon as you can. You don't have to sign up to do it every week -I alternate weeks with another mum who has a younger child so we can help each other out with baby sitting. But even if you just get in there one day a term, you will get to see everything that goes on, and Jack will LOVE it!

As for what they are supposed to learn at kindergarten, well that really depends on the program. In Victoria, all 3 and 4 year old kinder is play based (well all public, and the vast majority of private are -Montessori is a noticeable exception). So there is no formal literacy or numeracy, but lots of songs that might have numbers, or books to develop a love of reading etc. I'm nut sure that ds learnt much at all at kinder. But I see dd learning so much at her kinder. I don't know if it's the quality of the education, or the way they communicate so well with us (no I don't wonder what she does all day -I know exactly what she's up to, and why she's doing it), or her personality, or maybe I'm just more in tune with what's going on. Anyway I really see her learning to interact in a world away from me, learning to participate in a group, learning to negotiate with her peers, learning to take risks and try new things, and (my favourite with dd!) learning that her way is not the only way lol! And I see her mind being expanded -they're talking about travel this term, and it's got her thinking about the places she's been and how we got there. It's all pretty text book stuff -this is the whole point of preschool education, but in the past 'play based' education really has meant 'play' to me. I am so thankful that dd is being so well looked after and wish I felt the same way about ds's education (*sigh*).

Anyway (sorry for that ramble -needed to get it all out lol!) it sounds like Jack will have a more formal literacy education this year if he is going to get a reader next term. That will be so exciting for you two And, once they start bringing home readers you can really see what they're learning at school!

Annabel.

Ok, so I just remembered that when I picked him up on Tuesday there was a noticeboard outside the door to the classroom with pictures of what they did that day. Not every single kid, but enough for me to at least start some conversations with Jack that might actually lead somewhere I will try and use that as my tool to get him to talk from now on

It says we can start doing time in the classroom after Easter, and I am so keen to get in there it's not funny! Although I'm nervous also, I don't really like other peoples kids very much

It is supposed to be played based learning here too, but I have a feeling that there will be quite a bit of structure as well. It must be frustrating for you to feel this happy about your dd's kinder and feeling so ambivalent about your ds's school, especially after going to the trouble to move house so he could attend. Are you going to ride it out this year, or are you looking at swapping schools if you find one suitable?

One major thing happened today. Jack told me that Mrs Jones taught him how to write his name yesterday. And then he asked to play WoW (World of Warcraft), which he plays regularly and which I try to restrict, as we mothers do. So I told him he couldn't play unless he showed me how he writes his name. I have been trying for all of last year to teach him this, but he just would not give it the attention needed to try, and would end up frustrated and angry before he even started. He's been able to type his name on the keyboard of the computer since he was 2.5, just not write it.

So what happened? He wrote his name as confidently as the next kid and got all but the "k" right. Method was a little unorthdox, but it still looked like his name. Took him all of a minute to do it, and then jumped down off the stool and ran to the computer, loaded WoW and waited for me to put the password in. Boy did he have a smug look on his face! I think my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw how well he'd done it. Very proud Mummy moment But equally frustrating He's only been going for three days and they have him happily doing what I couldn't acheive for all of last year

Ok, so this ended up as a big Mummy brag post But I'm so super excited about Jack being in Kinder that somedays I can't hold it in!

Ah yes, photos are good, and sometimes a conversation starter is all you need. I have my ways of trying to get info out of ds For example if I want to know what happened in maths, I'll casually ask him about one of his specialist subjects which he's happier to chat about. So I'll say 'oooh, Tuesday today -did you go to the library?' which always brings an excited response. Then I'll say "hmmm, Tuesday, let's see, what else do you do" to which there is no reply, so I prompt a bit -'Art? was that today, oh no, that's Wednesday, oh I know IT -did you do IT today?' to which I'll get a partial response. Then as casual as anything I'll ask 'ok, library, art, that sounds like a good day....hmmm.. what else.....-what about maths -did you do that today?' This usually works to some degree, whereas if I just asked straight out after school 'what did you do in maths today?' I'd just get an angry response He is also much more likely to tell dh about his day when he is tucked up in bed and about to go to sleep.

You'll develop some tricks as you go along and you can come and share tactics

It's great that you're so excited about your ds's schooling. I think it's an incredibly exciting time, and he will gain so much by having parents who are interested and involved. We don't know what we're going to about school, and to be honest I'm sick of stressing over it. We would rather not do anything mid year, so for now I think we will just wait and try to work with them to address a few key issues.

Annabel.

Funnily enough, Jack is also much more forthcoming with info when he is tucked up in bed after being read to as well - I think he uses it as a stalling tactic! It's better than asking for a drink 100 times or getting up to pee 7 times in a row

I guess you're right, I'll find a way to get it out eventually, it's just weird coming from the childcare environment. And Jack and Luce both still go to CC once a week on Fridays, so today when I picked up Lucy, I was able to see for myself that she had eaten 3/4 of her lunch and when she'd had a nappy change and what sort of nappy it was, I was also able to see by the fact that she had a stamp on each hand that she did two wees in the toilet as well That's what I miss about Jack being at school, that level of communication. Not that I expected to get that much, but it's what I'm used to and this is just going to take time to get used to.

I never look in the book to see what Jack has been up to (don't need to know when he pooped ), but I get to have a really good talk to his main carer at the end of the day and she is such a special person who goes above and beyond the call of duty with Jack. His behaviour has improved 100 fold since he has been in her room under her care.

Turned into a childcare post, sorry!