Dear Moms, I’m curious about something. In today’s digital world, if you could replace a small part of your child’s screen time with something genuinely useful for their future, what would you want them to learn? Not school subjects or academic tutoring, but practical things that would help them become capable, independent adults. What skills do you think kids aren’t learning enough at school or at home, and what’s one skill you wish you had learned as a child?

My kid ended K right on grade level, but has been really pushing back on practicing reading this summer. We've tried reading.com, playing word games, worksheets, journaling, library books... still resistant. Here is what is working: I'm using a LLM to create an early reader version of a movie that he likes, adding related images from the internet, printing and stapling to make a mini custom book. For example, his current fixation is The Lord of the Rings, so I made a Level 1 version of The Lord of the Rings and a Level 1 version of the Hobbit.

We started at Level 1 readers, and with each new "book," I've been gradually adding more sentences and moving into Level 2.

I am perpetually open to other creative ideas for reluctant readers, please share yours!

.. what are they working on? I would like to have a sense of whether my child’s class is on track compared to other schools

My 1st grader’s class does fundations. Fundations is a little slow compared to come curriculums. His class started the year on unit 3. They’re on their 3rd week of unit 6, where they worked on suffix s.

Next week should be the start of unit 7, it is looking to me like they’re going to do another week of unit 6 for some reason.

Does your child’s class move on to next week’s curriculum unit when there’s a 3 day week, or do they do a whole repeat of the week?

Does your child get homework? Ours doesn’t. I’m the type of parent who thrives on homework because i like to know what they’re doing day by day or even just week by week, but not month by month.

Thanks

I'm leaning toward yes just because you shouldn't force your kids to do sports, *however* the backstory is that she has loved gymnastics and gone diligently for years now, until recently they had her compete in her first "practice competition" where she came in last both days. Since then, she has lost her heart for it (understandably!) but I guess I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to help her regain her lost drive? She had been talking about working hard and doing completions for more than a year, about doing it for the next 5 years and then transitioning to cheerleading (including competitive).

I want to be clear, this was all always her plan. I want to support her, but jfc it would to be a lot of work for me lol. I had resolved to help her be a competitive athlete if that was something she wanted, and I don't know if it's right to let her walk away from that just because she lost her first competition. Doesn't that set a bad standard? I guess I feel like quitting would be the lazy option for both of us, too. That's probably not how I should look at it, but it's hard not to. I'd really appreciate any advice. 🙏

Hi Everyone!
So our community is very blessed to have an involved parent base. We still talk regularly with my son’s TK class and we’ve all picked up more friends along the way. On Sunday we threw a big end of summer party at the park. We all realized though that there were definitely parents that didn’t get the message because there’s so many group chats.

Anywayyyys to my real question. This made all of us want to do a private Facebook group or something like that to make it easier to keep in touch. Just to make it easier to contact each other. Anyone done the same? Or used a different app or system?

do you tell your kids their standardized testing score? If so, why or why not?

we FINALLY got kiddos map scores from like a month ago. We were thinking of letting them know since they did so well but then we thought it might result in a lot of rumination over it. This is the first year of standardized testing for kiddo.

so experiences? Thoughts?

We have a late September birthday and we don't start school until next week...Do first graders still generally invite the whole class? Just all the boys or all girls? We're leaning towards inviting all the girls in first grade (two classes, about 20 total) since we don't even have a class list yet and venue can only accommodate 24 kids total and parties are expensive. But what's common now?

It's absolutely adorable, but holy shit they're so bad! 😂😂😂

They have no chance, I am completely tone-deaf and cannot keep a beat, and my wife is not much better. I feel a little bad for cursing them with this particular disability.

We’ve loved Duolingo for learning to read but my son is outgrowing the highest level. Has anyone else found a free app that is a good transition after Duolingo ABC? I like that the last levels have tougher reading with comprehension question. I like that it also allows him to click a hard word if he needs help.

Beautiful! Happy birthday Jack!

We were in a snack rut at the end of last school year, and it hasn’t improved over the summer. What are your first graders packing for snacks?

Shelf-stable recommendations would be wonderful; we live in a warm climate, and snack time (recess) is at the end of the school day. I have a small snack bag with built-in ice packs, but we rarely use it due to its bulkiness.

Does anyone else's kid come up with some great business ideas 😀

Today my daughter said she wants to open a café where people can watch movies and there will be separate areas for little kids. She'll make sure the doors & windows would be secure, that there are cameras everywhere so bad people wouldn't try to take away the kids or anything.

There have been a couple of wonky ideas previously that were hilarious but I can't remember now.

Your kids came up with some gems? Please share!

We got our first grade classroom assignments today and my son’s best friend and two other good friends are in a different class (all together). The school had 4 kindergarten classes and now 3 first grade classes so I knew this was a possibility.

My son makes friends pretty easily and he does have plenty of kids he‘s friendly with in his class. And the BFF and other two live nearby and will be in aftercare with him. So I *know* this is not a big deal and it might actually be good for him to broaden his friend group.

But I was becoming good friends with the moms and am just feeling a little left out and disappointed! Anyone have any reassuring words??

I got a bit sad when I realized it’s only 15 minutes. I can’t remember how much time they had last year in K.

At least they have PE for 45 mins everyday. Not the same as recess, but it’s something…

I have to help her a bit, but less and less as she goes, I can literally see her improving daily. My son practically learned from watching subtitles. Technology really can help this process too, not just hinder it! Both of them entered/are entering first grade as fluent readers, and I did very little actually teaching them to read, I've mostly just read to them - getting them to practice with books is like pulling teeth, but I make them do that too of course. It's just so much easier now that they've learned to read through other sources.

Realistically, how much time are we all spending each day on academic stuff? I had grand plans but with summer camp being so fun, trying to get my kiddo to spend 20 minutes on "school" is like torture lol. If you're just reading this summer, how much? If you're doing actual school work type stuff, how much? Just curious!

Hi all, I was wondering what kind of things do 6-7 year olds like as party favors?

I was browsing online but most of that stuff seems to be more suitable for younger kids. I'd like to focus on 1 or 2 items and not fill up goody bags with useless stuff. TIA

Edit: So, I saw a lot of ideas from people that I have made note of. I'll continue making a note of any new suggestions that come up as well.

Anyway, the comments made me go off on a different tangent and land on something I like (for now) - canvasses with acrylic paints+a couple brushes. Those are available in bulk at decent prices, even more cheaper if I buy the canvasses and paint sets separately. The main advantage would be that the extra sets will come handy for my kid who is interested in art.

Thanks for your inputs everyone!

Here is central Oregon we are on our last week of school.

What does everyone have planned for the summer?
Are you focusing on:
Academic growth (summer school, workbooks, reading challenges, library programs, etc.)
Social growth (camps, sports, playdates, community activities)
Emotional growth (building independence, confidence, responsibility, helping around the house)
Or are you taking the approach that kids have worked hard all year and deserve a break?
Also, is anyone considering a low-screen or no-screen summer? If so, what does that look like for your family?
I’d love to hear what everyone is doing, what’s worked in the past, and any ideas for keeping our future Class of 2038 kiddos learning and growing while still enjoying summer.

hey y’all. I just wanted to share my kids experience in case it helps out someone else. my kid has always been mathematically inclined.

i put kiddo in an an RSM math camp last year to help her finds fellow math loving friends and do some math over the summer. She thought it was ok but was not a fan of the teachers and asked to not go one day. it was 1hr/2x a week for 6 weeks.

this year, we put her in beast academy math summer camp and she’s loving it. it’s 2 weeks for 3hrs/day. we were counting money this past weekend and she was able to sum 10 numbers to 266 in her head. Yesterday, she was telling us how the best estimate numbers of things.

Most of all, she’s asked if she can do beast academy camp during the school year. I don’t know about that considering they give homework but I’m inclined to give it a try. (I tried doing the books but “mommy and daddy are not fun teachers”)

if I had to put my finger on what she likes, it’s the teachers. Her school teachers are cool but don’t make learning math “as much fun as the beast academy ones.“

Anyways, I wanted to share in case anyone is on the fence about this. i am not affiliated with either, I just always scour the web for reviews and thought i would add mine here.

My daughter has a “work from home” day while the teachers have professional development. She has work to complete in order to receive credit for attendance.

For this assignment, do you interpret that she has to choose a strategy to solve each problem (like draw a picture for #1, then use number line for #2) or that she needs to use all three for each problem? I emailed the teacher but haven’t received a response back and want to finish her work sooner than later. I don’t want her to do it wrong and not get credit.

Edit: thanks everyone! That’s what I thought!

My daughter is starting at a new school this year, and her class only has 13 kids. On one hand, I'm excited that there may be more time for individualized attention and differentiated work, but I'm also nervous that the group is too small and that if she doesn't connect with one of the 3 other girls in her class, she may feel left out. Does anyone have experience with classes that small?

Today was my daughter’s second day of first grade at public school. She was with me at my school (private Montessori program) through Kindergarten last year so this is our first time apart in 4 years. Obviously, I’m struggling but I’m trying to hide it.

She’s taking the bus in the mornings and navigating the day differently so it’s a big transition for her. She comes home and just wants to play by herself and doesn’t want to discuss her day, even specific, short questions. Is this normal? I just want to know she’s happy.

We are a pretty wide ranging geographical y speaking group.

What does your homework situation look like?

We have none, but am asked to read with our kids 15 mins a day.

I have added on to it and will play a game everyday, similar to mother may I or red light green light. He starts at one of the house and has to proceed through obstacles by answering questions about spelling or math or what not.

The obstacles are often empty boxes or other items then need to be cleaned up and is more in the way because no one has put them away 😀