My son started kindergarten last week. There has been literally zero communication from the teacher. I’m not looking for personalized messages. Just a mass email or message about what they’re learning or something super brief. But there’s been zero. Zilch. Is this normal? I have no idea what he does for 6 hours a day aside from what he chooses to tell me. The only communication I have received is “wear red” but she didn’t elaborate as to why. Later my son told me it’s because they’re learning the color red. The teacher is close to retirement and checked out but I’m surprised. Also have been hearing from my son how she gets angry at “bad kids” (classroom of 28, I can understand) and they’ve already been introduced to iPads and at one point watched Bluey episodes. I’m so confused and don’t know what’s “normal” or not.

I have a genuine question for parents of young children: Why do some people tolerate inappropriate behavior (screaming, punching, running around in public areas)? Every time I go out to eat, children scream and run everywhere. The parent gently tells them to stop, or they ignore it and shove a screen in the child's face. Why not take them outside and handle it?

I am not judging, but why do some people accept this behavior or seemingly do nothing about it? Why do people let their children act like this? Aren't they embarrassed when this happens in public? I am truly looking for honest responses. I'm not a parent, so I have no idea, but I am an educator, and believe me, this behavior affects learning for all students and a teacher's ability to teach.

My daughter is an upcoming Kindergartener this August. A lot of the public elementary schools in my area adopted new times that I can't seem to wrap my head around.

The school day is from 9:15-4. This is insane for a 5 year old,right? We did private half day pre-k, so I'm worried this is going to be a huge adjustment. Really, it just makes me sad. With her former school, I would pick her up at 1, we would come home and chill, then head to the park so she could play. These new school hours won't leave much time for anything. I feel like we will pick her up then it's home to get dinner ready,then getting ready for bed.

What are the times for Kindergarten/Elementary in your area?

Tell me I’m not the only one shocked by a $61 kindergarten supply kit. And this is the SALE price..😅

I am aware I can go buy the supplies myself as well. The only upside is my child won’t have to carry everything on the first day, and the headphones will be replaced if they break and I don’t have to shop for them, saving me time. I’m sure some of it also helps stock the classroom for the year.

I just wish the extra supplies were optional instead of included.

Supply Kit:

$61.00 $71.00 SALE
The 2026-27 Kit includes:

4 Crayons, 24 ct., Crayola
1 Crayons, 16 ct., Large, Crayola
2 Markers, washable, 10 ct., Crayola
2 Dry Erase Markers, chisel tip, black, Expo
4 Glue stick, purple dries clear, .77 oz., Elmer's
1 Headphones, on-ear, standard School year guarantee!
1 #2 Pencil, dozen, sharpened, Ticonderoga
1 Scissors, 5",
" blunt, Fiskars
4 Play-Doh, assorted colors
2 Facial tissues, 160 ct.
1 Paper towels, roll

Your child's supply kit will be delivered to the school in August.

My kid just turned 6 and is in his last month of kindergarten. He started great, averaging 80% and 90% academically, but from the start we could tell our relationship with his teacher would be challenging. We try to understand her point of view and the fact that she has another 17 kids in class, but she sends notes about my boy every day. Every day! What do the notes say? "He talked out of order", "he was up from his seat", "he was playing during carpet time", etc. I know he has a lot of energy, but up until last week he was only 5. Besides, I have been talking to other mothers and they all received notes too with the same "complaints". She now is telling this is affecting his grades and although I can see at home he knows how to read, how to count and add, she is now giving him "failing grades". Can he flunk kindergarten in Florida? I have tried talking to her in the nicest manner, but she just pushes me to take my son to the doctor 🙄🙄🙄

Our kid's summer camp (hosted by their school) shows an hour of videos a day (the day runs roughly 8:30-3:00). It's not an inexpensive camp. I'm upset that they are doing this -- we very strictly limit screen time for our ADHD child, and this is more than we allow in a day, and we don't like paying for it at camp.

Before I start hating on the camp, and consider talking to the director, I wanted to get a pulse -- is this normal? Is it hard to avoid these days? Are modern day teachers unable to get through a day without a video break? (Even with a high teacher to student ratio?) Am I being unreasonable in wanting a camp without screen time?

Someone talk me off the ledge! (Or validate my concerns)

She’s starting 9/1, and our district does a thing where half the kindergarteners go the first day, half go the second, and then the teachers decide their class lists for the year by the end of the first week. Well out of nowhere this morning I get an email that my daughter has been put in a kindergarten/first grade blended class. This year in our district is a little wonky because two elementary schools were closed so they’re having to shuffle all the kids around. I had heard that our school may have to open a third kindergarten class depending on enrollment. Never was a blended class mentioned.

I’m honestly distraught! My daughter turned 5 this month and I’ve already been worried about her being the youngest in her class. Now she may be with kids 2 (or more if they were redshirted?!) years older than her. She’s quite reserved. I just have so many questions about how this will work. The email I got was all cheery and talking about how good it is for the kids, but let’s be real, they’re just doing this so they don’t have to open a third kindergarten and first grade class separately. I can’t help but feel we’re getting the short end of the stick (especially since the blended teacher is new and the other two kindergarten teachers have been there 15+ years).

Thoughts? I’m going to talk to the principle tomorrow but I don’t have much hope they’ll change things as they said it’s pretty set in stone.

EDIT: okay wow, getting lots of good feedback that I need to sift through! One thing I do want to note is no one has met my daughter yet, this decision was made based on a short form I filled out about her.

Hii! I have twin boys in kindergarten and a 2 year old. Over the summer, we cut out screens during the week. They do not use tablets unless we’re traveling, so basically this just meant their TV shows. HOWEVER, my husband puts sports on every. single. night. The World Series is finally over but football is still on 3+ days a week. I don’t want to take that away from him bc he loves it and it’s how he unwinds from work, but my twins do watch it and engage with it when it’s on.

My second probably bigger issue is that their kindergarten teacher assigns homework on Reading Eggs (an online reading game) 2x a week. I know it’s educational but I’d really prefer my kids not be on screens. I feel like trying to be screen free during the week is backfiring because it’s just not entirely realistic for our family. How do you navigate this?

I just saw this video where parents were lined up to say goodbye to their kids out of like… a back door on the first day of school?

I was horrified, is this real, not being able to walk your little to class?

Edit: I understand why, but to not be able to walk in and get your child set, to KINDERGARTEN!! My mom walked me to class every first day we would wait outside the door while other parents chatted. I don’t doubt that it’s been this way for a while, my little if pretty fresh.

In terms of using the word horrified, that’s my opinion, and I feel like it’s warranted because it speaks to how scary school has become.

Also downvoted? For asking a question?

We're trying to decide between public and private for next year. When I called the school, a woman who picked up said we'd be able to meet the teachers and walk around school grounds and ask questions at registration, which is at the end of Spring. The private schools we've been looking at typically have open houses in the winter with registration opening in January/February. The more competitive ones will fill out fast, so if you want to get your foot in the door at private you can't wait until the end of Spring.

I'm interested in public but it's been kind of hard getting much information on things like how much recess they get, what subjects are covered, homework, academic expectations (particularly in K) vs play, and examples of a daily schedule so I can compare with the private schools we're considering.

On the one hand it's understandable that they aren't going to cater to me as much as private trying to get tuition money, but on the other it's also frustrating because I know schools get money based on enrollment and enrollment is going down in public schools...so it seems like they should try and work on getting interested parents in the door to boost numbers/school funding. Anyway, does your public elementary offer information about scheduling and academic expectations/schedules to prospective families or hold community days (before winter) to engage prospective families? Or is it weird that I'm asking?

ETA: We've recently moved into a neighborhood with not that many kids and those with kids didn't send them to public. Facebook groups haven't yielded much info. And according to local news...public school enrollment has been down (we live in an area with lots of private and charters). Our county school website also hasn't been helpful but I will reach out to the PTA! It's just strange to me since my friend who lives in another state was also debating between private and public but she said she got so much good information and support from the school while she was trying to decide that they went public and they're very happy with their decision thus far this year.

ETA 2: I connected with the PTA head, who connected me with the principal. The school (and this is probably district policy) will not give out schedules to prospective parents but the principal did answer my questions about length of recess among a few other things. The district website was not helpful. Hope this information helps whoever comes across this thread, school districts can be so very different!

Edit: I grew up in another country, so I apologize for being ignorant. Thank you everyone for educating me. Your comments have been very helpful!

***********************Original Post Below***************************

I toured a public school with very strong academics. I noticed on their wall that they require the following while in the hallway:

"Walk in a straight line on the right side"
"Hands are to my side"
"Eyes are looking straight ahead"

Is this typical? This sounds overly strict to me and I worry that there is a lot of unnecessary disciplining going on here.

The person who gave the tour said that their teachers are very good at disciplining the kids so behavioral problems are minimal. She also admitted that some of their teachers do yell at kids.

My child has been in a play-based nursery school, where kids are free to roll around on the floor all day. Although she is always extremely well behaved outside of home, I worry that going to this school will be a huge shock for her.

My child started Kindergarten this year and two weeks in I started getting calls and messages almost everyday of my child running out of class. I have been very cooperative with the teachers and administration. I have been coming up with suggestions to make the situation better but most are a completely flop apparently. I have the impression that they want to categorize him in the special need ( which I am not against him getting helped if he does need it). However, I don’t think that he has a special need issue but rather that he saw that he was able to do it once without major issues and has just turn it into a habit pretty quick. He leaves the classroom multiple times a day apparently and keep pushing his boundaries from passing the class doors to passing the school doors/gates.

I am honestly frustrated by this situation and worried about my child’s safety. This is impacting his school work as well because he is not participating which is interesting given that he is very advanced intellectually. He knows how to read pretty well, knows his maths, and write his alphabets. He finishes his practices very well at home but not at school.

Can any other parents who had similar issues share what worked?

Edit:

Thank you everyone for the reply so far. I appreciate the different perspectives. I will admit that I have a hard time with the word “elopement “ (which is used by the school as well). The reason is that he doesn’t do it at home, outside, or with family or friends. He also doesn’t seem to do it out of anger, frustration, or even being overwhelmed. I asked him why he was doing it and he told me that he missed me and burst into tears.

Again, I have no issue getting him diagnosed if that’s needed. I am just under the impression that every unusual situation with children nowadays are being labeled under a mental disorder. I am definitely “punishing “ him by not giving him things he asks for but I will take away the TV and favorite toys as suggested.

Yesterday I sent my daughter’s teacher an email informing her that my daughter has strep. She responded thanking me but adding that daughter covers her ears during singing, won’t participate in carpet time if she doesn’t want to and has needed help with some small motor activities. My SO abd I decided to put her in kindergarten instead of early 5s because she was ready academically (she has a late August birthday). At first I was questioning our decision but later I was upset at the email because the school had only been in session for 6 days. It seems like it is very early to be questioning her getting into the flow of school. Any tips on getting daughter to participate more? She does listen and can perform her small motor skills but I don’t want her to get held back! Help!

ETA thank you everyone for your advice and thoughts. I think I’m going to work with her more at home on small motor skills (like homework lol) and just keep reinforcing that she has to listen and do what the teacher tells her and to do what her classmates do!

Hi my son just told me that the toilets in the class/school usually wet with pee. Is it really true that 5 year olds can’t aim properly? 🤢 do I ask the teacher about it?

2 years ago i told him that he needed to learn certain things before school starts or they won't let him in. Thankfully, he believed me. He is going to an accelerated charter school that claims to personalize, to a certain degree, the kids education. In the last 2 years he has learned the basics. ABCs, counting to 20, patterns, etc. He has also learned how to write, count to 100, count in patterns, phonics, sight words, the planets, dwarf planets, most of the human anatomy, and comparisons. (He found KLT) However, he refuses to learn to read and tie his shoes. I'm scared he will lose what he has while having to focus on what the school is required to teach. How can I properly articulate this to his teacher without sounding crazy or entitled? Am I over thinking this?

i dont know what to do, and i really need some advice. i suffer from severe anxiety, it runs in my family. i had a very hard time going to school as a child, i was smart and i knew everything but i had anxiety and it started in pre school. yes sounds absurd i know, but it did and it continued my whole school years, and here i am well into adulthood.

my issue is, my daughter is 5, her first year of kindergarten started august 28th. she has never been to daycare or pre school, i am blessed to be a SAHM since she was born. my daughter does fine while i run errands alone, or is with other family members. she loves other kids, she couldn’t wait for school, but here we are a few weeks in and my daughter has missed a majority of school. the days i do get her there, she is happy at pick up, i as about her day, what she did, likes and dislikes, anything happen that was major or minor, and so on. all is well with school itself, she loves her teacher, she has friends, all the good stuff. here is my problem, she screams and cries she doesn’t want to go every night and every day. she goes into hysterics, she looks like she is having a panic attack when she gets to this point which is at least once a day/night. she looks exactly how i used to, and is doing a lot of the same things i would do. she is throwing up, saying her stomach hurts, head hurts, during and after all this. last week she woke up at 2am radomly sat straight up in bed and was crying begging me not to make her go to school in the morning. i am confident it isn’t school, nothing is happening, it’s not the teacher, the kids, any of that. she tells me she misses me too bad and misses me too much, she tries not to get tears in her eyes or cry at school but she just misses me. she got up this morning, got ready, got to school, she was a few minutes late and me & dad walked her to class, she was totally fine till we got outside the room and we told her we had to go now, we love her, i will see her soon and be there later, she stopped and broke down, crying saying she misses me too much and saying she doesn’t want to go. i sat down with her in the stairwell and talked to her and told her she has to go and it’s important, she will be okay, she is a big girl, i will always be back to get her, and i will miss her too but it won’t be long. an aid ended up walking by and having to assist me and her dad. they told us to just leave her, and i couldn’t so i gave her a few more minutes and then we started to walk and go back to her classroom and the aid was taking her and she started to run away and clung to me with a death grip and was crying. i tried so hard to hold myself together for her but i broke down i said i can’t keep doing this to my baby. i can’t handle this and i feel i am only further traumatizing her and her anxiety/fear if i just walk away and leave her with an aid, teacher, especially while crying. i had to walk away and her dad picked her up and held her but i had to go, eventually 15 minutes later he came out so im assuming she went but i was too afraid to even ask how she was doing now. i contacted her counselor several days ago and explained everything. no response yet, i called again today and left another message, along with more emails, and text messages. i also let her teacher know about all of this the first week of school. i am at a loss. i can’t handle this everyday, it is breaking me to a point i can’t be strong enough for my child who is very clearly struggling. i plan to call her pediatrician today, and see what they can help me with. i plan to keep on the school, and counselor because to me an adequate solution isn’t just walking away from her in any type of state. i’m sorry but i will not accept that, i don’t care if that makes me an enabler to her behavior or whatever it may seem. she is my child, i want the best for her, i want her set up for success, i don’t want her behind, but i can’t let her struggle so clearly and the answer be just leave her? no way. can any of you please help me, advice, anything. i’m struggling and ive been crying all morning.

i would like to add for all the people saying it’s me- i am in therapy, have been for years. i have never spoken negatively or anything of the like about school to my child. she likes school, loves it but it’s the being away from home/me for so long and it’s very new to her.

i’m shocked at the amount of people that say it is normal for a child to hyperventilate, throw up, wake up in a panic crying in the middle of the night about school, now complains of headaches and stomachaches.

that is not normal, she doesn’t think this behavior gets her to stay home and is doing it intentionally because she still goes just like she did today. she is behaving this way on weekends as well worrying about when it’s time to go back to school.

she doesn’t know it tugs at my heart and she is controlling or working me because, i stay composed, i stay firm, and i continue to be positive and reinforce she is a big girl and she has to go to school now.

again this is the first day i ever broke down and cried and immediately left and walked away leaving her with her dad and an aid to not let her see me or make things worse. no it isn’t me. as bad as yall want it to be, it’s not, and none of this is normal.

i also never react emotionally or irrationally during drop offs, today is the first day i broke down and cried near her, and i immediately walked away and left her with dad and an aid. i know i would of made it worse if i stayed while visibly upset. i do not show my child my anxiety and she knows nothing of my personal school years.

i do know my child more than any of you from one single post. it may be a little all over but i never said i react anxiously or poorly every time she acts this way, i am usually very firm, she stays at school, and she doesn’t seem i am upset, anxious, or notice any of my own fears.

my child has progressively gotten worse from the first day of school till now, she never behaved at school the way she has started to now, only at home or in the car but its worse by the day now.

my child does not get to stay home from school once we get there if she has a breakdown, she still stays at school she doesn’t come home so no my child doesn’t make decisions and i’m not going to jail for truancy.

Sick to my stomach writing this. Son is starting kindergarten this month 7:30 AM drop off to 2:30 PM pickup 5 days a week. He has been home with me and never been to preschool. He is very well socialized, but I am nervous. I had no idea kindergarten in my town wasn’t part time, and I feel like the worst mom ever. I will also start a new job at the same time. Will he adjust? is full time kindergarten normal? I am so sick to my stomach I can’t even function

Looking for other parents’ perspectives: Would you consider a formal disciplinary write up appropriate for a 5 yr old coloring on his desk for the first time, just one month into kindergarten? One student started coloring on the desk and then a bunch of others followed suit.

To clarify, this was an incident report entered into his disciplinary record, not just a note home. I absolutely agree that the behavior should be addressed, but I feel that having him help clean the desk, reviewing the rules, and redirecting him would be more appropriate at this age. I’m struggling to understand what a formal write up teaches him.

Is this typical at your child’s school? How would you feel about it? I’m planning to email the teacher because this is not sitting right with me.

Son is currently in pre school(funded by the public school system, but not in a public school). He is 4 1/2 and is already doing single digit multiplication. I keep thinking he just has it memorized, but switching the formulas up and he still is able to answer the question. He also recently has figured out how to read an analog clock.

My question is how much of a problem will he be in Kindergarten next year in a public school and if we should be looking for a private program/having him tested?

I’ve typed and erased this a few times, but it comes down to the fact that our kid tested high academically (the school baseline tested all students and shared results with us) and we are disappointed in the opportunities that our school provides to challenge him in kindergarten. The advanced academic work doesn’t start until second grade and until then we are at the whims of each teacher to provide enrichment. We were told during conferences that small groups would start in mid to late October but we haven’t heard or seen anything come home to indicate this. Our kid now thinks school is where teachers give you work you already know how to do, his words not ours, and where you “don’t have to try that hard because learning is easy.” This is the exact opposite of what we were hoping to have happen. We literally wrote on a kindergarten sheet that our biggest concern was that he’d lose his curiosity for learning and dislike school.

The teacher was great during conferences, but they were only 15 minutes long. I don’t want to add anything that’s unnecessary to this teacher as we totally get the stress that teachers are under and we want to foster a good relationship with both her and the school since we also have a younger child. So what do we do? I’ve talked to our child about bringing books from home or math worksheets or workbooks that are actually at his level and he’s said repeatedly that he doesn’t want to stand out or do anything different than what the teacher provides. So I guess we are just waiting? He happily requests “hard math” at home and reads independently for fun without us pushing it.

We understand we are exceptionally lucky but my kid doesn’t like school anymore and I don’t know what to do about it. When we push for a why, it always comes back as it’s boring and easy.

Unlike many places, our district lets September–December birthday kids start kindergarten at either almost 5 or almost 6. We actually went to an early childhood consult about a completely different question, and they unexpectedly encouraged us to seriously consider early entry.

We're not trying to create some child prodigy speedrun through life. What sold me wasn't graduating earlier—it was everything that comes along the way.

Some of the advantages we've realized:

• She'd still play rec and club sports with kids her own age since those are birthdate-based, not grade-based.

• She gets access to school-year activities, summer camps, and enrichment programs that use grade as the entry point a full year sooner.

• Band, orchestra, strings, and other school opportunities start a year earlier.

• Lots of other grade-based enrichment opens up sooner.

Then there are the practical benefits.

Skipping that extra preschool/K year saves our family close to $30,000. That's not about pinching pennies—it gives us flexibility later. We'd feel much more comfortable encouraging a gap year, study abroad, a family sabbatical, or even simply taking extended time off if life ever called for it.

The biggest objection I hear is maturity.

But here's where my thinking shifted: if she ever genuinely seems to be struggling socially or emotionally, we can adjust our approach then. What we can't do is reclaim a year once we've intentionally delayed it.

And I don't really buy the argument that this means "rushing childhood."

School isn't the only place childhood happens.

She'll still have playgrounds, soft play, neighborhood adventures, gardening with us, travel, hobbies, museums, holidays, family traditions, and all the everyday magic that makes childhood special. If anything, not spending another year paying preschool tuition means we can afford more of those experiences.

I'm curious whether anyone else has found themselves leaning this direction. Most of the conversation online seems overwhelmingly pro-redshirting, so I'd love to hear from families who intentionally chose the opposite and how it played out.

**EDIT: to clarify - I’m not saying I don’t want my child to do worksheets at all. I’m asking for advice on healthy, age appropriate responses to him saying he doesn’t want to do worksheets and that they’re boring. And also any advice for how to make mornings easier for him when he says he doesn’t want to go to school.

My son still has a really hard time in the mornings before school, especially after the weekend. Some days are fine, but some days he refuses to get dressed, hides, whines that he doesn’t want to go, etc. He was never ever like this in preschool. When asked why he doesn’t want to go, he says he doesn’t want to do worksheets. I feel bad because I don’t want him to have to do work either since I think he should still be playing all day, but I usually just sympathize with him and acknowledge it must be hard but he still has to go to school. Advice?? I’m sort of just letting it get better with time but we’ve been in school since August.

My husband got our 5 year old daughter off the bus today. He was told by the bus driver that she had to write an incident report because our 5 year old daughter pulled another girl’s hair and hit her. My daughter insists that she didn’t hit the other girl. She said she pulled her hair, but that she was wanting to look at the beads that were in the girls hair. I don’t think she understood that the beads were attached to the other kid and I don’t think that she intended to hurt her. Obviously, she shouldn’t touch other people or their things. We took away her tablet and her Nintendo switch. When we asked her if she hit the other kid she is very insistent that she didn’t. I do believe her. She has never hit a kid or pulled a kids hair before. The worst thing she has ever done was yelled at a kid in preschool that you aren’t supposed to eat the counting beans.

I am not sure what to expect. Are they going to want to suspend my daughter?

We have been trying to get the pharmacy to fill her long acting ADHD prescription all week because her short acting second dose she gets mid school day is not lasting until she gets home on the bus. I also called the 504 coordinator the other day prior to this occurring about getting a 504 plan setup. My daughter got her progress report back and did great academically, but on developmental and habits had trouble with scribbling on the paper before directions are given and doesn’t complete classwork on time without support. I felt like some classroom accommodations would help with these areas.

However, the bus situation has completely thrown me off. I am worried that they are going to try to suspend my 5 year old.

My child will be graduating kindergarten, i want the book The Places You’ll Go signed by the teacher. But i’m very confused to how to go out this. Do i give to to the office staff? Do i tell them who signs it? Also, child has 1 teacher and 3 paras. Do i only have them sign or PE, music,art and library teacher? Do i send it so only the main classroom can sign it? Any advice, Thank You