[meleliza]

Nicole, we don’t have a choice about when kids start school. There is a cutoff age and it has become completely inflexible. It’s very difficult for those close to the cutoff. My middle one was ready for Kindergarten last year in my opinion, and I know him best. However, he wasn’t allowed to go. We tried everything we could think of and couldn’t find a long term workable solution. Quite a few of his life long friends went off to kindergarten and he stayed in preschool. I’m still worried about him being bored in school and worried about having a grumpy 18 year old stuck at home for an extra year when he should be off at university. But we will just have to deal with it. Probably, it will cost us a lot of money in extra activities.

My oldest has a classmate who is an entire year older than evyone else. She’s also very very tall. Poor thing is quite self conscious about it all. My good friend’s son went off to kindergarten – he is exactly the same age as my middle one and theyve known each other since birth – and he is the very very youngest. He’s having a hard time sitting still and paying attention. Well, duh! Thats normal for a little boy, but he’s in public school and the teachers just don’t have the resources to help kids the way they might.

It’s also tough for the kids who are youngest too, especially if they’re not big or smart to begin.

My advice to wanna be parents is always to avoid the September/August birthdays at all costs! It’s an awful lot of stress. They never listen. After all, that Christmas celebrating an lead to carelessness. 🙂

[Tamara]

However you put it, there is always going to be a youngest and an oldest in the class whether the cut off be January to December or July to June or September to August. I’m a December girl and I know what it was like to be the youngest in the class – and the tallest. The teachers, everyone treated me as though I were older than everyone because of my height. But I could keep up academically so that is what confused them too. There is this misconception that those who are younger aren’t as smart as the older kids. Not true! It is entirely individual. We have kids in my daughter’s class born in May who always top the year. Doesn’t matter that mum is a teacher – my mum didn’t do my homework for me! – they’re just plain together and clued in!

It’s really sad how your little boy can’t go on with his peers because of the cut off Meleliza. Sure I bet you could put him back a year if he were behind in someway but not forward. Such tall poppy syndrome! They build up this ideal in our heads that our kids have to be this that and the other thing and when they happen to be this way without the education systems influence, they’re almost punished for it! It just doesn’t make sense at all does it?!

For us, because we are busiest from May through to June, when we were considering the kid option we avoided those months and again for November /December. I wouldn’t want to have a baby in June because of school anyway. My kids are October and July which place them in the following year cut off. It just means that their peers who are born the same year but before June 30 are in the year ahead. Totally confusing for the kids and the way that my daughter is currently acting, I think she would have been better off in that group, although she was ready for school when she went. My nephew won’t be four until April so kindy year is this year for him. He is ready to go and shows interest in reading and writing already. However, I bet my sister will probably be hauled in to see the teacher several times over the course of his schooling! He is adorable but a live wire and may prove a handful – school could also settle him down too!

Don’t worry about the age at the end of it all Meleliza. Both my children will be 18 when they finish high school. We don’t know how they will be by then. They could still be motivated to get the job done knowing what is around the corner! I live in hope!

[cybele727]

I have a late December and a late June. Our cut off for minimum age is 5 by December 1.

My son is among the youngest as a June child. Those born between June and December who are younger are usually girls, as the boys often get retained/red shirted by their parents.

My daughter will be the oldest. She’s only 3 weeks past cut off. Physically she won’t be able to handle school with the other 2009 born kids who would go to school a year earlier. She’s a better match for 2010 babies. 🙂 But cognitively, she’ll be way ahead.

Thankfully most our preschools follow the age enrollment of the district in which they reside. So if I were to enroll the WeeGee, who is now 3, in a program, they would put her with the twos, to match her cohort in school, thus, her friends would also become her classmates eventually.

We had friends with a Nov birthday. She barely made the Kindergarten cut off. They moved to another state, and that district has a Sept 1 cut off. Poor kid did 1/2 year of K and then wasn’t allowed into the new school. (Her math and reading was tracking at late first grade by the end of 1/2 yr of K). Has a 1/2 year off. Following fall, she gets enrolled in K (does the first 4 months of K AGAIN). Then they have to move back here where the date is Dec 1.

Poor kid. Never got to complete Kindergarten. Her mom enrolled her back up in 1. Because how can you put a kid through 2 years of Kindergarten when she was performing as a 2d grader at that point.

The point of all this is that while I get the need for rules, the crazy rigidity that does not take into account each child as an individual is a failure of most educational systems.

[cybele727]

Justsewit, my relationships with my son’s teachers are always interesting. LOL

I start the year with a letter to them saying, this is who my child is. These are his strengths, his weaknesses, his quirks, his goals, MY goals. It saves them that first month or so of…what is this child about, and what is his/her triggers for behavior. 🙂

I also tell them that I am an active participant in their learning. And that I will not hesitate to question their methods or their choices, because in the end, the child is MINE! 🙂 (I am kind of possessive about all that work and love I put into them.)

I also tell them that I am a major cheerleader for teachers and education and will help in any way I can. I go to school board meetings and regularly tell them to get their head out of their behinds and make SOUND educational decisions, based on what is BEST for the kids, not based on what we “want.”

I tell his teachers, “you will either adore me or abhor me, but the choice is 100% yours.” Principal hated me at first for being so up in the school’s business, but now she sees me in the hall and is my bud, b/c she’s sees me scold my school board for cutting services to kids with special needs or ESL (even though my son doesn’t need them.)

This aggressive stance at the beginning of the year makes his teachers understandably nervous. But then I start volunteering, and once they know me, they choose adore. Of course, I am a licensed teacher and once they see that I can actually teach, they are giddy for the additional support.

Last year for example, I volunteered in his classroom during reading. By January, the kids ended up with double reading time as I would run 2 reading groups and she would run 2. If the teacher was absent on my day, the sub would read a note for reading… “Let Jen tell you what to do.”

This year, I administer tests, doing reading level assessments for new kids, and when a sub is present (holy nightmare batman), I will spend a bit more time and run the reading groups and the sub acts like an aide. I sometimes spend a ton of time with 2 or 3 individual students who need lots of hands on attention and one on one during the free reading time.

Sometimes my son is not happy about that b/c he’s like hey what about being here for me! LOL. In another year or two, he’ll resent my presence in his classroom, b/c it won’t be cool! 🙂

Of course, I wouldn’t be this aggressive (oh ok… maybe I would) if I hadn’t spent 10 years teaching, Latin of all things.

[Jennifer1568]

Have any of you read Malcolm Gladwell’s A Tipping Point? The discussion about the age of a child relative to the average age in a class made me think of it. I think older kids usually are more successful and therefore are more confident and then have more opportunities and then are more successful. It is perpetuating. Little boys who get into trouble frequently because they can’t sit still suffer consequences that are not completely apparent.

[Tamara]

It sounds like an interesting read Jennifer. I think I might check it out. I am one “of those” parents who like to read a lot of stuff that may or may not be relevant to my child but for the good of education itself. Things like social rules for kids – because this is where we have the most challenges and how to books. So this one sounds up my alley.

Cybele, you make me laugh and I share your intentions as this is me! Probably not as aggressive but I am getting there. I don’t write letters to the teachers but maybe I should as then they might not go chortling to me that they “know my child” and then proclaim the most ridiculous things! This is where it is my turn to either adore or abhor and it is mostly abhor I’m afraid!

My son loves it when I am there helping and I know that my daughter loved it too but she is starting to get to the stage where I am embarrassing to be seen with. Yes she is only ten! My son is also the one who frowns at me because I am not sitting next to him but just because I am with another group doesn’t mean I’m not watching what he is doing and how he is coping. Last year the teacher made it so that I was with other groups.

Last year I helped with reading and sight words but there are some parents who are so possessive of the roles that it was almost like a stampede on sale day to get there! I didn’t bother in the end. I focused on my son and making sure we read the really boring books that were sent so we wouldn’t get complaints that our home reading routine was not consistent! And then read really interesting ones at home in secret.

Teachers don’t know your child in the way you know your child and that is a fact! They may think they know everything about them and in our school in particular, this is the case because it is small and most of the teachers have taught the parents! Parents always have the right to give the teachers some insight into what their child is like at home. After all you have known him longest and loved him longest and they are only with him for but a brief moment in time. So if a teacher tries to tell you that they know your child, don’t hold back in correcting them.

I don’t go to board meetings because they are on at night at a ridiculous time and my husband works seriously long hours so I run the potential, of having DOCS (department of children services) lob on my doorstep to lecture me on the importance of not leaving your children home alone. I was a part of the committee when the kids were in K/PP and that was difficult but I did what I could to help the school that way regardless of the backlashes afterwards.

I do however, volunteer in the classroom, at sports carnivals and if my daughter gets to go on camp this year I will volunteer for that also. We don’t have a lot of excursions but the chance is there to volunteer when they do occur also. Still, it isn’t as much as some but I sort of like it that way too! Sometimes you need to take a breath and let the kids get on without you for a little while.

[Tamara]

Well today is the first day of the new school year and we are all apprehensive about what to expect. I had my daughter awake late doing the dawdling thing until I marched her off to bed repeating for the millionth time the importance of a decent sleep. I myself went to bed at midnight after a bungled attempt to cover exercise books and label things – and I realised I was missing a few things of vital importance!

We had some rather relieving news yesterday. The little dog that turned up on our doorstep three weeks ago is still here but for very good reason. We were just about ready to give up hope of finding his owners when Murray made a visit next door to the house that is being rented to see if they were actually home. It ended up being that an elderly lady was living there and yes the dog was theirs but seeing as he had settled in with us she let us keep him. It turned out that they were moving soon anyway so she said that even though they thought he went off and died, they would now know that he is being cared for.

We have all become attached to him as much as we were all telling each other not to. He is just a sweet little dog! The lady said he is about 6 years old but when we take him to the get to get checked out, they will be able to tell us a more accurate age. The kids, especially N are really excited. Not one but three pets in the school holidays and a dog amongst them! I am so glad Murray went over there to find out as I was being accused of stealing someone’s dog and being told to take it to the pound! No need for guilt trips anymore!

A good positive start to the school year.

[with love Heidi]

I run a playgroup, for families with children up to 5 years of age, and a number of the families use the reading eggs and love them.

If you have a school age child and are looking for a maths program mathletics seems to be great. My mum who’s a high school maths teacher uses it with lots of her classes and a couple of my friends with primary aged kids use it for their kids. There’s practice questions, tests and points to score and then spend.

[Tamara]

Our school invested in a subscription for the entire school for Mathletics. They use it a lot at school but at home my kids didn’t seem to want to go on as much. Maybe it is because they see home as their sanctuary away from the crazy world of school.

We have kicked off the year. N is with the same teacher and away from the kid who gave him grief (in the class room at least). It is a bit of a strange set up this year with a straight kindergarten class, PP/1 , 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 6/7. There also seems to be more high school kids than primary children which is a surprise and more high schoolers in general.

So we shall see how this pans out. It means there is no room for movement should things go haywire but because the dynamics are different already, maybe there won’t be a need?! I’m really hoping for a happier more successful year this year all round. It is so stressful when things aren’t going well with the kids at school.

So I will just take the day to sort out the chaos that has been left behind, catch up on baking, washing, cleaning and then maybe squeeze in a bit of nap before 4.15pm when I have to collect them off the bus.

[Nicole]

I think we are very lucky with our little school.

Matilda has returned for her second week of Kindy,very happy and settled.

My only grumble is that we have been well for the entire school hols,to pick up a gastro from school and it go through the house over the weekend. It has hit Liddy worse and she is so slight she can barely deal with it.

I know it is lack of soap in the lavatories,the children break the soap(according to the cleaners) so they don’t bother!

I organised hand sanitises outside the classrooms,through the governing council,but little ones need to be reminded to use them!

Its a fact of (school)life but so annoying!

[with love Heidi]

That is really frustrsating and unhygenic not having soap in the loos! What about the dispensers on the wall? Broken soap cleans hands just as well as a whole bar. In fact it’s a long time since I’ve seen bar soap in lavatories. (Sorry having a bit of a rant.)

Hope that you all come good soon, extra prayers for Liddy.

[Lightning McStitch]

Tamara I’m happy you like the dog and it’s found a nice home, but really, if your dog went missing wouldn’t you at least ask the neighbours? I shouldn’t be surprised as it’s my line of work, but still I am surprised when people are so laisse faire about losing a pet. Glad he’s staying with you.

[Tamara]

A friend and neighbour of mine had her chocolate Labrador go missing a few years ago and she was so frantic she called everyone and “ordered” us to keep our eyes peeled. She went to extremes to find her animal but sadly it wasn’t found. I was accused of stealing this dog (Buddy) by someone who worked for a dog rescue centre. She told me I had to take him to the pound!! I refused because I don’t want to know what happens there and because he was house trained and well behaved we would have kept him. The neighbours are an elderly lady and her son who works away so I doubt they had the travel capabilities to go look for him. They aren’t as bad as the previous people who left two kelpies there to starve! They were the dogs who were so hungry they were killing our sheep. My daughter wants them too but I think they would be better to be re homed elsewhere. Once they get the taste for killing there is no stopping them so they wouldn’t be any good on (our) property. Yes I do agree as this is exactly what I would do.

So Saturday we plan to go and buy a collar and lead and I will make an appointment at the vet to take him and get checked out. If the other owners thought he’d gone off to die, I at least want to know there is no underlying issue that would warrant that and have to prepare my kids for. Besides it is what a responsible pet owner would do.

Don’t they have liquid soap Nicole? Such a bummer to get gastro in your first week back at school. And poor Liddy! Such a wisp of a girl it would truly know her about for sure!

I am thrilled to hear that Matilda is sailing smoothly into school. I think, even though it tugs at the heart strings to see it happen, it is still something to be rather proud of. You had a success in that Nicole! All your doing – in a good way!

Our first day seemed to go well. N apparently got three house points for telling his (nemesis) calmly that he didn’t want to play “cops and robbers” anymore. I hope he didn’t make that bit up! They seemed really happy when they got home which is a good sign. Miss 10 was given a survey to complete so the teacher can get to know her better which is the first time I have heard of that happening. How I wish it would happen right from year one.

Off to collect the kids from school so we can go to the pool! It is horrid again outside so a good cooling off is rather required!

[rastis]

oh the dreaded gastro- i hope it passes quickly and that the little ones bounce back fast!

we had it 3 times last year and i’m really hoping to avoid it while pregnant… my son’s preschool has liquid soap and i’m constantly reminding him to wash his hands… unfortunately a 4 year old boy’s idea of clean isn’t the same as mine…

[Sarvi]

I hear you on that, my daughter likes to apply soap under a stream of running water. I have to supervise and turn the tap so it’s not rinsed off immediately. Although, I don’t know — do you ever have one of those nights where something happens and overnight, it’s like you’ve got a new kid? She woke up one morning a few days ago and suddenly, the tantrums are a lot mellower, her verbal ability jumped, she’s playing a bit differently with her toys (has special voices for them), renewed interest in wordplay/jokes. She’s gotten more thorough about handwashing too. It’s month of repeating, repeating, repeating, then bam, literally overnight she’s absorbed it and I just don’t have to tell her anymore to take off her shoes, put them by the door, wash her hands, etc. Funny thing!