I hope that everyone has enjoyed their holiday season so far, I know it’s a slight relief now that the majority of the hustle and bustle is over with. Although for those of us with kids we know the real relaxation begins when they’re back in school! My oldest son started Kindergarten this year – he went from 1/2 day school every other day in preschool his first year to full day classes (9-3) for his second year of preschool. This year though he started Kindergarten and hops on the bus at 8:30am and doesn’t get home until 4:30pm. For a 6 year old that’s a LONG day so he is welcoming this break from school and we’re happy to have him home. I give it another day or two until the novelty of being at home during the day wears off and he’s begging to go back to the constant activities of school and hanging out with his friends.
The notion of full day Kindergarten took me by surprise at first. Our son had never been in daycare and although I feel like we prepared him for school a bit by sending him to preschool it still seemed like a long day. For me, Kindergarten was a few hours, mostly learning letters and doing activities, boy have times changed. My son’s biggest complaint was the lack of free time “play time” they get and how much “learning” is involved. Computer class, Social Studies, Math…they all seem like really ‘big kid’ classes and I wasn’t sure how he would handle all of the extra work..especially homework(that was a fun concept to explain). All in all though he’s adjusted really well, I am more then impressed with how much he has learned, especially with reading. He’s able to read and spell words that are quite impressive – the days of being able to spell out “ice cream” to my husband are now long past though.
Not every Kindergarten in the Poconos is full day classes, our son is also on the “old” side of his class, just missing the cut off date for the previous year by a week, so if you’re looking to send your little one off to school be sure to do your homework. Some of the schools give you the option of full or half day depending on how many kids they have, and the ability levels that your child has. Full day Kindergarten is a newer thing in the area, my sons school only started doing it last year, it was a learning curve at first but he seems to have settled into the full day adjustment just fine.
A few things that have helped:
1) Lots of sleep. We pushed his bedtime back from 8:00 to 7:30, sometimes 7:00. He also takes the occasional nap when he gets home, we just make sure he doesn’t sleep too much so he’s ready for bed.
2) A snack. Although getting of the bus at 4:30 and eating dinner at 5-5:30 doesn’t seem like much time for a snack, giving him something to eat – even the ’start’ of dinner(a roll, salad, veggies) that he would be eating anyway takes that “edge” off.
3) Preparation. We make sure homework is done and lunch/snacks, coat, gloves, etc. are all laid out the night prior as well as his outfit for the next day – it avoids that morning rush/confusion.
Times are changing, to me school seems a lot more challenging then it was ‘back in the day’ but at the same time the output from it – the learning, abilities and skills that result from it seem well worth it. If you’re getting ready to send your little one off next year be sure to get them acclimated now. Their sleep schedule, structured routines, tours of the school…all of it can be done far in advance to make the process as smooth as possible.
