Jumbo Crayons

[Rahmota]

Gurndigarn: I suppose it may be. We don't have too many yuppies or townies or rednecks. We have a pretty healthy mix of styles and attitudes so it evens itself out in the mix I guess.

I had a trapper keeper those where nice. I can attest to the velcro being the probable reason for a lot of teachers not wanting them around. If done properly it can be made to sound like somethign else is ripping or other fun stuff......

And one thing my kid's school just sent homea not that I doubt many parents will be unhappy about being receiving: They have finally banned the heelies! Those shoes are no longer allowed to be worn and anyone caught wearing them will be sent to the office where they will get the cloth booties to wear while the shoes stay in the office until the parent comes and picks them up.

[Retail Associate]

When I was in grade school and the teacher asked us to bring in tissues, the whole point was to have a supply of boxes for her to keep on her desk for everyone's use, without her having to pay for 'em all.

The teacher had her own box of tissues on her desk and wanted to keep it that way. She didn't want us snot-nosed kids using up all her tissues so we had to bring our own to keep in our desks. Either I didn't hear her specify what size or she didn't say it, but my mother must have figured a larger box would be best so the whole class could use it.

Anyhow...speaking of preschool. My son went only because we lived out in the boonies and there were no kids around for him to play with. I wanted him to have some time to spend with kids his own age and learn to make friends so I sent him to preschool. He loved it. Every day when he saw me coming to pick him up, he'd run and hide. I guess he was hoping I would just leave him there.

It was really good for him and he loved school until he had to leave elementary and go to junior high (7th grade at that time). Now the kids only go through 4th grade at their elementary schools. Grades 5 & 6 are in the old junior high. 7th & 8th are in the old high school and 9th - 12th are in the new high school. I have nieces and nephews who have really struggled with these early school changes. I think it's hard on these young kids to be put in these bigger schools at such a young age...but I'm old and set in my ways.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]My daughter is in pre-school. Before anyone throws rotten vegetables at me let me explain why she's there.

Why would pre-school have a negative connotation? I went to pre-school myself.

While there, I acquired a taste for the raw spaghetti and other noodles that were used for various projects and activities. The teachers didn't like that much.

Overall it was a good time, at least what I remember.

[SuperB]

Pre-school should be a choice. I think the negative attachment stems from those who insist it's absolutely necessary to the rest of ones life. We homeschooled our kids during the "pre-school" age and they had no problems whatsoever.
That said, Kindergarden has changed and kids are tackling more at that age than they used to. It's a good idea to look into what they'll be expected to know. That doesn't mean pre-school would be necessary since what they'll need can easily be achieved at home.

[4Gifts4Lisa]

I notice now that many teachers are requiring students to color-code their folders and notebooks.

For example, red folder and red notebook for math class, blue folder and blue notebook for English, green for Science, etc.

I sometimes notice orange being mentioned as one of the color codes for certain classes. Orange folders are not hard to find, but I don't see too many orange notebooks out there.

And then there's my poor kid, who's color blind and would screw up this system quicker than you can tell the teacher to f*** o**.

I have four kids, and lemme tell you...I look at the supply lists, buy what is on sale, and the teacher can bite me. I make sure they have markers, crayons, pencils and paper, but I have learned through many years of having school kids that you might as well go as cheap as you can b/c they are going to lose it all anyway.

And if ANY teacher ever even thought about humiliating my child, her a** would be mine.

[Becks]

This thread is making me think back to my school days...

I remember that at the beginning of every school year, the teachers would say, "OK, for this class you must have a folder just for this class, notebook just for this class, textbook (school supplied, at least), a black or blue pen, and maybe a pencil."

Funny how they didn't give a damn that I would use one notebook and folder at a time, switching to a new one when the current one was past use, and a green or purple pen. Take THAT!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and I would decorate my tests with stickers, too. Got some compliments on them.

[BookstoreEscapee]

While there, I acquired a taste for the raw spaghetti and other noodles that were used for various projects and activities. The teachers didn't like that much.

Raw spaghetti, yum. You can also use a stick of raw spaghetti for lighting jar candles that are burned down too far to reach with a match. Also makes a fun, cheap cat toy. (At least my cats have fun with 'em.)

I think preschool is a good thing in the sense that it gives kids an opportunity to learn how to act in class when they get to "real" school, and for socializing with other kids and getting used to being away from mom and dad. My preschool classes were only a couple hours a few days a week, which I guess helped prepare us for a half day 5 days a week in kindergarten, which in turn prepared us for a full day in 1st grade. But some people put such pressure on getting into the "right" preschool it's ridiculous. They've used that as a storyline on Law and Order and there's at least one book I can think of too. Exaggerated, I'm sure, but probably not too far off. I think the real purpose of preschool should be to ease the transition to regular school; it doesn't chart a path for the rest of your kid's life...

[zzapp the witch]

I was the only kid growing up that never had a Trapper Keeper. My mom's reason for not getting me one? Too expensive, and they'll fall apart too fast. She was right. My parents always got me the high quality art supplies though.

My second son will be starting kindergarten next year, and I'm scared shitless for his self-esteem. Why? He's smart, real smart, but he doesn't articulate when he speaks. It's like Creole or something, all muddled together. I'm working on his speech with him, and I know that he'll probably be in speech therapy or something, but I'm so scared that a teacher will belittle him and yell at him because they can't understand what he's trying to say. I saw it happen to a kid I grew up with. If he EVER starts crying when I'm sending him to school, saying that he doesn't want to go, I'm going to be right in that office asking what the hell they're doing to my son.

Oh, and we had a teacher here that started getting brand name and color anal on supplies, one of the parents has his own law firm and made the case that if she was going to be that anal, the school should order the uniform supplies and provide them at cost for students to purchase.....she shut up about it.

[Rahmota]

I dont see a real need for or use for preschhol. All but my youngest did without preschool and where just fine. We where forced to put my youngest in preschool (Long annoying story I dont want to get into) and he has had issues with school ever since.

So a bad preschool can cause many many more problems than it could ever solve. All they are in many cases is just a daycare center masquerading as a school. I'll stop now before I go off on a more verbal rant about preschool. Suffice to say if the parents do their job right preschool is not required.

Zapp: Thats wierd you say they would fall apart. I still have my trapper keeper that I used all through high school. I use it to keep some of my D&D characters and notes in it. And yes I do still have characters dating back to high school.

I have never had a teacher belittle or berate my children for no good reason and I never will. they already know I am not afraid of them and will stand up for my children.

Schooll is getting overly complicated and PC BS social crud. Go back to the basics and get rid of the extra BS.

[zzapp the witch]

Maybe they just sent inferior models to my little white trash area? I've never seen one that held together worth a crap.

[Jules Of All Trades]

I've been on both sides of the pre-school situation but this year has by far been the worst.

I was a single mom working full-time when my oldest was pre-school age, so he went to a Pre-K/Day Care facility. He did just fine and went on to kindergarten the following year. Shortly thereafter I got re-married and stayed home with him and the new babies in the house.

In my area the pre-schools fill up fast, so when it was time to consider pre-school for my middle son they were already filled with siblings of other pre-schoolers who got first dibs on spots in the class. He bugged the holy shite out of me about going to "school" like his friends so finally when our spot on the waiting list came up we enrolled him. He liked pre-school and had an easy transition to kindergarten.

Since then I've started working from home full time. Last fall was when it would have been time to enroll my youngest son in pre-school, but we decided against it. There were a few reasons we decided against it. Having two older brothers helped him learn things much faster than we anticipated and he's "ahead" (according to the system) of his age academically already. The choices were also very limited, the only pre-schools with openings were extremely expensive (over $400 a month) or extremely religious, which we didn't want for him. So we decided not to send him. You won't believe how many faces I get when they ask where Little Dude goes to school and I reply with, "He doesn't". I get so sick of having to explain it to the pre-school Nazi's in my neighborhood.

He also inherited some of my hip problems (le sigh...) and needs frequent care for leg pain. The ball of his hip is deteriorating pretty rapidly, and no pre-school that I know of will take the time to soothe him with heat therapy and popsicles (proven therapy ) when he's in pain.

He's doing just fine. I set up a desk for him in my home office so we "work" together a good portion of the day. He sits in my lap and helps me with my work, then we work on his ABC's and 123's. He also gets lots of social time with his friends.

All in all, pre-school is great for some and not-so-great for others. Been there, done that. All of my boys are turning out just fine.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

You don't have to explain yourself to anyone. It's not their business.

I don't tend to explain why my family does anything a certain way unless I feel like it. I certainly don't do in on demand.

You're making the best decisions for your family based on your own decisions. Kudos to you to do it in the face of others giving you The Look.

[tollbaby]

My second son will be starting kindergarten next year, and I'm scared shitless for his self-esteem. Why? He's smart, real smart, but he doesn't articulate when he speaks. ... I'm working on his speech with him, and I know that he'll probably be in speech therapy or something, but I'm so scared that a teacher will belittle him and yell at him because they can't understand what he's trying to say.

Unless you have a throwback to the dinosaur age (i.e. when I was little), I don't think you'll have too much trouble with that. Teachers are now trained to recognize speech pathologies, vision and hearing difficulties, so that the children can be treated for them as soon as possible. It might even be an idea to get in touch with the school before classes begin to see if something can be set up for him (My daughter gets speech therapy twice a week at school, and she's in kindergarten). It shows the school that you're taking a proactive role in your son's education, and they like that sort of thing.

[Rahmota]

Zapp: I dont know. Mine is still in pretty decent condition and I know I didnt exactly baby it.

As for being proactive as long as you are going with what they want you're being proactive, if you disagree then you are being uncooperative. bah.

<SNIP>If you have a problem with a thread use the Report Button so the Mods can deal with it. </SNIP>

[tollbaby]

Well, I felt that I was being proactive by pulling my son out of the first two schools he was in. They considered him a "behavior problem" and wouldn't listen to me when I said he only got violent when he was overstimulated and was there any way we could have him tested for certain things like ADD, anxiety, etc. (Pediatricians in Ontario, if the child is school-aged, require a request from the school to initiate that sort of testing).

Finally moved to Quebec, and while the first school he went to LITERALLY kicked him out after two weeks, and the second one was no better, we really lucked out with the third, and he's doing really well.

Being proactive doesn't mean doing everything the teacher says. It means taking responsibility for your child's educational experience and not just using school as a babysitting service, which in turn, makes your child feel more valued as well. I don't remember my mother ever taking an interest in my school stuff (which was how I was able to fluff off everything beyond grade 2 and nobody noticed).