So, *yeah*. I’m not so sure I love Sofia’s kindergarten teacher.
Granted, I have had minimal time to interact with her, so that is probably most of it, but I bottom line – I am getting the distinct feeling she is kind of a cold B.
I’m not sure what my expectation of a kindergarten teacher was, but lets just say Miss B. runs a tight ship. Granted, she has 25 kids to manage, but I still think she is lacking in the warm and fuzzies department.
I am coming to this conclusion based on 2 observations:
1. The way Sofia imitates her.
Sofia has taken on a new personal since starting school – that of the firm,take charge teacher with “the brothers” as her students. The other day, while the boys were in the bath, she sat on the toilet and held class.
“Now raise your hand if you’ve ever been to Las Vegas!?” I hear, coming from the bathroom. I peaked in to find the boys both dutifully raising their hands.
Most of the time, she is a very stern “pretend” teacher, taking detailed attendance, telling the kids to keep quiet and of course, being uber bossy.
2. She’s The Queen of Setting Boundaries.
Every week, Miss B. sends home a lengthy letter in their student packet, detailing what will happen that week, but also typically reminding parents about all the things they are doing wrong. I’m sure this is normal for kindergarten as most of the parents are on a learning curve.
She has written about the students not going on the lawn in the morning (bringing mud in the class) as well as making it clear that students that are late must come in alone, with a pink slip from the office. Fair enough. Yesterday, she sent a note regarding Back to School Night. She went into great detail about what would be happening and also said, in no uncertain terms, that no children were allowed (again, fair enough, but I suspect many people will ignore this) and that this isn’t necessarily the time to talk about our children. If we want to talk to her about our children, we need to make an appointment.
K, I guess. I get that she has a large class and needs to set boundaries. But I feel that she spends most of her time setting boundaries and it’s making her seem incredibly unapproachable. (i.e., at orientation, she emphasized how important it is that we’re on time for pick up because she gets hungry and needs to eat her lunch. Ohhhhhkayyyy.)
Back to School Night is not the time to talk about our child? I don’t mean a full blown conference, but I don’t feel like a quick conversation is stepping outside the lines of appropriateness.
I was talking with another mom this weekend about how I feel about this style of teaching. I said I wasn’t sure. I know there is a need for this, that many children need this kind of structure and austere environment, but it doesn’t mean I have to like it. She has been a K-1 teacher in the past, so that may come into play. I’m trying not to dismiss her outright as we’re not even one month in. I want to like her, but I’m just not sure I do.
The Kindergarten teacher next door is clearly the “fun” one, wearing Converse sneakers and doing fun activities with the kids (she takes both classrooms for P.E.). It’s of course making me covet the other teacher, but maybe Miss B.’s style is better for Sofia. Time will tell.
I do think that Sofia is acting out a lot more since starting kindergarten. I know it’s temporary, mostly caused by the transition to a rigid schedule, increased stimulation, less sleep and having to adhere to boundaries. This is all making her explosive episodes all the more extreme. I’m sure it will level out as the weeks progress. At least I hope it does.
On a more positive note, she love, love, loves aftercare. She is also starting to really read, finally. She’s reading street signs and business signs and cereal boxes and anything she sees.
For all of you moms who have been there and done that, what do you think? Am I over thinking and being completely neurotic & ridiculous? Please be honest.
aaah, the grumpy K teacher. BTDT. One would think that a kindergarten teacher should be fun, patient, kind. I too got the non-fun one for little dude. I wished I could say that the parents and kids appreciated her rules and totalitarian dictatorship (kidding) but the reality was that it just didn't work. I'm all for structure, 5-6 year olds NEED that, but a nice balance would have been perfect, and I was very sad that D's K year wasn't memorable like the way I wanted it for him.It takes awhile for the kids to adjust either way. Sofua will find her sweet spot, and you will too. 🙂
dang, my spelling is bad today. Sorry Sophia (why is the "u" key so close to the dang "i"?)
I think this is kind of how public school in America is BUT there are some great teachers out there and I have very blessed for my children to have gotten almost all wonderful teachers.I expect kindergarten and 1st grade teachers to be warm, and bubbly, and friendly, and caring. By the time they get to the older grades a little more stern is ok but I still like feeling like it is someone I could be friends with or at least communicate effectively with.A lot of kindergarten is boundaries, learning how school works, routine, sitting still, etc. so I get that part.I also get the back to school night thing. My kids teachers say the same thing. At first I was kind of offended but I understand, it is chaotic that night and not the time to discuss a particular child. I always start the year scheduling a conference to just touch base with the teachers and then continue to email every month or two to check in.Also in her defense 25 is a ridiculously high number of students for a kindergarten class. My kids school has 15 students in each class this year. All 3 of my kids kindergarten classes had between 15-18 students. Let me tell you, at that age, 18 students is out of control. I used to volunteer a lot and even with me, the teacher, and 1 other parent, it sometimes got out of hand. How many students are in the other class? As a parent I would complain to the principal. If there are 25 each for a total of 50 they could get another teacher and have 16, 17, 17.Best of luck! I hope the year gets better.
Wrote a long comment and the computer ate it. Long story short — give her more time. This may be her personality and approach, but it doesn't mean she doesn't CARE.
As a teacher speaking, I would just give her a little time. She needs to train the parents and the kids in the first 6 weeks. If she doesn't, she'll never get a handle on anything. As a teacher, we were always told to be stern and run a tight, tight ship the first month or so and then ease up later. This might be what she's doing. I think the reminders are great, especially if parents read them. She may be fun-loving, she just needs to get there after establishing the rules. Also, that meet the teacher night/open house type thing, I think they are the same everywhere…not allowed to talk about your child specifically. At ours, the teacher was a little more laid back because there were only a few parents there and I did hear some fun things about my girl that I never would have known otherwise. In that case, I would set up an appointment with her. Yes, it will probably annoy her this early into the school year. Give her a few more weeks and then see where they are at. 🙂 It's all good. I'm sure she's a really, really good teacher. Sometimes the ones that don't run a tight ship can easily lose control of the bunch (including parents) and that's no good either. Just speaking as a teacher… 🙂 🙂 🙂
Give it time, but don't hesitate to talk to her if you feel uncomfortable about something. And if you don't feel her explanations are sincere or truthful, take it to the principal. (Coming from a mom who had a truly awful teacher for my oldest last year who wished she'd said something.)
I think you are unfortunately, probably right on. There's not a whole lot you can do right now, but you work in the district, right? You've gotta be able to get an in on some inside information so that you can request the "fun" teacher next year if you decide that's what's best for Sofia.Oh..and I love that you think the teacher who wears Converse is fun. Because I have two pair that I wear to work all the time, and one of them is bright pink. 🙂 I hope the parents at my school think I'm fun too!