Category: #TeacherMom

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All-Day vs. Half-Day Kindergarten: The Pros and Cons

In the states of Utah and Idaho, many schools are making the shift from half-day kindergarten to all-day kindergarten. Why is this? Does this have to do with the push to get kids academically advanced at a young age? Is it because studies are showing it’s better? Some families currently have the option to choose if they want their child in half-day or all-day kindergarten. Here are some of the pros and cons of both. Some are pulled from research, some are my own opinion, and some are the opinions of close friends who have recently put their children through either full or half-day kindergarten. 

Half day kindergarten: 

Pros:
More time at home with family (if applicable).
Less time at a desk and more time playing at home or daycare.
A transition year to full-day school.
Typically smaller classes.
A better schedule for kids who are not emotionally ready to be away from home all day.

Cons:
It Can be hard to manage childcare because of the pick-up/drop-off times in the middle of the day.
Academics can be pushed harder and faster because of the shorter amount of time in school.
Not enough time for social interaction for some kids.

Full day kindergarten: 

Pros:
A consistent schedule can be helpful for some students.
Childcare arrangements are easier for working parents.
More time in the day for academics, so recess and free time are more likely to happen.

Cons:
Can be a long day for students to be at school all day.
Can be a hard transition to do full-day school at a young age.  
Typically larger class sizes.
Can be hard for kids that are not emotionally ready to be away from home all day.

In my opinion, I’m team all-day kindergarten. Which surprised me, I didn’t think I would be! But the consistency of the schedule, the extra time for recess and free time in their day, and how well my daughter seemed to transition to all-day school made it an easy win for us. And in my opinion, they have to make the transition to all-day school at some point and the transition is hard, no matter the age. However, each situation isn’t and won’t be the same for each family and child.

It was also interesting to me to see insights from families that live in a culture where both parents work versus having a stay-at-home parent. When both parents are working full time, they comment that the year their kindergartener had half-day school was harder on the child and the family because the child was used to being in daycare full time and the half-day kindergarten threw off their schedule for a year.

Families with at least one stay-at-home parent commented that the transition to all-day kindergarten was harder for both the parent and the child. However, they also said that the transition to first grade was seamless and fairly easy after a year of full-day kindergarten.

Remember that if you are currently trying to choose between full-day and half-day kindergarten, you’re making a decision for your child and your whole family. It needs to be a mutual benefit for everyone involved. And whatever decision you make- it’s the right one. There’s no “one size fits all” in the academic world and whether you choose full-day or half-day kindergarten, you will find situations that you don’t love and you will find situations where your child is thriving.

What are your thoughts on all-day vs half-day kinder?

If you want to read deeper research on the topic, this research paper is an interesting read.

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Is The Student Uncomfortable, Or Are We?

My daughter has spent a lot of time at the dentist this year. Most recently, she was in there to have a tooth pulled because she had what the dentist calls a “shark tooth.” This means she has a baby tooth that hasn’t fallen out, but her adult tooth is growing in behind the still intact baby tooth. 

We were back in the office about a month later with another shark tooth. Before even considering pulling it, the dentist talked with me about it first. 

“Is she more uncomfortable with it, or are you?” 

I did some deep thinking over the past month and tried to remember how often she had complained about it hurting or being uncomfortable. Never… the answer was never. She never told me it was hurting her or that she didn’t like it, she couldn’t have cared less if her baby tooth was still in there, despite her adult tooth almost fully grown in. 

But it was making me uncomfortable, thus the reason why I had scheduled the appointment in the first place. 

In the end, we decided to leave the tooth, a good old “wait and watch.” To this day, we’re still waiting and watching and I’m doing my best not to show her my discomfort with her current state. It’s okay for me to be uncomfortable, but it’s not okay for me to push those emotions on her. 

Are there times in a classroom when we as parents and teachers push our discomfort on our kids in certain situations? 

Maybe with seating assignments. 

Maybe with how hard a test or assignment is. 

Are we pushing our uncomfortable feelings on them with their choice of clothes or food for the day? 

When their desk is messy and unorganized, is the student uncomfortable with it, or are we as teachers uncomfortable with it? 

What about how they treat their backpacks, water bottles, lunchboxes, etc? 

It really can be intriguing to think about and is a topic that makes your mind race a bit. 

What situations have you been more uncomfortable with the circumstances than your students have been? What coping mechanisms can we adopt to help us work through those emotions and feelings without affecting them? 

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My #OneWord2024

Mary wrote about her experience with #OneWord each year, you can see all of her previous posts here: 

My #OneWord2019 Almost Broke Me. Carefully Choosing My #OneWord2020

I’ve always felt that the #oneword movement was intriguing and worth pursuing, but never pushed myself beyond the observation aspect of the idea and into the action. This year, I’ve decided is my year. I’ve been pondering for a few weeks now what my #OneWord2024 should be, with Mary’s past posts guiding my way. 

Connect. 

It felt right for me for this year. 

Connect with my kids. With my spouse.

Connect with friends, old and new. 

Connect with community members. 

Connect with myself. 

Connect with my wants and needs.

Connect with the wants and needs of others. 

This year, I’ll be focusing my time and energy on connection instead of writing out my New Year’s resolutions. I can already tell it will be more productive and useful by using this method. 

What is your #OneWord2024? Still brainstorming? Here are a handful of ideas: 

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Doing What is Best For the Child #TeacherMom

I was dead set on holding him back for kindergarten.

My “middle of August” baby born four years ago has forced me to have kindergarten on my mind since the day I knew his due date. I guess that’s a normal thought process after spending years working towards a teaching degree and years beyond that in multiple classrooms and schools. 

Knowing he was a boy with a very late summer birthday, I knew I wanted to hold him back. I’ve had this decision set in my mind for years now. 

But then his course of schooling took some unexpected turns.

We had the developmental preschool in our school district put him through their testing to see if he could qualify for their free preschool, which is an amazing resource to have! 

After three separate days of testing he was able to gain acceptance into their program under an IEP for speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy, all while under close observation for a pending ADHD diagnosis. 

Whew. We just went from a child with a few sensory issues that we were working through to a full-on IEP and in-school services weekly. 

It was a whirlwind taking it all in and seeing where he landed with all of his testing, while then sitting through my first-ever IEP meeting as a parent and going through each of his goals. 

And still, the kindergarten question loomed over me. 

Because legally, this is the last year he can attend this preschool and receive in-school therapies as a preschooler, since next year he will turn 5. Therapies and schooling can only continue if he is in kindergarten.

So without the ability of sending him to preschool again as a five-year-old like I was hoping for, it leaves us with two options. Send him to kindergarten as a very new five-year-old, or keep him home for a year so that we can send him back to public school as a very new six-year-old. 

I know in many cities there would be many other courses of action that can be taken, like charter schools or private preschools and therapies. 

But unfortunately for us in our small town, those are not options we have. Keeping him from kindergarten next year would mean a full-year lapse in therapies that he so desperately needs more than I realized. 

It means redoing all of his testing to place him back into these therapies when he does start school again because everything would lapse and we would be starting over from scratch. 

I was set on holding him back for kinder. I was ready to put him into the public school system as a six-year-old, more prepared and ready to take on the world with an extra year of playing outside in the sticks and mud instead of sitting at a desk. 

But what wins out over what I want, is what he needs. Yes, I want to hold him back a year and I can see the benefits tenfold of sending him to kindergarten later. But I can see the better, higher benefits of sending him earlier, despite my wishes. 

Because in the end, the best decision you can make is whatever is best for the child. Always. 

Cover Photo: Mallory Wilcox

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Affirmations for Anxious Students

Going to school can be anxiety-ridden for some students for many different reasons. Some ways to help combat anxiety in situations include practicing affirmations and utilizing deep breathing techniques. Here are some of our favorite affirmations that parents and teachers can use and teach to those anxious littles. 

“I don’t know this… yet.” 

“I am smart and know the answers. But if I don’t, I can ask for help.” 

“My teacher is on my side.” 

“I can ask for help.” 

“I am successful.”

“I have worked hard.” 

“I belong here.”

“I can do my best.”

“I am safe here.”

“My best is enough.” 

“I am confident.”

“I am brave.”

“My teacher cares about me.”

“I am kind and helpful.” 

“I am here to learn and grow.” 

“I can learn through practice.” 

“My voice matters.”

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Ways to Practice Spelling Words

We’ve been getting creative at our house working on spelling words each week and developing new ways to practice. Here are a few of our favorites: 

Type out the spelling words on the computer using fun fonts and different sizing.

Write out spelling words on sticky notes and hide them around the room. Have your child find the sticky notes, read the word, then spell the word. 

Use the sticky note method above, but this time create different sentences with the spelling words. The sillier the better! 

Play freeze dance, and when it’s time to freeze, choose a word to spell out loud. We love The Kiboomers Party Freeze Dance song, you can find it on most music streaming services. 

Write the spelling words on personal whiteboards (or a big whiteboard if you have one accessible!) Changing the medium that the words are being written can be helpful. 

Another change of medium is writing the spelling words on a mirror or window with a dry-erase marker. After the words are written, spell out loud a word for your child and have them erase the word you spelled out loud. 

Sit down together with the spelling word list and find repeating patterns within the words. Give words in different categories and organize them. Pulling apart and analyzing the words can help with spelling them later on. 

Another helpful post:

If You Give A Kid A Spelling List…
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A Worked For Perfect Score- The Spelling Test #TeacherMom

My daughter brought home her first list of spelling words a few weeks ago. There was a quick note from the teacher- “Please practice these spelling words with your children so they can be prepared for the test at the end of the week.” 

The remainder of the week looked like us working together to practice the spelling words, she is the type of student and child who needed to take the reins on her own homework and decide how much work and effort she was going to put in. And in true fashion, she put in all of the effort and work possible. 

She set up a time to type out the words on a computer to practice and asked us to quiz her once she felt like she had them down better. She practiced spelling them out loud and on paper and took the time to notice patterns within the different words. She worked really hard and put in a lot of effort to learn this new skill, and I was proud of her for this! She even worked extra hard on her bonus words, one of them being the word school, which is a tricky word to spell! 

The day of the spelling test she was a ball of nerves, completely anxious about what was ahead of her. We practiced a few affirmations. 

“I am more than my spelling test.”

“I am a smart kid.”

“I worked hard on my spelling words.” 

“I will do my best and that is good enough.” 

I knew all of the emotions she was feeling as memories of my high school AP literature test, my college statistics final, and many, many more instances came flooding back. The feeling that you just spent a lot of time and effort studying and not doing well on the test would be absolutely devastating and heartbreaking. 

The spelling test came and went, she came home from school and said that she felt really good about it but was still nervous to see her final score the next Monday. Again, I felt the same feelings with her, knowing that it’s out of her hands but the score is yet to come with the fear of the unknown. 

On Monday she came home from school with a spelling test in her backpack… And of course, she received 100%! She even spelled both bonus words correctly. 

That feeling of working hard and having it pay off was felt equally between us. 

There was also a big sense of pride I had in her knowing that this perfect score wasn’t something she easily obtained by natural smarts. It was something she set a plan and a goal for and worked hard to get there. To me, an easy perfect score is one thing, but putting in the time and effort for a good score is next level. 

Mary’s experience and advice with spelling tests:

If You Give A Kid A Spelling List…