Friday is show and tell day at Honeybun’s school. Last night at bedtime she told me “Mommy, my teacher says for show and tell tomorrow we’re supposed to bring a pet. Like a polar bear or a lion. Something that lives in Winter.”
1) Lions do not live in Winter
2) Why are they still talking about Winter when it’s April and 85 degrees outside?
3) Why is my 4-year old telling me this at bedtime Thursday night?
The only one of these questions I can really provide an explanation for is #3: There is no parent communication. Last week for show and tell Honeybun informed me they were supposed to bring “a pillow for jumping on.” WHAT?!?! Luckily I was keeping her home that day anyways to meet the midwife before baby comes.
Parent communication this year with her teacher has been completely non-existent. I found out about a pajama party the class was having while standing in the hallway with the other parents before class was let out. Sometimes the teacher will put a note on the door about things the children need like when they are having a party and want parents to provide food or when we were expected to bring a bag of plastic eggs filled (“with whatever we choose”) and labeled with our children’s names. But actual communication, as in verbal or written that comes home…NADA. The only conversations I’ve had with the teacher are those when I’m complaining about something (like why Honeybun was in the same work group for 5 months instead of working with different children) or when she has an accident form I need to sign.
As a preschool teacher for many years, every program I worked at required us to send home DAILY written communications to EVERY family. We also talked daily (usually at drop off and pick up) with each parent. Hubby usually drops Honeybun off for me in the morning and while she goes to the 3 year-old room until VPK (Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten, a free Florida State program), they drop her bag in the VPK room and see the teacher each morning but she says nothing to him. Pick-up is totally chaotic. Because the program is part time, most parents pick up right at noon and we are required to wait in a narrow hallway while two classes of children are let out one by one to their parents. There is little room or time for one-on-one conversation. The few times I have waited to talk to the teacher, other parents were waiting as well and the conversations ended pointlessly.
As far as written communication goes, for a while we were getting weekly “stop-light” report sheets which showed how Honeybun’s behavior was each day. We were supposed to sign and return the sheets but Hubby and I stopped because Honeybun’s were always just filled in with all green lights and no comments, so what’s the point? I thought maybe I was missing written notices because we do not get homework. I told the teacher early in the year we would not be doing homework but I would gladly work on any skill Honeybun was struggling with if the teacher let me know what to work on so she hasn’t sent the homework home with Honeybun at all (but still reminds the class each week to remember to return their homework which used to panic Honeybun when she didn’t have it to do).
I’m just glad the school year is almost over and I’ll hopefully be able to stop relying on my 4-year old to know what’s going on at school.
Ieieie public school. The subject has been brought up to me a few times but I honestly don’t want to think about it yet.I sometimes think it’s almost a curse knowing what we do. As early childcare educators our worlds are so much different from public school teachers.
I agree, Amanda. It is indeed a blessing and a curse to have so much knowledge of our own and even though it is so different, there are still basic principles that should be followed that often are not. My biggest concern is my children getting lost in the shadows as the teachers try to help those who are struggling. Differentiated instruction, which should be standard practice in any classroom, is often not properly utilized by public school teachers so all the children suffer.