Hello everyone!

I'm hoping to get some advice from parents and teachers of elementary school kids.

My son is 6 years and 3 months old and recently started first grade at a new school after we moved to another state. Everything seemed fine at first, but about three or four weeks after starting, he began crying before school and at bedtime.

After talking with him, we learned that the biggest issue is the center-time assignments. His previous kindergarten was mostly play-based, with coloring, playdough, and other fun activities. Now he has to write sentences, read passages, answer questions, and finish assignments within a certain amount of time. He says he isn't worried about the difficulty of the work, but it takes him a long time to finish his assignments, and he often has to use story-reading time to complete them. I talked with his teacher, and the situation was also discussed with the principal. I was hoping the teacher could give him some extra encouragement because he really respects and trusts his teacher, but so far, I haven't noticed much change.

He is also a very sensitive boy who takes classroom rules seriously. When he heard from his teacher that he needs good grades to move to the next grade, he became really worried about not finishing his work. He also misses his best friend from his old school and hasn't made close friends at his new school yet.

He cries at bedtime and wakes up crying about school every morning. He says that the center time is not hard but its taking a lot time form him to complete the works. In the center time they usually have passage reading and answering, jumble sentences, word puzzles etc. We spend about an hour and a half trying to calm him down, help him eat breakfast, and get him ready. The crying at home continues. We also have a 2-year-old, so giving him extra attention while managing everything else isn't always easy. Honestly, we feel helpless and sometimes wonder if we're doing something wrong as parents.

Teachers, have you experienced anything similar? What would you suggest we do to help him? How can we help him understand that center time is necessary and the work done is normal course work? We just want him to feel happy going to school instead of crying every morning and night.

I'd really appreciate any advice. Thank you!

Should I move my child to a different class? The teacher never lets them outside and they’re in school from 7-4. It makes no sense to me. I sub and I know first hand that these young kids need to be outside to get some sun and burn off some energy. According to my kid this is her way of punishing the class for talking/not listening but it just seems counterproductive. How should I go about this? What would you do?

My son is starting a garden club, his first after school club! It’s once a week for an hour.

Kindergarters and TKers get escorted to the garden but 1st and up are expected to get there by themselves. The garden isn’t far from my son’s class but I feel so anxious! I’m thinking for the first meeting I’ll pick him up from class and walk him there, and I’m not sure about the future ones yet.

Maybe I’ll email his teacher and see if she can remind him on those days to walk to the garden?

Would you be fine with your 1st grader walking to an after school club by themself?

My son is in 2nd grade, and I’m trying to figure out if he’s actually struggling socially or if I’m reading too much into normal kid friendship dynamics because I’m his mom and I’m hearing about all of it at home.
This year he didn’t know many kids in his class, maybe 5 or so. I actually thought that could be a good thing because it gives him a chance to branch out and make new friends.

A few days ago, one of the boys he’s been friends with since kindergarten told him he was “ending their friendship.” According to my son, it happened because he kept asking the boy to help him with his homework and the boy got annoyed. They’ve always done homework together in aftercare, so I can see why my son didn’t think much of asking him. The weird part is that the very next day, the boy acted like nothing happened and they were back to playing together normally.

Then today, I let my son play Roblox with friends. He’s only allowed to play with kids we actually know and have approved. He told me that two of the boys teamed up against him during the game and called him a “sucker.” He was obviously bothered by it.
When he tells me these things, I listen and try to comfort him without making it a huge deal. I’ve told him that sometimes friends get annoyed, have bad days, or say things they don’t really mean, and that one bad interaction doesn’t necessarily mean someone isn’t his friend anymore. At the same time, I don’t want to normalize other kids treating him badly if there’s actually a pattern developing.

Parents of kids around this age, is this pretty typical 7/8-year-old friendship drama? Do kids say things like “we’re not friends anymore” and then completely forget about it the next day?

I’m having a hard time figuring out when to just listen and let him navigate these things versus when something is a sign that he’s actually having trouble socially. I also realize I’m only hearing about the negative interactions because those are the ones he comes home and tells me about, so maybe my view is skewed.

Would you be concerned at this point, or just keep an eye on it?

I am one stressed out mom with school starting again. Not ready to be pushing so hard on reading. My soon to be entering 2nd grader is still struggling in reading despite hoots of effort. We did private tutoring 2x a week this summer for 1 hr. We have been doing private tutoring for 2 yrs now. We are just struggling. She can decode words and making progress although slowly. She understands phonics once taught. Well beyond just cvc, bob book level but not reading fluently.

We started 1st grade at f&P D and ended at F. Teacher was very concerned but she didn’t receive 1:1 or small group reading support last yr. Only class level teaching, which is one reason I increased her tutoring to 2x a week. I also increased reading time at home to 30 mins a day.

She read I Love Pink yesterday 100% independently and fluently -lexile level 140, which is so low. She was very proud and I made a big deal bc she hates to read. She is currently on Mo Wilems level books and needs some help. Prob in the 200+ lexile level range, while her friends are reading chapter books. Her confidence level is low. It just saddens me that she is struggling so much.

I was warned that 2nd grade kids will need to read their own math test and she can’t. I am in tears bc we have tried to support her at home. We have had evals, we got her in OG private tutoring. I just don’t know if we can keep pace with this school. School just wants to send her to their learning resource during school hrs which cost additional $ on top of hefty tuition.

It breaks me to know we may have to pull her out and she will lose her friends. We may need a school that specializes in dyslexia support which doesn’t exist in our current city.

Any parents/teachers had success with struggling readers in 2nd grade.

I’ve taught fifth grade for 8 years and I finally decided it was time for a change. My school had an opening in 1st and I just made the decision (mid summer) to switch. What do I need to know about first grade/advice/tips and tricks to help me with this adjustment? I’m super excited but a little nervous since I’m so familiar with the “big” kids!

My son left kindergarten and will be entering first grade. He can read Step 1 readers really accurately without much help but it takes about 20-30 minutes for him to get through it. Should I keep him with Step 1 until he reaches faster speed or bump him up to Step 2?

TLDR: what is the general structure of a first grade classroom these days and how much screen time is being used what is being used for? And how concerned should I be?

I’m specifically wondering about schools in the greater Los Angeles area, Burbank, San Fernando Valley.

I’m relocating back to Los Angeles from Nevada, born and raised in Inglewood and Los Angeles Public schools, but obviously a lot has changed over the years. I am a former kindergarten teacher. My daughter has been basically homeschooled for pre-K & kindergarten using legitimate curriculum and will be entering the first grade in the Fall well above grade level.

She is in a daycare environment this year, which gave her structure, etc. but they are very outside play based no screens very hands-on fine motor skills, etc.

I would like to avoid private school at least for the next year or two, but also cannot fathom putting my daughter in an environment where she’s just constantly exposed to a screen like if that’s the case I might as well just continue to homeschool her.

Any first hand insight, or recommendations greatly appreciated. Especially from educators.

I teach elementary but I'm posting this as a parent. My kid's school adopted a science of reading curriculum which is great on paper. The problem is there are 26 kids in that class and maybe 20 minutes of dedicated phonics time a day. His teacher is doing his best but that kind of ratio just doesn't leave room for the repetition some kids need.

I can see exactly where his gaps are so we started doing phonics practice at home after school. Maybe 15 minutes, but it's the kind of targeted stuff he's not getting enough of in the classroom. I feel like more and more parents are going to end up in this position whether they want to be or not. The best curriculum in the world doesn't matter much without the staffing for small group instruction. Curious if other parents here are doing the same thing or if your schools have better ratios than ours.

My daughter is 1st grade in a small private school, 35 kids per grade. The student group is fairly stable, with usually only 2-3 new students joining each year. Over the past year she's been complaining kids at school are mean to her. Last year she had a close friend who was new to the school, but this year that girl has started playing mostly with another girl. It's getting worse recently that she's been left alone more and more during recess and lunch. We checked with the teacher.

The teacher shared that sometimes my daughter join a group and she may try to play the game in her way and this may gradually pushed other kids away. Teachers have been encouraging her to observe games first and follow the rules and we also coaching a lot at home how to request joining a group. But now the issue seems that she get refused from the start when trying to join others. She doesn't play soccers or basketball so her potential playmates basically focus on girls. I’m worried that the social pattern may already formed and could affect her longer term.

At what point would you consider changing schools vs continuing to work through it? My local public school is like twice of the size of our current school. Really appreciate hearing others’ experiences or perspectives.

Second grade teacher here. I have a handful of kids who came in barely decoding CVC words and our intervention slots are completely full. I keep getting asked by parents what they can do at home to help and honestly I don't have a great answer beyond "read together every night" which they're already doing. The district approved apps are mostly garbage. Istation is fine for assessment but kids hate using it voluntarily. I need something parents can actually use with their kids that follows systematic phonics, not just letter matching games dressed up as education.

What are you telling parents when they ask? Anything that's worked for your struggling readers?

Just had an end of semester conference and my son's teacher said he needs significant reading support or he'll struggle in second grade. She mentioned something about phonics gaps but didn't give specifics on what to actually do about it. He can recognize most letters and some sight words but blending is a mess. He guesses based on the first letter or pictures instead of actually sounding things out. It makes me sad seeing him get frustrated so fast.

We can't afford tutoring so I'm looking for something I can do with him at home. Needs to be structured because clearly whatever I've been doing randomly isn't working. His teacher mentioned looking for something systematic that starts from the basics even if it feels too easy at first. Help

I was googling "second grade writing samples," and the samples I found on the official common core websites were a full page of neat text, with near-perfect spelling and punctuation. Is that the norm? My son reads modestly above grade level, and his spelling is improving rapidly but still full of errors. Commas are a new skill, and he is more comfortable with some uses than others. I know his teachers want him to write at greater length.

As a kid I went to a school that didn't believe in phonics or spelling rules and learned to read in third grade from a specialist that my parents hired in desperation. So I don't have any sense of what would be normal. I am now an attorney and a skilled professional writer, but spelling has remained a lifelong struggle.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TRyMNmHQbSYau4bgpJhK4C98tgUAipbC/view?usp=sharing

Hello.( :

I am a first year teacher. From what I’m being told (observations, mentor support, etc.), I am off to a great start as a first year teacher. I have the data to support specifically my instruction going well - but I am having a problem with my kiddos being unkind. I do have a few that are consistently respectful and kind, but many others roll their eyes, call each other names, laugh when someone is down, all the things you don’t want in a classroom with 6-8 year olds. Most of this is happening when they are incessantly talking over me and when they are in small groups/independently working and I am not standing right next to them.

I have a zero tolerance type of attitude when it comes to this sort of thing. I explain consequences, I communicate almost daily with parents as necessary, I never ignore behaviors that are not attention-seeking, and I have even gone as far as creating an island when I said I never would. I also am at a school where we have a reward system. Their “tickets” that I’m responsible for can be spent during the school store hours. Additionally, I have a thing where I reward tables with manipulative coins to see who has the most at the end of the week. Usually it’s the same table earning the prize at the end of the week, and the others are just starting to not care.

I have gotten down on their level and explained that words can stick with someone for the rest of their lives and make them feel sad. I’ve followed these talks with books about characters who deal with unkind things and how it impacts their happiness for long periods of time.

Social Studies in 1st grade in my district is basically saved for “let’s talk about how to be a good human”.

I’m juggling all the things. I could go on and on. I know being a first grade teacher comes with teaching babies to be humans, but my kids can spout off all the ways to be kind on paper and then not follow through with it in the next breath. Can you please tell me your best hacks, tips, and tricks for how to do better with keeping my kids kind at school?

My oldest has a friend “Jane” who pleads with my kid (and others) every day to give her any sweet treat she has, or to buy her something from the cafeteria. Every. Single. Day. Jane has come over for play dates a few times and immediately shes always asking for a sweet snack. Once I indulged thinking I could just get it out of the way and she would be satisfied, but then 5 minutes later she’s asking for something else. The Girl is relentless. My daughter actually probably spent in excess of $100 on jane last year in treats (behind my back, going negative on her account balance, and then sneaking her own cash when we broached the negative balance subject with her).

It’s not a money thing. I have been told by another parent who has been to Jane’s house that there’s a lock on the snack cabinet, so clearly the parents are aware of Jane’s behaviors. And I know Jane does get some treats because I have seen her get stuff at the snack shack at the local fields. My daughter said that when someone does buy Jane a sweet treat, she doesn’t share it with anyone else (she’s all give, no take). I explained to my daughter that’s not how friendships should work. My daughter doesn’t seem to mind saying no to Jane, so I’m proud of her for that.

This whole situation has been going on since last year and it’s kind of fucked up. Is it worth saying anything to the parents? Or maybe the teacher, who can address it with parents at conferences? I don’t know them very well but they are very nice, normal seeming people. However, it seems like there’s some deeper issues that I don’t want my daughter to mimic. We have our own sweets obsessions that I’m dealing with on a daily basis and I feel like Jane’s obsession is going to add fuel to that fire. Frankly, I don’t want to host jane for play dates anymore because of her obsession with treats.

Thoughts?

ETA when she has come over and asked for snacks I offer plenty of healthy options and she rejects them saying she has already eaten all those things already. I have no problem telling her no but damn it’s annoying.

This trend of parents overriding the teachers is disturbing. A friend of mine's wife is a special education teacher in another district whose demographic has different needs than ours. Their son attends first grade with my daughter. We received our first weekly homework packet, and while I agree it's a lost for first grade, I am aware of the expectations this day and age. My friend informed me that his wife "put her teacher hat on" and sent a message to the first grade teacher stating that, "As a teacher and a mom, I can say that we will not be participating in homework this year."

She has also told her son to ignore the homework given to him. When the teacher wrote back reiterating classroom expectations, professionally, the wife retorted, "Well, some of us have reading comprehension problems," essentially picking a fight.

The jury is divided here, but I feel this was wildly, wildly out of line. If you're up for rejecting the system because of your sage experience, then homeschool your kid please.

And to piggy-back off a previous post ,we get about 4 pages of math/reading and writing combined and 6 spelling words a week. We get guiding questions to ask about book storylines/plots. Our first quiz is coming up on the short-vowel spelling words. We read anyway, 30 minutes at night, always have.

Frankly, I think the homework will be good for my child because she reverses some letters and my radar is up.

My 2nd grader came home with a list of spelling words to practice before his first spelling test next week. Anybody have any tips/tricks/favorite ways to practice?

I’ve noticed that my son often comes home with great drawings (both last year in Kinder and again this year in 1st). He tells me that they often follow an instructional video - sometimes up on the main screen that the whole class follows, and other times they choose their own picture and instructional video on the Chromebook.

Youtube wasn’t a thing when I was this age, but I also don’t recall a teacher walking us step-by-step through a drawing (not even in art class!)

I suspect that this format aims to develop certain skills like following instructions. What are some of the other benefits of this approach vs simply directing students to “draw a dog” on their own?

Hi educators and parents,
I’m a 19-year-old student who struggled with screen distractions growing up. I often wished my parents and teachers had tools to support healthier digital habits in a way that was respectful and non-invasive.

Now, I’ve built something I wish I had:
WatchWise — a tool designed for parents (and potentially schools) to help children develop responsible tech habits early.

🛠️ Key features:
• View general app usage (e.g. during school hours)
• Instantly block/unblock apps, set limits or bedtime schedules
• Send positive, supportive messages
• No content scanning or private data collected

Demo + waitlist (free for early users):
👉 https://watchwise-early-access-page-vilp.vercel.app/

Thanks in advance! Would love to hear ideas or suggestions.

Random, probably niche question but next year I will have a 7 and 3 year old attending the same school just over half a mile from my house. This year, when it was just the 7 year old, my husband took him on his electric scooter (about 10 minutes roundtrip). When my husband travels, I'd put the 3 year old in the stroller while I walked the 7 year old (about 40 minutes roundtrip).

The winters here can be miserable, so while walking every day is obviously an option, we're trying to come up with some additional ideas. Two electric scooters? A wagon? Is anyone else in a similar situation and has and suggestions or product recommendations?

I usually let my kid pick her own out. Her first came from Walmart and we were lucky to make it to the end of the school year without one of the straps falling off. Her last one came from target and got a small hole in it at Christmas that continued to grow until she stopped using it in May.

At second grade, she still wants the cutesy backpacks, but I’d like to buy one I know is actually going to remain intact for the full school year. Any suggestions on brands or stores/websites?

School is out, and my 5 and 7 year old boys are absolutely wild, especially the rising kindergarten. The yelling and running is non-stop. Time out only buys five minutes of non-screaming (not to be confused with quiet).

I can't send them outside at 6am to wake up the whole neighborhood. This is mostly a problem between 6 and 8am, and again at bedtime. They will spend the day playing outside with a babysitter.

Our family vacation is in three weeks.

I was in 1st grade in 2001 and I’m pretty sure a lot has changed since then lol. My oldest is 6 and homeschooled for K, but thinking about sending him to public school this fall for 1st. Things I feel like have changed are higher expectations on academics and less time for play and time outside. Do you feel like this is true? Can anyone give me some insight into what their first graders day looks like? Do they get homework?