https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 26 Apr 2026 09:22:57 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-these-instructions-typical-for-kinder-parents#post-2921375 Mon, 07 Dec 2020 14:04:08 +0000 Corduroy 2921375@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks everyone! We're reminded of the myriad of things we should or could be doing at least weekly. Including in the generic email with the report card and the multiple attachments to it. It just hit me differently seeing it on the report card since that's where I expect child-specific feedback and it feels more official. Thanks for helping me put it in context and reframing it for me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-these-instructions-typical-for-kinder-parents#post-2921368 Mon, 07 Dec 2020 12:03:02 +0000 PinkElephant 2921368@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I agree with what others said that it sounds like a typical copy-and-paste job that is a blanket statement of what all kids this age, from the under performing to over performing, would still benefit from.</p> <p>I wanted to add one thing that I haven't seen mentioned - even if some of the feedback WAS specifically directed at your son, it might be based on his willingness to speak up on virtual learning platforms rather than his actual capabilities. My first grader, lovely as she is (ha), is, to put it lightly, an attention loving Zoom-hog. :) Couple that with the fact that she IS bright/ahead of a number of her classmates, and her desire to speak up/be heard could make a quieter child appear to lack understanding or knowledge simply because she's beating him to the punch. If you suspect that this could be the case at all, I'd also consider mentioning it to the teacher so that she is sure to call on your son to answer if he's not volunteering, or place him in small groups where he'd be comfortable speaking up.</p> <p>This may not be the case for you at all, but I've noticed that DD2's Zoom small groups have been switched up, and she's now with a different group that includes a few friends whose personalities mirror her own, and the super quiet boys who she used to work with now meet with the teacher on their own (where I suspect they're giving more answers/getting more out of it with her out of the picture!) ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-these-instructions-typical-for-kinder-parents#post-2921353 Sun, 06 Dec 2020 19:36:12 +0000 Pollywog 2921353@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Those are solid, well researched practices recommended by experts. But totally boilerplate and not tailored. I mean, I can cite where they're coming from (my office). Which is counter productive. I mean, she's recommending you do the best practices, but she herself isn't doing best practices for teaching</p> <p>And the lack of attention to math and social emotional compared to reading is... also not best practice. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-these-instructions-typical-for-kinder-parents#post-2921352 Sun, 06 Dec 2020 12:24:52 +0000 Anagram 2921352@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Corduroy: that long message is 100% because there are parents in every class who always want MORE. If a teacher just said "All I want you to do is read books to your child as much as possible", there will be 5 parent emails in response, pressing for additional things they should be practicing at home.</p> <p>I've had parents email me and ask me to tell their child to stop reading "too much" fiction and to read something more academic (and the parent's suggestion was, like biographies of historical figures or biographies of mathematicians or scientists). They also asked if they could "check out" a copy of the next year's math and science textbooks. When I suggested they could just look online for materials (because it's not easy to get a textbook for a class you aren't taking), they said only the real textbooks their kid would be using the next year would suffice, because they wanted them to get ahead in their "free time".</p> <p>Every parent wants something different, and that long copypasta is just an attempt to stave off parent emails that take a lot of time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-these-instructions-typical-for-kinder-parents#post-2921339 Sat, 05 Dec 2020 09:01:21 +0000 MrsSRS 2921339@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Also a reminder that they're not expecting you to do all of these things every day. This is just a list of lots of different ways to get kids all of that quality literary exposure. Think of it more as a brainstorm and less as a to-do list. If you're doing some readings and some chatting about sounds or playing a sound or word game most days that's enough. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-these-instructions-typical-for-kinder-parents#post-2921338 Sat, 05 Dec 2020 08:47:55 +0000 catgirl 2921338@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>All of what you quoted and posted sounds normal. Like others, I'm sure this went out to everyone. DD's kindergarten teacher sends out a parent email to all parents at the start and end of each week - all of the things you listed have been mentioned in multiple of our emails. </p> <p>You have to always keep in mind that what is normal in some households never happens in others. Some parents would practice and do all of those things without a teacher mentioning it, and some would never think about it. So teachers are trying to keep the messages consistent, even if not everyone needs the reminder. </p> <p>I don't think anything in that message implies that your DS is behind. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-these-instructions-typical-for-kinder-parents#post-2921336 Sat, 05 Dec 2020 06:47:25 +0000 erinbaderin 2921336@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Seconding everybody else, I’m positive this is the exact message all the parents got. It’s just standard stuff parents can do at home to support early reading. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-these-instructions-typical-for-kinder-parents#post-2921335 Sat, 05 Dec 2020 05:40:23 +0000 charm55 2921335@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I’m a Kindergarten teacher myself (so no teacher shaming here!) but that totally is a copy/paste generic thing. I get that virtual learning must be terribly difficult to assess K student learning but some sort of personalized comment would have been nice. I’m also thinking that as a virtual teacher she is needing to rely on parent support at home more than usual which is why the copy/paste was so lengthy ... so much of K learning is hands on, especially those early concepts of print and phonological awareness. Anyway - I wouldn’t worry too much about it ! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-these-instructions-typical-for-kinder-parents#post-2921333 Fri, 04 Dec 2020 23:32:21 +0000 minimalistmom 2921333@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Corduroy: I totally get it. I am super sensitive about my son's behavior because we've had issues in the past, so if he goes somewhere new and has a bad day, I panic.<br /> I am a teacher and we can't teach our students in the same capacity, so I do think there is a lot more pressure for parents to fill the gaps. If I got that report card message, I wouldn't think twice. Sounds like just want to keep parents up-to-date on resources, expectations, and skills. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-these-instructions-typical-for-kinder-parents#post-2921332 Fri, 04 Dec 2020 22:47:25 +0000 Corduroy 2921332@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks, DH and I are probably just sensitive. He read it and asked how DS got so far behind. I was raised with the expectation of a perfect report card (not that I met that expectation). I don't have those expectations for the kids but maybe I still can't handle that I'm not meeting (or going to meet) expectations on my son's report card. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-these-instructions-typical-for-kinder-parents#post-2921329 Fri, 04 Dec 2020 22:05:10 +0000 minimalistmom 2921329@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yeah, the teacher definitely just copied and pasted those recommendations for each student. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-these-instructions-typical-for-kinder-parents#post-2921328 Fri, 04 Dec 2020 22:04:52 +0000 MrsSRS 2921328@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>That looks like a standard notice they sent out to everybody. It's a combination of what they would normally send plus a little more to try to help parents since kids are getting limited instruction this year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-these-instructions-typical-for-kinder-parents#post-2921326 Fri, 04 Dec 2020 21:28:36 +0000 wrkbrk 2921326@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Corduroy: To me that looks totally boilerplate. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/are-these-instructions-typical-for-kinder-parents#post-2921325 Fri, 04 Dec 2020 21:11:49 +0000 Corduroy 2921325@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Just wondering how the quoted feedback below compares to homework/direction others get. </p> <p>This was the note included in my Kindergarten DS's report card. It is almost the same feedback we got on DD's Kinder report card from a different teacher when she was in Kinder. She was behind in reading so I really took the feedback to heart (which made me pretty anxious). DS on the other hand is actually doing well so I'm a little surprised there are as many recommended practices. To me it reads like your child is in trouble, you must do these things now.</p> <p>Besides this comment we got additional pages about how to read to &amp; with him and how to practice sight words. And a double sided page we got earlier this week on reading to our kid. Seeing on the report card makes me feel like the pressure is on.</p> <p>I love the teacher and recognize how hard this year is, I'm not interested in teacher blaming. I'm just curious if this is the standard issue parent homework list nowadays.</p> <p>We're distance learning at the local public school in the Bay Area. </p> <p>"It has been a pleasure getting to know DS in class. He has made good growth this trimester. Please continue practicing letter names/sounds<br /> &amp; recognizing sight words quickly! Play word games to build phonemic awareness skills, such as rhyming &amp; blending/taking apart short vowel words (cat, mug, hop), being sure each sound is said correctly. Keep reading each day to build reading/comprehension skills. Have a mix of them reading to you &amp; you reading to them with books you have at home, book bags, or Raz-Kids.<br /> Practice pointing to one word at a time &amp; saying only one word for each point, finding words/chunks of words they know, &amp; putting sounds/chunks together. Then retell-discuss the 5-finger elements. Continue to practice writing capital/lowercase letters, along with drawing/labeling pictures and writing 1-2 simple sentences to tell the story, being sure to stretch out words &amp; write the sounds they hear. Please practice writing/identifying numbers to 20 &amp; showing them in different ways with objects. Keep up the hard work, DS!" </p>