Sometimes, Raylan has a tough time in kindergarten. Last year in PreK he went 4 hours a day every Tues, Wed, Thurs and that was it. He did great and he loved it! This year he’s at school for almost 7 hours 5 days a week. It’s a lot.
My kids get up at the crack of dawn. As in if it’s 6:30a there are least 2-3 little boys up and running around my house. Because of this they have to go to bed early, usually around 7p. If they stay up later than this, contrary to popular belief they do not sleep in. Trust me, we have tried time and time again, it doesn’t happen and they are just wired to be fully functional by 6-6:30 in the morning. If they stay up late, the following day is typically a nightmare! Ask me how I know…
The other day, Raylan said to me, ‘Mom, sometimes my body does crazy things and my brain is too tired to tell it to stop.’ He also shared that he’s sad he never gets to do anything fun. In his mind, he just wakes up, works on homework and gets ready for school, spends all day there and then gets home to play for only a little while, eat and get ready for bed. When he put it this way it made me really sad because he’s right. He doesn’t get to go to the park and play with his brothers, go on nature walks or ride his bike with us, he’s in school all day.
When I was little, kindergarten was 2-3 days and we rotated every other week with the other class. We also had nap time with mats, lights off and music time. I feel like I turned out (mostly) ok so why do we have such a drive to take the play away from the children? It makes me so sad.
I think Raylan’s teacher recognizes some of this. She’s amazing and has been teaching for 17 years. The other day when he was starting to ‘act crazy’ she whispered in his ear ‘Raylan, I really need you be a role model for your other classmates.’ When he’s doing well she’ll say ‘Thanks for being a good role model,’ and he’s instantly proud of himself. She shared this with me so the following day when he came home I mentioned it, telling him I was proud he was such a good role model to his peers. He lit up, grinning from ear to ear and goes, ‘but Mom, what is a role model?’ I explained and then he was really ecstatic.
So, every morning before he goes to school I ask him to pick his 3 adjectives in an effort to help him have a good day. This morning he picked kind, respectful, and a good listener. This has really helped him focus on doing the right thing. That and a good night’s sleep. I just wish these kids had a little longer to be kids.
jenessalynn 