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ilagitamus t1_j8b8acn wrote

I’ve been teaching as an elementary classroom teacher for the last 4 years, but I’ve been working in VT schools for the last 10 as a 1:1 behavioral support interventionist (middle and elementary).

What I’m seeing now is that students are on a whole less socialized as they come into public schools. I attribute it to COVID and more kids who aren’t as socialized as a result of not doing preschool and spending more time at home. The last few years, I’ve seen our school’s kindergarten classrooms struggle with larger numbers of students who have very little sense of behavioral or emotional regulation. They had little to no routine or schedule at home, were often given free reign to do what they wanted, and lacked many of the skills required to follow directions, compromise, share, etc. that kindergarten typically requires to be smooth. (I very much do NOT blame parents; COVID, sickness, quarantining, closed daycares and preschools and financial constraints have made it incredibly difficult to raise a child at home with consistency, understandings of consequences, and certain social skills. When you’re burnt out, it becomes super hard to hold your kids accountable).

As far as how schools manage behaviors, it varies wildly by school and by district. The school I work at has lots of talented behavioral specialists and special educators and are working their butts off to make our current cohort of kindergarteners ready for 1st grade, and things have definitely been getting smoother.

Before I was a teacher I worked for CYFS out the HowardCenter and worked in schools across Chittenden county as a behavioral interventionist. I always saw the manner in which schools address and respond to student behaviors as a pretty wide spectrum.

Some rely heavily on outside organizations like Howard Center to pick up the slack, but some districts like South Burlington employ their own board certified Applied Behavioral Analysts to write behavior plans for students that need it.

Some are incredibly proactive and spend a lot of time making sure staff are using the same short hand language, focusing on the same behavioral/social skills, and following the same expectations school wide. Others just let teachers handle it in their own way as they see fit.

Ultimately, my biggest concern is how parents are able to support their children in the years leading up to public school, especially for oldest or only children. Lack of structure and consistency is causing our kindergarten teachers to have to play catch up in order to have a classroom in which learning can happen safely and calmly. (Definitely not for all families/students, but for more than usual).

Feel free to AMA.

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Kyzer t1_j8d4ly1 wrote

I agree with all except for not placing any blame on the parents. It's 90% the parents. DCF has their hands bound because no one wants to foster so these kids are staying with their parents who don't give a shit about them and would rather have to schools raise their kids. Kids coming to school with bruises, multiple reports to DCF and nothing being done. There are kids going to kindergarten who aren't even bloody potty trained yet. Kids in third grade who can't even read or do basic addition yet don't have an IEP.

We are pulling our kid out of public school to go online because there is no learning anymore. All teaching time is taken up to correct behavior.

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yaguy123 t1_j8biniw wrote

Thank you for taking the time to work through the writing of this.

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GreenPL8 t1_j8g6usl wrote

We take our toddler to library story-times and public play gyms; I hope she's socialized enough before kindergarten.

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ilagitamus t1_j8g958w wrote

I'm guessing she will be! We've just been seeing a few kids enter public school who didn't attend daycare or preschool, had no siblings, and never did any kind of playdates or socializing, mostly all due to COVID. Even just 3-4 kids like that in a class of 20 can cause absolute chaos in kindergarten.

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Primary-Cap-3147 OP t1_j8i3w8o wrote

Thank you for the thoughtful reply! It makes me wonder if COVID is responsible for this shift in behaviors, or if it just accelerated this trend in public education. My mother has been a teacher most of her life, and she has noted that teachers have steadily been losing authority over the last 15 or so years. I have a few teacher friends from the NY/NJ area that have either quit teaching to go into curriculum planning, or are going insane.

I'm left wondering if it makes sense to opt into something private or online right out of preschool. I'm not worried about the quality of the teachers, but the detrimental experience of seeing kids day in and out never be held to account. Our experience with daycare was really rough- we only had him in a few half days a week starting at 2, just to get him used to socializing/separated from us- but it became very apparent that he was getting bullied (he wasn't very verbal at the time so it was hard to gauge). The staff would always just say "he had a great day!" despite his listlessness, and occasional scratches that I couldn't tell came from play or another kid. We pulled him from that, found a great preschool when he turned three, and has been thriving since.

I'm really worried about entering the public school, as the unchecked daycare kids are all headed that way. Our preschool is very parent involved, draws from all around the Upper Valley as opposed to just the town, and there are clear behavioral standards that have to be met. I feel like losing that could be devastating for him.

If you have a child, would you or are you comfortable with them going to your public school? If you had the choice, would you opt for something private?

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ilagitamus t1_j8i66k0 wrote

I’d definitely want my child to go to public school. I live in the district I work, but I’d still want them to have the chance to meet a wider demographic of peers by attending public school.

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Primary-Cap-3147 OP t1_j8ibj7r wrote

As a parent, is there a way you would go about handling a bullying problem? Like if your kid was getting targeted, and the administration refused to do anything about it- how would you handle the situation? Or if your kid felt like they couldn't learn in a classroom where the teacher had to constantly divest their attention from teaching to address the specific behavioral problems of certain students?

These seem like extremely common scenarios, but admittedly most of this comes from what I'm reading online, or the occasional conversation with parents in public play areas/teacher friends. It's all anecdotal, but I've really not heard a single positive thing from anyone's experience. I'd mostly be worried about my kid thinking the real world operated like these schools, where the most outlandish behaviors receive the most resources with no accountability.

I guess I'm hoping that the horror stories I hear about are just the most extreme examples being expressed by the most dissatisfied teachers. Like the Teaching subreddit would make you think public schools are some dystopian hells cape. I've not read a single positive story coming from it.

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ilagitamus t1_j8ppwdl wrote

For bullying if no progress is being made I’d force an in person meeting and ensure that when the meeting ends specific action will be taken or that my child is separated from the one in question. If it’s bad enough, legal action. Bullying has a very specific legal definition in VT and schools can be held very liable if they’re aware of it and do nothing.

Academically, any areas I had concern on for my child I’d find ways to work on at home or over the summer. I’m privileged enough to have the means that I’d be able to make up the difference in ensuring my child has the academic skills required to be successful moving on, at least within grades K to 6.

Within my school though, and from other teachers I talk to in my district, the kind of stuff worst case scenarios and hellscapes I’m hearing being described aren’t happening. That doesn’t mean they aren’t, but from my own perspective, things are maybe a little rough, but are still perfectly manageable. Learning is happening, fun is happening, social development is happening. Teachers feel supported, behavior response has to be triaged, but is still within the scope of being managed within the classroom and in a way that generally isn’t disruptive.

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