lol Im being the bigger person over the composite class thing this year - our school does it really weird. they've ended up with a class with 8girls and the rest boys. DS is yr 4 they put all the yr4 girls into a yr4/5 class, and the yr 4 boys into a yr3/4 class. except they moved two boys up (who were the oldest) and two girls down. it seems to make NOOO sense. at all. they've effectively ended up with yr3's over in the senior school(that'd be like #2 being there next yr as he's a young yr 2 which is what this handfull of yr3's seem to be) and some of them are not even very old yr 3's STUPID STUPID STUPID!!, I was a bit miffed at first DS is quite far ahead academically and so i wanted him in with the yr 5's so he'd push himself and keep being stimulated etc etc - but arrrgh i love his new teacher AND he is physically quite tiny even in the yr3/4 class so really no rush I guess. It is annoying tho that his whole way through primary school he's always ended up as an older child in a composite class - when will it be his turn to be the younger group - as there seems to be more benefits for them??
lol but like i said, Im being the bigger person lol

Astro at our school they've split into two new entrant classes and i think are planning to keep all new entrants for the whole year now. at the moment there's only 6 in each class. this sounds really good to me (but i guess it depends on enrolment if there are lots of enrolments some will have to be moved up to the next class)

when DS#2 started last year they only had one class, he went into NE for a term but got moved up to the yr1/2 class the next term (they moved the top reading group up to make room for new new entrants) i think this annoyed some mums as there were a few kids who like my DS had just come in then moved up whereas their child had bn in there for the whole year and still stayed in there. (but they literally based it just on reading)
this year the ones that they'd moved up stayed in the same class and the rest of the NE class(now yr 1's/2's -depending on birthdays) have moved up to join them again. so really it was the kids that stayed in NE that were advantaged by not having to go through that re-settling phase during the year.

DS was classed as a yr 1 - started in May so is a yr2 this year (seems crazy as his cousin who started only a few weeks later in the same class started as a yr0 so is a yr1 this year so he'll have a whole nother year at primary school than DS will), I think if you started before june= year 1, if after June 1 you were a yr 0. I think all schools have a diff cutoff date but somewhere around the April-June mark so your DD will be a yr1 having started early in the year.

Gosh my school girl is struggling, something I have never said about my big girl - she was at monte pre-school fulltime last year (8.30-2.30) and just loved it, coped fine with the hours, wanted to go in the weekends etc. Shes a wreck this week Please tell me it gets better, and quickly Totally not helped by having the throat infection day 2 then an awful V&D bug over the weekend. Its like she has lost total control of her emotions, outbursts at home, not eating (although I am sure that is partly recovery from tummy bug) didn't want to go today as shes 'too tired' and school is 'too long'. They do skipping on the tennis courts each morning and she 'can't skip' so that was the icing on the cake, she was howling, tugging at me, not wanting me to leave She won't even try (shes a perfectionist and will only do things if she can do it properly , thank goodness she has reading and writing nailed from Montessori). I left in tears myself, had a huge bawl in the car then to my mates at playgroup Totally not like me or her

I'm sure you will have some lovely words of wisdom Felicis

Not too sure exactly how composite works at our school (role is only 65) with 4 classrooms. DDs is NY/yr 1 (ie ones that started second half of last year to now, 2&3 combined I think then 4&5 and now the 4th classroom is just yr6s I think

The whole school is going on camp to Mangawhai Heads for the week next week, hoping that will be good for DD DH is going for the week with her

Awww Poppit. School is a big adjustment even for kids who have been in preschool or daycare. Everything is new for her (and you!) and if she's been unwell she's probably really sensitive. Part of starting school is learning that there are some things you might have to try a bit harder at. My DD is a total perfectionist too (and my 4 year old DS is even worse - eek!).

Would you do a half day with her or a day off where she can relax and get some rest? I remember lots of NE kids did that when DD started school.

The tiredness/tantrums is pretty normal for when they start school. She'll be really exhausted and the bugs she's had are such bad timing!

Oh poppit your poor daughter. I agree with pudding. It's really normal to be this whacked by school - my kids have been through all of that (and they weren't sick either). Even now DS1 requested some panadol this morning because he's so tired he just can't get going at the moment and DS2 spent all weekend lying around like a dead duck (when he wasn't being annoying). She will adjust - I found it took the boys about three or so weeks before they were really comfortable and not so tired. I tried to minimise out of school activities during that time too.

Oh boy, I am SO relieved someone else has posted this Poppit! I was wondering if I was the only one. DD is beside herself with tiredness but won't blimmin' sleep when put to bed! Won't eat dinner, won't get dressed for school, won't do any chores and far out, if we tell her to do something or xyz will happen she melts down for 30 mins! She is enjoying school, making friends and enjoying the work but each day she says she's too tired to go. Yesterday she said she wasn't going to swim but we took her tog bag and told her she had to, all the kids have to learn. The day before she was happy as to swim. The water is to her chin and I think the other kids were frightened and cold and she's listened to that. So her teacher told me yesterday she stood up and declared at swimming time she wasn't going. Teacher said everyone has to swim and she crossed her arms and said, "Not me! I'm not going swimming". Teacher said "oh yes you are" and she got dressed and enjoyed herself apparently. I was so surprised she said that to the teacher as she normally wouldn't say boo to a goose (except at home).

If she'd been made to skip that would've been too much for her too, she can't skip either (can't imagine lots could at that stage in life) and she likes to achieve, so if she can't do it as good as others she would've found that hard.

On a positive note, she got the Principle's Choice Award last week for some chart thing she made, so that's a plus. I didn't know, except for the office lady telling me (she's a friends mother).

I've been told it's normal for them at this stage to start to get ratty and morose about it all, the excitement is rubbing off and they are getting used to following strict routines and learning to sit more.

I was surprised when DD told me they never wash their hands before food. She's there an hr prior to brain food in the classroom and they're not allowed (apparently) to go and wash hands first before eating. I'm a bit amazed as surely that's a fundamental skill they should be reinforcing (hygiene).

Yeah, there's no hand washing and as an allergy mum I really struggle with it. I think they do ask the kids to wash their hands before lunch at our school but they don't police it. My kids' hands are just about black by the time they come home and their nails are disgusting. I guess it's good for their immunity though

ol at being good for immunity. Actually that is something that they don't do at my new school, might start encouraging it (or check if I should be doing it - always new things to learn).

Poppit - and everyone, yep, soooo normal to find it overwhelming at the start of the year. I think that illness makes it especially hard. I also think this heat is pretty intense - I have year 3 and we have air conditioning that I have on in the afternoons and we are all still wilting! I am absolutley knackered, but stay up a wee bit too late, so am so overtired that sleep is hard work. I imagine that is what is happening with DD for you, astro, the overtiredness evilness.

My kids have only been back for 3 days and I have had tears for at least one every day, and today I had 2 extras crying I laugh only because it is mostly the boys and over very silly things (as in not me growling anything! Just reactions from other kids and stuff like that).

Poppit, just another thought, if DD's montessori was very true monte, school can be quite different in its approach. I know of two monte kids who have gone to monte preschool that feeds a monte primary unit, who have tried public school then had to take them out back to the monte as the adjustment didn't suit them (individually or as a family). With Monte starting at 6 that has been helpful for some kids too.

I would look at doing a half day on wednesday for a nap, if you think she would nap or rest, or something like that if it keeps being hard.

I just asked DD and they do wash their hands before Pit Stop (brain food) and then again before Morning tea and lunch time!

But after reading through this, I can relate to the tantrums, yelling etc when DD started school! She did 6 weeks last year and then had the holidays... so we are basically starting all over again this term! Boy she can get so moody etc! We get the "I don't want to go school", "I don't want to get dressed" etc each morning too! And last night she ended up sobbing herself to sleep as she was so overtired!

I might bring up the hand-washing thing but will probably just be fobbed off and it won't happen then I'll get the "neurotic Mum" label. I'll wait a bit til she's a bit more settled.

She hasn't got her homework done tonight (2 reading books). She's so tired she can't even eat dinner and she only gets 1.5 hrs before bath/dinner/bed routine. She's in time out from 4.30pm onwards (off and on) as she's hitting again, refusing to anything at all we ask her and generally just being a p.i.t.a. Dunno what I will say to the teacher tomorrow why she didn't do it. No time in the mornings, she is painfully slow at eating and drags the chain in the mornings.

I wouldn't worry about the homework - really I wouldn't. Just say she's too tired to do it. We often manage homework at the beginning of the week but towards the end it's all we can do to get to school and home again (and my kids aren't even newbies). When they first started school I didn't worry about homework at all and she sounds like she's got a good reading grounding already so I'd just let her be while she gets use to it all.

Yep - too tired is totally fine. Or maybe try and do it in the mornings while she is like this, IF she gets up early enough and would be open to it - just very casually over breakfast or something like that.

Thanks lovely ladies, I don't feel so bad about it now. Will try over brekkie if she doesn't wake in a mammoth bad mood.

Yes her centre was true Monte Fel and I think I can see the positive in the 6 year cycle thing atm Anyway, she is fine with the 'work' side of school but yeah adjusting to the whole having to concentrate on a set thing at a set time will be tiring (for any new entrant!) and very different to what she was used to. And this is a kid who gives 150% to everything she does, or doesn't do it at all (skipping ) Thanks for your input, I have thought about doing a half day going forward, although not next week as she is away at camp for the week! Funny you mention the heat as DDs classroom was stifling when I picked her up today!!

So nice (if I dare say that ha) to read that others are having the exact same meltdowns, behaviours, issues etc. So nice to know we aren't alone

I too wouldn't worry about the reading Astro. I know at DDs school they each have a box of books at their level with their name that they can read during school time then choose one to bring home to read at home that night. DD has been reading since half way through last year at Monte so is very confident (level 10) but I have definitely noticed the concentration isn't there this week. We did her book straight after her snack when she got home today though which worked much better than DH trying to do it after dinner/bath etc at 6.30 last night. What if you even read them to her while she eats her breakfast? The journal thing DD has bought home to record her reading READ IT HOME READING says have your child read to you, read with them or read to them

Had a break through with skipping after dinner too, we had had a talk about what happened this am when I left and she had another meltdown about it but had obviously been thinking about it since and suggested we go and do some practising before bed. No paddys at all. She wants me to stay for skipping tomorrow......I'm not so keen (teacher said she was absolutely fine after I left this am and had a go ) but will agree to it if she isn't silly about it

I hope your DD got to sleep at a decent time tonight Astro. Mine has crashed before 7 the last 2 nights so at least that hype from the first week has passed!

PS I must ask DD about the hand washing thing as that was a huuuuuge Monte thing so it will be sending her into a right tizz if they aren't washing hands before food

about the hands thing.

Poppit, level 10! That must be quite hard stuff. I notice on the back of DD's books it says level 1 and I thought she was advanced as most of her peers don't even know the alphabet sounds yet. It had things like "I am too big for my jeans", "I am too big for my shoes" "but I am not too big for a hug". She got every word fine and last night's one was "Baby is crying", "baby is laughing", "baby is crawling" etc etc. She guessed by the pictures what it said and could read some of the bigger words when the pics were covered over except 'crawling' and 'laughing'. She knows "ing" but 5 letter words prior to 'ing' is a bit much for her. That was level 1.

So true though...a bit OCD like her mum

Yep level 10, about 35 words per page 'One day, the white sheep said, "My house is very old"' etc etc. She started learning her phonics when she started Monte at 3 and had a real affinity for it so she started bringing home readers last year I guess reading is her thing? Skipping, not so much Glad I can laugh about it today!

How did you get on with the books this am?

Thanks for posting that about level 10, DD would definitely lose focus at 35 words a page but she could definitely read the sentence you posted (I don't feel so bad now lol - eek, I'm being one of THOSE mothers, sorry!) I'm sure you posted just a snippet though of what your DD can read, she sounds very advanced, that's so cool! For DD I think if she blimmin' got the sleep she needed she could do so much more but she gets so tired and impatient. DD gets flustered with words she can't easily break down, so "gosling" or "Sunday" or "cooking" are all words she can read because she gets "ing" or "ed" but "crawling" or "laughing" is too tricky. I think it depends on how often she has seen the word or the sounds, the word "craw" isn't one she's used to. DD's school is very literacy-focused and they're trying to have the goal of 95% reading at or above the national standard (they are at 80% at present I think). I do wonder if it's at the expense of maths though - thankfully DH is super clever at that though and we do that at home for fun.

She read the books this morning quite happily thankfully. She seems to be like the devils spawn for the first hr of waking then perks up and behaves. It sux cos she gets up at 7am and takes so long to eat (won't eat at all before 8am) and then only has 30 mins to race to get ready on top of brekkie. Not sure what to do there. DD has memorised all the books and rattles them off with her eyes closed. Obviously they're reading them in class quite a bit then sending them home too. Repetition I guess but DD finds it boring as she can read most words under 4 letters long (and bigger words if she can break them in to 2 parts of 4).

Thank God it's Friday!

No covering pictures!!!!! It is a big no-no, lol. The reasons for this are - emergent books - as you have noticed - are about patterns and high frequency words. They are practicing the behaviours of reading - directionality etc. They are MEANT to be using the cues from the pictures for the non high frequency words. There is a LOT that is needed to be known before words like laughing and crawling can be decoded.

I imagine that DD is really already a Red level reader ( 3-5) by the sounds of it, but while they settle into school they won't be up to testing yet. She should change up pretty soon - she is already further along level one than many willbe, n that she has the change on the last page (the change to the pattern - if she is getting that change, then you know it isn't straight memorisation of the pattern only). Early level ones have no change to the pattern (and kids can't get that it is for example, I am - on each page).