Honestly, it’s just brutal on the kid, and frankly, it’s exhausting for the teacher too. You've got a student who is genuinely struggling just to get through basic writing and studying, right? They need teachers who can actually sit down and give them some dedicated one-on-one time, but instead, the curriculum just keeps piling up like a mountain. And then you have certain parents who swoop in and flat-out refuse to let an evaluation happen. It’s unbelievable.
You honestly wouldn't believe it, but there are actually parents out there who flat-out deny their kid is struggling with reading or writing. Like, they just refuse to see it. In our district, we have a speech therapist right there at the elementary school, and the teacher—straight up from the start of the second semester—began referring kids over to them. I’m talking about first graders here, which is wild if you think about it. Some of these parents went absolutely ballistic, acting like it was some kind of personal insult, all because their kids are technically "good students." As if being a straight-A student somehow makes you immune to learning disabilities, right? What even is that logic?
Look, there’s a whole bunch of moving parts to this, right? Like, whether a kid even goes to after-school care makes a massive difference, and honestly, a huge chunk of that comes down to what kind of teacher they actually have. Since we’re already talking about teachers, let's get real—most of them are pretty vocal about supporting the idea of holding off on kindergarten for another year. They don't even hide it. I’ve even heard of some teachers recommending it for their own kids at home. To me, there’s something way more legit about hearing it from them than anyone else, you know? Because at the end of the day, they’re the ones in the trenches working with these kids every single day, so I guess their perspective carries more weight based on what they actually see happening in the classroom.
I spent a ton of time working closely with my oldest, mostly because he just needed that extra hand, you know? One year, his teacher actually suggested we get him some specialized tutoring because he was really struggling to wrap his head around what he was reading. The real headaches didn't kick in until the higher grades, though. He was one of the youngest in his group, and since his puberty hit way later than everyone else—like, he didn't even start really going through it until the end of eighth grade—he felt like a total outsider. Imagine being in a classroom full of kids hitting their growth spurts while you're still feeling like an alien from another planet. So, yeah, he started pulling away from the crowd, and honestly, most of those kids drifted away from him too.
It’s a good feeling, though, knowing deep down that you did the right thing. At the end of the day, it's better for them to just fit in and not have school or the curriculum feel like this massive, crushing weight on their shoulders.
I messed up in some ways, sure, and I can't exactly go back and hit a rewind button on time.
So, I ended up sending one kid off to kindergarten at six and a half, while my younger one didn't start until they were seven and a half. People might say I bent the rules or whatever, but honestly? I don’t feel bad about it one bit—if anything, I’m kicking myself for not doing the exact same thing with my oldest. I mean, how is a forty-five-minute standardized test supposed to actually tell you anything meaningful about a kid's potential? It's a joke. Spending an extra couple of years in preschool isn't going to ruin them, even if we're talking about a total whiz kid who's already lightyears ahead of the curve. And let's bust that myth that they'll just sit there bored out of their minds in class while everyone else is struggling to recognize the alphabet when they've been reading books since they could walk. At the end of the day, it all really boils down to the individual kid and whether or not their teacher actually knows how to handle them.
Jacob Lopez2 said:My mom’s schedule is a total mess because religious studies was scheduled for the first two hours in the morning and then again during the afternoon block. In the mornings, she can’t even show up until the third period, and in the afternoons, she isn't allowed to leave campus, yet they provide absolutely zero designated space for her to sit down, relax, or actually get her homework done.
I didn't hold back at the very first PTA meeting; I marched right up and demanded they address this nonsense, pointing out how ridiculous it is that students don't have a place to work for a full hour and a half, and reminding them that it's not just three of us, but eight students who aren't attending those classes. While the teachers didn't make any grand promises to fix the systemic issues, they did listen—because within just two days, we were handed a brand new schedule. Now, religious studies is set for the last two periods in the morning or the first two in the afternoon. It looks like they simply reshuffled the blocks to be more logical.
It works perfectly for us, though I sincerely hope no one else was left hanging, since this kind of disorganized scheduling is unfortunately all too common.
So, I remember signing off on that permission slip for my older kid back in the day, you know, giving them the green light to head out of the school perimeter while those religious studies classes were going on. Why wouldn't I? It just seemed like one of those things you do to get them some breathing room, though looking back, I wonder if I should have been more careful about where they actually ended up wandering off to. I mean, we’re talking about the older kids here, right? High schoolers and stuff. Honestly, it’s not even a big deal if they've got that setup, because if they live close enough to the neighborhood, they can just head back home whenever they need to. It works fine for them, doesn't it? Look, there just wasn't any other way to play this, was there? I mean, honestly, trying to get everyone on the exact same page with their schedules is a complete nightmare, so what choice did they really have? It’s basically impossible to sync up every single person's availability without things falling apart, right? I gotta admit, things are actually starting to look up on that front, if you ask me. It’s about time, right? It’s kind of wild seeing how much things have changed, isn't it? Now, even the little elementary schoolers have their own dedicated space to hang out in, which feels like such a massive shift from when my oldest was still in those early grades. Back then, if you weren't sitting through some religious studies class, your only real option was just hovering around the hallway like a lost soul. Where did that all go? Everything just seems so much more organized now, but man, I remember those days being way more chaotic. Honestly, it feels like there’s a massive wave of kids skipping out on religious ed classes these days, doesn't it? It's becoming such a huge trend, and I can't help but wonder where we actually went wrong or if this is just how things are headed now. Is it even surprising anymore? Everyone seems to be drifting away from those traditional Sunday school vibes, and honestly, seeing more and more kids just opting out makes you realize how much the whole landscape has shifted under our feet. It's wild how fast it's happening. Finally, we’re actually seeing some movement in a positive direction, aren't we? It feels like things have been stuck in neutral for forever, just spinning our wheels while everyone argues about nothing, but at least this isn't total stagnation anymore. Is it enough to turn the whole thing around? Who knows. But hey, I'll take any sign of progress when it comes, even if it's just a tiny bit of momentum after all that waiting around. 🙂
Jesse Cook4 said:And why on earth should the government care that the church thinks the state needs to step up and handle its business?
Church problems belong to the church. They created this mess themselves; they can fix it themselves.
What if the government passed a law saying the church had to organize all the driving lessons for getting a driver's license?
Because any unnecessary activity is just a waste of time. Besides, kids managed to hit those milestones perfectly fine long before religious education was baked into the public school system, so...
The state and the church are basically joined at the hip here in America. It’s a damn shame, honestly, but that's just the reality of how things work around here.
mellowskipper said:But what exactly happened in that first lesson to upset him so much?
It’s just the lyrics, you know? Like, God created everything we see, right? But this kid... he’s got his own little set of beliefs already. He’s obsessed with geography and basically anything out in space—we’ve gone through enough encyclopedias on the subject that I can tell you he's hooked. I know, I know, it sounds totally mental to say a seven-year-old is out here having his own deep convictions, but honestly, he really does.
Susan James said:I don't see that happening anytime soon. Let's focus on fixing the actual issue within the school system itself.
In my opinion, we might actually see a shift if parents stopped opting their kids into those specific classes.
The whole mess boils down to this: if a kid isn't enrolled in those religious studies classes at school, they can't take communion, and eventually, they can't even graduate or move up the social ladder within the community. So, effectively, the church uses these milestones to hold people's hands, right? Because let's face it, most families still give a damn about their kids hitting those traditional milestones and sacraments.
If you want a real fix, you have to get religious instruction out of the public school system entirely—that's the only way, but let's be real, that’s never going to happen in this country.
My kid started first grade this year, and right when I was filling out the enrollment paperwork, I checked the box for religious education. Why? Honestly, because I didn't want him just wandering the hallways or stuck in some empty classroom while everyone else was busy. Everything seemed fine until that first class actually happened. After he got home, he absolutely lost it, telling me he couldn't sit through that stuff and that we couldn't possibly wait until the end of the school year to pull him out. He was genuinely distraught. And look, it wasn't even the teacher's fault; it was the actual material being taught that just clashed so hard with how his little mind was starting to work. To be totally honest, I had no clue it would hit him that hard.
I took him straight to the office to unenroll him immediately, even though it was the very beginning of the term. They told me normally you have to wait until the end of the year, but they made an exception for us.
In the end, it worked out fine; there are plenty of other kids who don't attend those classes, so the school has ways to keep them occupied during that period anyway.
So, my kid’s teacher is honestly pretty intense—like, super strict—and she’s handing out grades like they’re candy, even for stuff like music class ☕. But you know what? I actually dig her style because she doesn't just steamroll through the curriculum; she basically dances around the material until every single kid actually gets it, and only then does she move on. My little one doesn't even sweat it when the grades aren't perfect, and honestly, I figure the whole class is going to be way more prepared for middle school because of it.
I’m with you, rowdypanther12. Seriously, they should just give them these bite-sized little stories that can be summarized in like, two quick sentences. Since we're all hanging out here anyway, does anyone actually know who writes these standardized tests? Like, what is the actual logic behind how these questions are framed? It makes zero sense to me. Take this one science question from the exam: "continue the timeline from the given concept." Then right underneath, it just says "night" followed by an arrow for a fill-in-the-blank. My kid ended up writing night, day, night, day, night, day 😁. Why? Because in elementary school, they were taught that a day is just made up of days and nights. If the question was actually asking for the specific times of day, he would have known how to answer, because that's how he was taught. Why go through all this effort to twist the questions into knots?
Here’s my take on things, coming at this from the perspective of a mom with a kid just starting first grade. So, the other day he comes home with a C in art... which, honestly? That grade totally rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, how do you even give a first grader a C in art class? To him, it doesn't even matter because we already had a long talk about how grades are just numbers on a page for kids. As far as reading goes, he started the school year just spelling out individual letters, but man, has he made leaps and bounds since then. Their last assignment was reading a book and having to write down the plot summary in their journal—which, if you ask me, feels a little early for a six-year-old. I didn't mind much when they just did verbal Q&A sessions where the teacher would ask questions after they finished a book. But then they had a reading comprehension test. And guess what? Another C. He actually got all the answers right, but apparently, he didn't write them out in full, complete sentences. Oh, and get this—the teacher was also nitpicking whether they used periods and commas in the right spots.🙄 Call me crazy, but that whole thing just seems a bit much to me.
From where I'm sitting, he's actually making incredible progress, and we are working our tails off with him at home. He's grasping basically everything, yet he keeps racking up these Cs. It’s frustrating us, not him.
People trying to rub my belly... I reflexively pull away every single time, because honestly, I don't want anyone touching me unless it’s my husband or the little one. It’s the constant commentary that really gets under my skin, you know? Like, "Oh, your bump is too small," or "Your bump is too big," or "You haven't even gained weight!" or "Anne is just as pregnant as you are, but her belly is half the size of yours!" It’s endless. Everyone thinks they’re an expert on my body, and everyone has some different, unsolicited opinion on how I should look. But if you want to know what truly drives me up the wall, it’s the unsolicited advice. During the summer, people were practically hounding me because I wanted to go for a swim... then they’d tell me I was moving around too much, or that I needed to stay in bed, or that I had to dress more conservatively so I wouldn't catch some random infection.
I can see there's plenty of material here, just like seagulls swarming a dumpster behind a Wendy's 😬
You nailed it, babe, but honestly, I’m not even going to bother explaining myself because if you didn't get it the first time, you're probably not going to get it now 🙂.. I still don't wrap my head around the idea of a newborn just sitting alone in their own room. Like, what's the point? The rest of this thread is just a bunch of pointless rambling about moms—you know, those overbearing, possessive types who try to breastfeed their kids until they're graduating college . The thing is, I truly believe a newborn belongs right next to their mother. And hey, I'm allowed to have an opinion, right? I only really jumped in because of that one specific comment... the one claiming a mother doesn't want her baby looking at her 😕
My baby slept right next to us, and my next one will too. How you all choose to sleep with your kids isn't my business, so let's leave it at that. You all got way too offended, which was totally unnecessary. It doesn't bother me when people try to label me some kind of "incestuous" mom, or when another pregnant woman tells me I shouldn't be pooping, or whatever else... I haven't even kept track of all the insults thrown my way. 🤣
Seriously, don't get worked up; it's not good for you, especially while you're pregnant😉
Hannah Lewis2 said:What would those self-righteous saints say to a mom who leaves her nursing baby tucked away with a sitter just to hit up a concert with her husband? ☕ Pure scandal! I didn't even look at the kid for two whole hours. 🙂
It’s just women, isn't it? I mean, look, I can see that your imagination is clearly your strongest suit, since you apparently can't conceive of sex happening anywhere other than a marriage bed 🙏. My kid sleeps like a rock, so wherever I put them, they stay out, period. Honestly, the whole separation thing was a piece of cake, even though we were already basically sharing a bed anyway—him with us or in the crib, whatever. And really, who's to blame for teaching your kids that total dead silence is the only way to sleep? 😁
Look, I’m telling you, right now I’m waking up every single night just to pee, and once I get up and head to the bathroom, I’m wide awake—I can't get back to sleep for the life of me. Honestly, if there was a toilet right next to my bed, I probably wouldn't even have to leave the covers, 😁
. It makes a massive difference when the baby is sleeping in the same room as the parents instead of being tucked away in some nursery down the hall. Everyone loses out in that scenario, both the baby and the parents. Though, if I'm being real, I don't think many babies actually sleep in their own rooms anyway. First off, it’s just not practical, and second, most moms want to be close to their little one, and let's face it, the baby wants to be near mom too.
I find it such a ridiculous argument when people claim they don't want to be the first thing a baby sees when they wake up.