Notes from Monday at Lea

After being in the kindergarten lunchroom for a while, I've noticed a few things.

First, the aides always try to get the students to be COMPLETELY SILENT, which is never going to happen. They lose out on almost all of their recess time because they aren't dismissed until there's utter silence. When a table is quiet, they are not dismissed because the aides are waiting for EVERYONE to be silent, and then after waiting for about 10 minutes or so, the quiet tables start talking again because they see no benefit of being quiet.

Second, it might be a good idea to have students get their coats as soon as they return from the bathroom and not add that extra step after returning, sitting down, being quiet, then getting coats, then lining up to go outside, etc. There would be less confusion and it would be more time efficient if they returned from the bathroom, put on their coats, THEN sat down and waited to be dismissed. Obviously, this will be less of an issue in the spring as the weather warms up, but I thought it should be mentioned.

Regarding outside snacks, I'm wondering if the school could ask parents to not send their children to school with large quantities of candy. There was one little girl who had a whole container of Whoppers at lunch. While it was great that she was sharing with everyone, it caused a good deal of disruption and distraction, and I'm not sure if she was sharing because she wanted to or if it was because she felt pressured. Everyone was hounding after her for chocolate. Additionally, Reeses Whoppers aren't the healthiest of lunch foods.

Is there any way to decrease the amount of food wasted at lunch? There are always tons of fruit cups, milk, and other food tossed out each week. If students do not want their fruit cups, etc., is there any way to collect the unopened items and return them to the large cooler/fridge? I've seen the aides try to collect items, and they'll put them back in the cooler, but they're never able to get all the untouched food/milk before kids throw out their trash. Any suggestions or thoughts?

I know that we can't control what students say, but what is Lea's policy on swearing/cussing? Also, what is the school's policy on cell phones, mp3 players, etc.? Some of the older students play with them during lunch and recess, and the presence of such items sometimes causes conflict or disruption.

Anyway, those were just some quick thoughts after last Monday!

Thoughts on Lea Recess?

Thoughts on Wilson Recess?