Hi Jessica. Let me see if I can explain the school systems way of thinking. They do the K-5th grade, so that the Kindergarten children have a chance to get used to the school that they will be going to from grades 1-5. It gives these children time to adjust to “going to school.”

It also provides state funding to the school for parents that cannot afford to send their child(ren) to preschool such as Kindercare. The funds are used for the Kindergarden children as well as grades 1-5. So the entire school benefits from including these children. It’s also kind of fun to be able to see the kids grow from one year to the next. 🙂 Kindergarden kids look up to the 5th graders etc. 🙂

Your question “why don’t we have elementary schools from grades 1-8″….we do in certain school systems. Mounsoriti schools are TERRIFIC and do this all the time. I think personally it’s a wonderful idea, as then the child (children) do not have to change schools. In fact it might be great to see schools open 1-12 grades. I do believe there are certain schools that do try to go from K-12, but they are few and far between.

Again, everything revert back to the states school budgets and the safety of the kids.

In elementary school…you don’t necessarily have all the problems you encounter say in Middle School.

Then from Middle School to High School….same thing. Sometimes kids become more agressive and meanier…especially to children with special needs.

It’s so sad, because these are children that are truly WONDERFUL, INTELLIGENT & SO VERY KIND.

I know, I have a child in ESE & regular education classes and its tough from time to time. I help him all I can and seek all the support he needs from the school system. Sometimes it is very difficult to get things that are necessary to help him learn.

Let me try to explain one more thing….Special Education includes both children that have disabilities and children that have behavioral problems. This is sad, because the children that have disabilities are truly trying to learn and the kids in ESE seem to get “lumped together” and everyone thinks they are just displinary problem kids. This isn’t necessarily true. Kids with disabilities (like my son) have medical conditions. My son have brain lesions, so he has a harder time with writing…not because he is “bad” but because it’s the way his brain functions. It’s not his fault, but he is put in with other kids that “cause problems” and in turn it causes him problems because he is trying to handle a medical condition and still trying to learn all he can. (I hope this is making sense).

You are a very bright child and I think you have a furture in Special Education/Special Needs area for helping kids. You would make a very kind, & thoughtful teacher.

Blessings, Patti

Teachers don’t go into teaching for the money or for any easy schedule. If you love children and are excited by seeing the joy of discovery in their faces, then teaching is the right job for you! I have been teaching kindergarten for 30 years and still love it. It IS hard and stressful but totally worth it. Of course there are days when I’d rather be somewhere else, but that’s the same with any job. The level of commitment that you give to the job dictates how hard you work. I believe that a teacher has to give her students 100% each and everyday. You are teacher, mother, nurse, counselor, referee, cruise director, party planner, nutrition, safety officer and much more to these kids for 180 days each year. And I wouldn’t have it any other way! My daily schedule is this: 7:20 Arrive at school, answer emails, prepare for the next day. 8:10 Children arrive 11:05 lunch break 11:55 New group of students arrive 2:45 Children leave the building for the day Now it’s time to put away materials from today’s lessons and prepare and set up for tomorrow’s lessons, answer phone messages, emails, attend staff or committee meetings, conference with parents. 5:00 go home to answer emails, update website You never really get your vacations or summers totally off as you will need to take courses for professional development points for recertification. The nurses in our town are part of our union. I’m not sure of a nurse’s salary, but a first year teacher with no experience and no masters’ degree and right out of college makes over $41,000 this year. With a masters $45,000. Health benefits are 50/50 and retirements plans are generally pretty good. I wish you the best as you consider your career choices. Teaching is an incredibly rewarding profession. I suggest that you spend some time volunteering in an elementary school (in a variety of grades) to see if this is the right choice for you. You could even find some schools this summer that run tutoring programs if you want to get a head start.

I went to a K-9 school. It was extremely crowded. But it was nice not having to worry about switching schools.

I don’t think Kindergarten should be in a different building. It’s part of school. I never had any problems in Kindergarten being in the same school as older kids. It gives you someone to look up to and gets you use to being in that environment. We all turned out fine. I always thought that Pre-School got you ready for school. I’ve never heard anyone consider Kindergarten ‘Pre-School’.

I do understand why schools are separated into Elementary, Junior High and High School, because when I was in Grade 7-9, it was kind of annoying to always be around the little kids and always having to share the hallways with them.

It isn’t so much about money as it is about the differing needs of the students. It’s honestly a lot easier to have separate buildings for the different age groups than to try to fit them all in one building.

Also, in many urban areas, the school would have to be…well, massive…in order to accomodate all the kids. In just my part of town, the 6th grade center alone has about 1,000 kids and is larger than the high school I attended (in a small town).

i dont think it makes a difference. i went to a k-8 school and it wasnt bad. . . k-1 was in the 1st floor, 2-5 was in the second, and 6-8 was in the third. . . so to me it wasnt much difference since you dont go to floors where u dont have classes