Here's something I didn't know about public school

[Ellie]

Wow. I have never heard of such a thing. Now I'm going to have to ask on FB. :D

[Lang Syne Boardie]

Wow. I have never heard of such a thing. Now I'm going to have to ask on FB. :D

 

 

Runs to FB to represent the Old Fogey contingent in Ellie's poll....

[KrissiK]

When I was on elementary school in the early 80's we had very quiet lunches. I don't know if strict silence was enforced, but I do remember the very mean cafeteria lady who kept everything quiet and under control. It was very prison like, but I agree with some previous posters, a large group of children can get out of control very quickly.

[Word Nerd]

It's not that way at my kids' schools, though they do shut down talking for a set time if the noise level gets too high.

[Julie Smith]

The only thing I really remember from my elementary school lunch is that if you went home for lunch you got one hour from leaving your classroom to having to be back in your classroom. So perhaps leave right away and then be on the playground 55 minutes after you left.

 

I think I always went home so I don't know what the policy was for kids who didn't. But everyone ate in his or her classroom then went outside to play in the weather was okay.

[magnificent_baby]

 

People are giving examples of schools they or their children have gone to and the policy there for lunchtime. That is not a blanket statement.

 

I was referring to OP's thread title, and also to her reporting of FB responses that most of the moms replied this was the norm. To me, she was under the false impression it was like this in the majority of schools and equated ps lunch time to prison. My apologies if I used the term blanket statement incorrectly.

[fourcatmom]

My kids were in school a few years back and they had the stop light. Almost no talking allowed and mostly they didn't eat. Not a very pleasant environment to eat in anyhow, so they skipped it and went out to recess and came home ravished and spent from their day. So glad we homeschool now!

[Laura in STL]

You think that's bad? Let me make it worse for you. :lol:

 

One of the elementary schools I worked at in Texas had silent lunch--stone cold silent the whole time, no traffic light necessary. The children went in, ate, returned their trays or put away their lunch boxes, then rested their heads on the table. If they did this all completely quietly, perfectly, they were awarded by the lunch monitor with a single Skittle or M&M, which was placed on the table in front of them. They were not allowed to eat it right away, of course. They could only eat it at the end of lunch, if they were able to stay quiet until the end. If they spoke or wiggled too much or were in any other way showing signs of being a normal human child, the treat was removed.

 

So, honestly, I just don't give one big fat fluffy fig what anyone thinks of my kids' lack of socialization.

 

This reminds me of when people put a treat on a dog's nose then make them sit there with it like that until they make a sign that they can eat it! I feel sorry for the dog, let alone a child. Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty strict, and I have been known to give the "No more talking until some food is gone" order when no one has taken a single bite after ten minutes of nonstop chatting, but this image is just pitiful.

[QueenCat]

Mine went to public elementary, and one did middle school. They always sat at a table with their class. However, they were allowed to talk unless they got too loud. That happened about once a week, for the last few minutes of lunch.

[Incognito]

I remember the stoplight from when I was a kid. If we hit red or yellow too many times we were punished with "silent lunch" for the rest of the time. There was one kid who would try to hit the wall right by the stoplight and/or make loud noises in it when his table was dismissed and he walked out past it (so the kids still in the lunchroom got in trouble if the aide didn't see he did it).

 

We had one week a year where parents or grandparents were invited to join us. We kids had many theories on what the aides did that week to the stoplight - it was no where near as sensitive as usual that week. So parents would think it must be reasonable, because it didn't go up to yellow or red easily. But then, the next week it'd be back to normal and you had to be quite quiet.

 

IIRC, we sat with our class - I imagine it would be a bit chaotic to have young kids sitting wherever (and would lead to all sorts of issues with bickering amongst kids and shunning), so I personally don't see anything wrong with some sort of assigned seating.

[NicAnn]

I was in school in the 90s, graduated in 2005. We had the dreaded silent lunches often. Getting up was not allowed. We had to go through the lunch line, sit down right away and stay there until our table was dismissed. Trading food was not allowed and would lead to lunch by yourself at the empty table. Recess stopped in 4th grade, but I dont remember if lunch was tied to it before then.

High school was better, we could sit and eat whatever we wanted. Although by the time you were through the line it was time to go back to class.

 

[Word Nerd]

 

 

People are giving examples of schools they or their children have gone to and the policy there for lunchtime. That is not a blanket statement.

 

The OP made several, though.

[Jean in Newcastle]

The OP made several, though.

 

Maybe, but I don't think you have to read it that way. She was reporting something that she had never heard of before. Not only that, but she was reporting that over 30 people responded to, most with similar stories. Yes, she said that her opinion was that this sounded like prison conditions to her but she also qualified by saying that many kids didn't seem to mind so it probably wasn't that big a deal. That doesn't sound like a blanket statement to me. That sounds like someone who heard something new, found out that it seemed to be more common than she thought, had a instinctual dislike for it but at the same time was trying to be fair in her description of the practice. The term "prison like" is pretty stark but honestly, some of the descriptions of how this is handled in some schools is pretty stark.

[SweetandSimple]

My son went to public school for 1st and 2nd grade. I always sent sack lunches, but one day my son told me that he wished he could have a hot dog from the hot lunch counter. When I told him that he could and that I would give him the money, he replied that he would NEVER buy a hot lunch at school because the line was so long that by the time the kids at the end of the line got their lunches, they only had a few minutes to eat, and that if they didn't eat fast enough, they had to go stand by the wall and finish eating while standing up.

 

I don't know if this was a logistics issue because of other kids coming in to the cafeteria or not, but it always made me feel bad for those kids.

[Parrothead]

I never had anything like this. I went to 7 different public schools in three states and two difference countries and have never heard of this.

[raceNzanesmom]

When I worked for the school system 10 years ago that's how it was. They were usually allowed a few minutes of talking while everyone was seated, then it was quiet time. kids were dismissed by table.

 

We moved our oldest from the magnet school he was in for K/1 because (among other things) they had zero talking at lunch, 15 minutes to eat, 15 minutes of recess, and you had to eat everything on your tray or miss recess. It was a "principal" thing, not a school thing, but still crazy.

[vonfirmath]

ITA.

 

We had time to wash our hands properly in the 70's and 80's, too. I have to say, hearing about hand sanitizer in lieu of handwashing because "they don't have time" is making me feel queasy. If you don't have time to teach children to wash their hands after using the bathroom maybe something should change.

 

 

Honestly? I don't remember washing hands before lunch back in the early 80s in elementary school. We washed hands after the toilet, sure. But not before and after lunch. So some of that" there was time" may have been just not doing it.

 

My son's school staggers the classes going to lunch to prevent the long lines in the hot lunch lines. Every 5 minutes a different class starts lunch. Which, of course, means the end times are 5 minutes off as well. They don't have recess after lunch (or before) but they go to recess twice a day and PE as one of their specials (every third? day) They seem to get plenty of time to play around. I've been quite pleased. The kids do sit with their classes and probably different classes have different ways of deciding how they sit. His class is not assigned sitting. No traffic lights, but somehow they keep the noise level down to a dull roar everytime I've been around at that time of year. Parents are encouraged to come and share lunch with their kid any day they want. But there isn't enough time to take them off campus. (You do have to sign in with the front office and get a badge. That's a security thing)

 

They do have a strict rule of not sharing food but as Kindergarteners I fully support that rule. It helps control of the food allergic kids get and it starts the process of teaching kids not to just take any treat that even a friend hands them. There are drugs that look like candy and I'm willing to give my kid a blanket "don't eat any food a friend gives you without clearing it with me first" until he's old enough to make these judgement calls himself.

[sewingmama]

Goodness..this is so foreign to us AUssies. Most schools don't have cafeterias...you get sent outside as soon as lunch starts. You sit wherever you want and take as long as you want to eat. You can also talk as much as you please. There are one or two teachers pacing around doing " yard duty" but they are not there to police the kids eating. If the kid wastes their lunch time talking and playing its their own problem... They go hungry till home time.

 

Even when my kids went to public pre-k they were never told when to eat. When they were hungry they went and got their lunch box from their bag and sat at the eating table and ate. Even during story time they could go get their lunch. It was supposed to teach them to take responsibility for themselves.

 

 

[Pawz4me]

I haven't read any replies, but when my boys were in elementary school the first ten minutes or so of lunch was "no talk" time. There were cups on the tables. When the red cups were showing it meant no talking. After ten minutes or so the teacher would put the other cups on top (I forget what color they were) and that meant talking was allowed. The theory was that if they allowed young kids to talk all the time many of them wouldn't eat their food. I didn't like the practice at all.

[kewb]

Thinking back on my elementary school experience which did not have a traffic light and we could sit with whomever we wanted and had plenty of time for a hot lunch and hand washing, lunch was pretty darn good. I do have strong memories of the lunch lady in the green polka dot dress who carried a large wooden block. If your table was too loud she would walk over and bang it on your table to get your attention. Then you quieted down. If the whole cafeteria was too loud they would flick the lights on and off. I don't recall any consequences. We all quieted down after having a good laugh that we were all too loud.

[Melissa in Australia]

Goodness..this is so foreign to us AUssies. Most schools don't have cafeterias...you get sent outside as soon as lunch starts. You sit wherever you want and take as long as you want to eat. You can also talk as much as you please. There are one or two teachers pacing around doing " yard duty" but they are not there to police the kids eating. If the kid wastes their lunch time talking and playing its their own problem... They go hungry till home time.

 

Even when my kids went to public pre-k they were never told when to eat. When they were hungry they went and got their lunch box from their bag and sat at the eating table and ate. Even during story time they could go get their lunch. It was supposed to teach them to take responsibility for themselves.

 

 

I agree. At recess and lunch time the kids run outside, grabbing their lunch box as they go.

Larger schools have a tuck shop for snacks, and where students can place a lunch order in the morning, and pick up at lunch time (students pay for it)

[Joyofsixreboot]

The k-8 school my kids went to didn't have silent lunch. My kids' complaints were that kids in each class had to sit in alphabetical order to make charging for lunch simpler for the cashier (ID swipe) and that the lunch line took so long to get through there was only 5-10 minutes to eat. To get all the students through the k-ers started lunch at 10:45 and the middle schoolers finished up at 1pm. Lunch at our large (whole county) high school features a free for all of fights and live sex shows.

[Greenmama2]

 

 

I agree. At recess and lunch time the kids run outside, grabbing their lunch box as they go.

Larger schools have a tuck shop for snacks, and where students can place a lunch order in the morning, and pick up at lunch time (students pay for it)

 

 

I've worked at a couple of schools in Aus that have a version of this. Lunchtime starts with all students sitting down (outside, on the ground) to eat. After 15 minutes they can get up and play. They can talk though & sit wherever they like. I had not seen even that until I moved to Sydney though, in the two other states I worked in it was as sewing mama described - kids go out to play when the bell rings. If they remember to eat at some point good, if not then too bad for them.

[MBM]

I don't like the idea of complete silence, but all of my kids were kept calm and encouraged to speak quietly during lunch time in elementary school. They seemed okay with it. Recess was a different story!

 

At my youngest child's public high school (4,000 students), kids are allowed to talk as they please in the main cafeteria. (They have 4 lunch periods.) The school also has lounges, a coffee shop, and two traveling food carts (popular with teachers and administrators) and in those areas they ask people to talk quietly if a nearby classroom is in session.

 

Students are also allowed to study anywhere in the building during lunch or free periods if they have a certain GPA. Many kids sit on the floor and read in the hallways. My son likes to study in an out-of-the way stairwell or the library. As students move up each year, they're given more freedom, so a junior may study outdoors on the campus. Seniors may study at the nearby beach. They do need a certain GPA and parental approval.

 

The school also does not have metal detectors or hallway passes. It's a pretty cool school. I love how they treat the kids fairly and respect them.

[Chris in VA]

I think teachers should sit with their classes. They can have their "break" another time (not that most teachers really use their breaks to relax--many are running around getting things prepared, but I digress...).

 

Here's an interesting perspective I wish were the norm. At the private school where I was an aide, the K'ers had their classroom aide sit with them at a table.

 

At my dd's elementary school, they had the stoplight. They could sit anywhere at the table, but each table was for a specific class (or two tables, IIRC--you could sit next to your buddy, but only if they were in your class). They did not have recess connected to lunch time, but had 15-30 minutes at another time of day, depending when the teacher wanted to let them go outside. NO silent lunches--I totally agree with them on that.

 

Secondary school (7th-12th) can sit anywhere. Line takes so long that dd won't buy her lunch, just packs. They can sit outside on nice days, but it is a privilege and will be taken away if they get rowdy. Talking is fine, tho.

[catz]

Well, I went to Catholic school through 8th grade in the late 70's/early 80's, and they had strict controls on the noise levels in the cafeteria and we often had to sit in silence. They had rules about boys mixing with girls at recess too. :huh: When we were indoors in the gym in the dead of winter, boys had to stay to one side of the gym and girls to the other.

 

My oldest went to PS for 2 years, and they had no rules like this. The cafeteria was mind numbingly loud when I happened to be there over lunch.

[Guest]

A friend of mine said this was the policy at her son's Montessori school. She ate lunch with her son and another child patted her on the arm and whispered, "Ben's Mom..." He was reprimanded for talking.

[Violet Crown]

It seems to me that we start with inhuman (i.e. not designed for human children) conditions - huge schools; enclosed, echo-y cafeterias; crowds of same-age children unaccompanied by older children or adults; too-short times to eat; little or no time for free play and exercise - and then fix the inevitably resulting problems by inhuman measures.

 

We like to eat lunch on a blanket out on the grass this time of year.

[Tammyla]

It doesn't happen here that way. Our lunch rooms are not quiet or pleasant places to eat.

[MrsJewelsRae]

Every elementary school I went to (3) we ate in the classroom, there were no cafeterias. We were allowed to talk, but had to keep the noise to a reasonable level. We sometimes had lunch monitors from older classes come to watch us when the teacher went down to the lounge. When in grade 5 we had a grade 8 lunch monitor boy and he tried to kiss me. When I refused, he punished me by sending me to the principals office for "playing with my food" and another time for "being too loud". I was the most compliant, sweet, shy kid in the class, being sent to the principal's office was terrifying. I was too embarrassed to tell the real reason he sent me, and the principal gave me lecture and sent me back.

[MiniBlondes]

My children were public schooled up until last year. Lunch was 25 minutes and they had a cup on their table that was upside down for the first 20 minutes of lunch. Upside down cup meant no talking. For the last 5 minutes, the cup was flipped over and they were allowed to talk. Until they had to take their trays up... the last 3 minutes of lunch.

[Lizzie in Ma]

Wow! It certainly wasn't like that when I went to school. No idea about now a days.

[MiniBlondes]

Oh, if anyone was found to be talking while the cup was upside down, the cafeteria monitor moved them to silent lunch. Silent lunch was a row of chairs about 3 feet apart that faced a cinder block wall.

[ravinlunachick]

It was not like that when I was in school, but at one elementary school I attended there was a rule that the last one at the table had to wipe it down. We all wolfed down our lunches.

 

I did hear a story from a French homeschooler once that her child's lunchroom took the silent lunch idea to the extreme that the kids had to point and use head signals to indicate what they wanted put on their trays by the cafeteria ladies (not the ones who sing Eat Those Brussel Sprouts and Smile!)

 

When I was in 6th grade in the mid 80s, our entire grade level got in trouble for being too noisy during standardized testing. We had silent lunch for 2 weeks. One of the smarter boys learned sign language and taught it to his buddies so they could "talk." The teachers were pissed that he was flouting their authority and from then on out, we had "no communication" lunches. :(

 

When my oldest was in PS, they had silent lunch for the first 10 minutes, to give the kids time to eat, and then could talk for the remaining 10 minutes. In practice, however, they hardly had 5 minutes to talk because they required all the kids to stand without eating until the entire class of 26 had been served, and then and only then could they sit down and begin to eat. Even though my dd took a lunchbox, she had to wait for everyone to arrive at the table. Since she then had to open containers and such, she hardly got to eat at all. If the kids dared to speak during those 10 minutes of silence, the teacher would extend it.

[Library Momma]

It's not that way at my kids' school. In early elementary they have 1/2 hour lunch and 1/2 hour recess along with 10 minute morning and afternoon recesses. They are assigned tables but can sit where they like unless they are peanut free (they sit at a special table).

 

In upper elementary 3-5 the grade,they have a 15 minute lunch after which they can decide whether they would like a 45 minute recess or would like to stay at lunch for an extra 15 minutes and have a 1/2 hour recess. They are free to sit wherever they like and talk. At this school they also have at least one additional 10 minute recess, sometimes it is two. My son's 3rd grade teacher takes they kids on a 10 minute walk in the afternoon.

[sparrow]

Wow.

 

I just want to say thanks for this thread. I've been feeling little wore down with homeschooling over the past few months. I wasn't considering putting them in school, but the 8-9 years we've been at this were taking a toll. This thread gave me fresh perspective! It was like reading 'Dumbing Us Down' again.

 

I have never heard of any of these lunchroom routines, thankfully. It honestly sounds like "clicker" training a dog :(. I read some of your responses to dh who appropriately replied with Pink Floyd:

 

"If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding" ;)

 

I also realized that my parents were cool because a special day for me was not them coming to my school and eating with me there. They came and got me, took me out to lunch, and we played hooky for the rest of the day.

 

Wow.

[Karen in CO]

At my youngest's co-op, each day a different parent volunteers to eat with the class. If the weather is halfway decent, they eat outside otherwise they eat and talk in the classroom. When they've eaten enough, they go outside together to play unless it is unbearable. Lunch is an hour.

 

At my older dd's 6-12th charter school, all the kids eat together. They have to sit at one of two tables for their class most days of the week. Wednesdays they sit with their clan (which slice of students across all grades and classes with a "clan leader" teacher). The clan leader really helps to guide their conversation and gives a great example of good conversation shared with a meal. There are a couple of teachers that walk around during lunch to make sure everything is okay and that no one eats nuts at the nut-free table. They get recess after they eat although responsibility for lunch-room clean-up rotates between classes weekly. The cleaning team makes sure everyone picks up their trash, then they wipe down the tables, counters and microwave. This works wonderfully. They are expected to keep their voices at a polite level which they do. Their lunch is 45 minutes.

 

I've heard of silent lunches and stop light cafeterias, but I wouldn't allow my kids to go to such a place. I'm glad I have better choices for schools plus the ability to homeschool.

[Supertechmom]

Its the norm around here if the teachers in SS are accurate. They talk about various lunch policies sometimes before SS starts. One teacher has migraines and keeps her lunchroom very quiet so as to not trigger an episode. I find it interesting.

 

One thing I will note is I wonder if this is connected to the extreme out of control loudness I am shocked by in college. I've gone back to school and I am absolutely shocked that pretty much every student expect those old fogies like me have NO IDEA they are being loud. when we are in conference (8 students and instructor), it is so loud that you can't hear yourself think. I have to actually say "Guys/Girls we are being really loud,Can we lower the volume?) Class which is typically 100 students (all between 22-55 with the majority in that twentyish bracket) is deafening until someone tells everyone to hush. My little group is always shaking our head because we learned to speak quietly indoors.

 

I wonder if this lunch policy is widespread enough and gone on long enough to be the reason why these people can not talk quietly. I know we had the traffic light system (put in place by my sil no less because she suffered from headaches too - She was my 2nd grade student teacher) and before that we had the lights out. Assigned tables with assigned seating and dismissed by tables and single file thing too. I don't imagine that has changed much.

 

I have a hard time in SS as the majority of them are public school teachers and they talk shop quite a bit. I feel like an alien most times because they discuss stuff that they do and I keep thinking "Lord I would be the that horrible parent up in the office ranting to the principle!!!" Sometimes I wonder if anyone gets child development training anymore in teacher college.

[sparrow]

 

I hear you. It's this kinda stuff that keeps me doing what I'm doing even when I don't want to. I think I'd die from guilt if I put my kids in school without a very good reason. I mean I get why schools do some of the things they do. They have to manage hundreds of kids, not just 2 like I do. But I've been so far removed from this sort of thing for so long and so have my kids. So it all sounds pretty crazy and I think my kids would have a very rude awakening if they had to go to school.

 

 

This one just hit me. I don't typically get involved in any PS bashing. I know how hard most teachers work and how the system works against them. I don't like threads that come across like, "Look how dumb the PS kids are. They missed XYZ on a test". We have never written off the possibility of them going in high school. Our reasons for homeschooling, since the beginning, were to avoid the "worker bee" culture. Having lights or cups, etc. telling them when they eat and speak is just incomprehensible to me and.....gross. I'm surprised how much this affected me.

[FaithManor]

The elementary schools in our area have silent lunches with very stiff penalties now and only 5 min. of playtime after 10 min. of eating. So sad. Employers are required by law to give more break times to adults than public schools give to children.

 

But, when I went to elementary school, lunch time was great. Our teachers ate with us. Kids who were buying lunch went out into the hallway and the lunchroom ladies were there delivering trays of food. The rest of us got our packed lunches out. We sat at our desks, ate, visited, and had interesting discussions with our teacher while she ate. We ate for 15 min or 20 min....she didn't really have any draconian policy about how long it took, then we put our stuff away and went outside to play for 20-30 on - she followed us out and often organized games on the playground. Every teacher from K-5 was like this.

 

When we came inside, it was literature time. All of the teachers did this. They would turn the lights out in the room and we could lay our heads down on our desks if we wanted to...nobody threw a fit if someone snoozed a little. The teachers would read from great books...usually something exciting so there was a bit of a cliffhanger for the next day. I know many times my 5th grade teacher deliberately stopped in the middle of a chapter just to keep us clamoring for more. We ALWAYS looked forward to it and it was one of those highlights that is really necessary for reluctant learners and children with a lot of problems. Since some kids might nap and would need to be wakened...groggy being a possibility, we did spelling or penmanship after as our first afternoon subject. They always figured that those were two subjects they could let slide a bit and not pressure us too much over.

 

Really, my elementary school was very loving, very nurturing, and the discipline was logical and not over the top. If we were told to quiet down, we did. They knew what the natural consequences should be for making the teacher wait to speak or teach and without drama or emotion, meted those consequences out. By in large, we were a pretty nice bunch of kids by the time we'd been in school for a month. There was ZERO emphasis on bubble testing and as a result, we had lots of time for good ole' academics. Our schoolwide scores were always quite good. There was no special ed teacher. All of the kids were mainstreamed, but since it was a small, rural school with three teachers' aides, several mom volunteers, and only 20 kids per class, everyone got a lot of attention when they needed it.

 

I truly weep for children who attend schools with draconian policies and no love for childhood. It amazes me that we can do things to children in this nation in the name of "education" that would get an employer nailed to the wall by the state, feds, and court system for doing to adults!

 

Faith

[sparrow]

The elementary schools in our area have silent lunches with very stiff penalties now and only 5 min. of playtime after 10 min. of eating. So sad. Employers are required by law to give more break times to adults than public schools give to children.

 

But, when I went to elementary school, lunch time was great. Our teachers ate with us. Kids who were buying lunch went out into the hallway and the lunchroom ladies were there delivering trays of food. The rest of us got our packed lunches out. We sat at our desks, ate, visited, and had interesting discussions with our teacher while she ate. We ate for 15 min or 20 min....she didn't really have any draconian policy about how long it took, then we put our stuff away and went outside to play for 20-30 on - she followed us out and often organized games on the playground. Every teacher from K-5 was like this.

 

When we came inside, it was literature time. All of the teachers did this. They would turn the lights out in the room and we could lay our heads down on our desks if we wanted to...nobody threw a fit if someone snoozed a little. The teachers would read from great books...usually something exciting so there was a bit of a cliffhanger for the next day. I know many times my 5th grade teacher deliberately stopped in the middle of a chapter just to keep us clamoring for more. We ALWAYS looked forward to it and it was one of those highlights that is really necessary for reluctant learners and children with a lot of problems. Since some kids might nap and would need to be wakened...groggy being a possibility, we did spelling or penmanship after as our first afternoon subject. They always figured that those were two subjects they could let slide a bit and not pressure us too much over.

 

Really, my elementary school was very loving, very nurturing, and the discipline was logical and not over the top. If we were told to quiet down, we did. They knew what the natural consequences should be for making the teacher wait to speak or teach and without drama or emotion, meted those consequences out. By in large, we were a pretty nice bunch of kids by the time we'd been in school for a month. There was ZERO emphasis on bubble testing and as a result, we had lots of time for good ole' academics. Our schoolwide scores were always quite good. There was no special ed teacher. All of the kids were mainstreamed, but since it was a small, rural school with three teachers' aides, several mom volunteers, and only 20 kids per class, everyone got a lot of attention when they needed it.

 

I truly weep for children who attend schools with draconian policies and no love for childhood. It amazes me that we can do things to children in this nation in the name of "education" that would get an employer nailed to the wall by the state, feds, and court system for doing to adults!

 

Faith

 

 

Did we attend the same school? :lol: My fourth grade teacher was nominated for teacher of the year a few years after I left elementary school. She had a storytelling degree and read wonderful books with such intensity, always leaving us on a cliffhanger. I still remember the sound of a cumulative "awwwwwww" from my class when she'd close the book.

 

My elementary experience, overall, was fairly idyllic.

[Sisyphus]

Ds went to 2 Nd grade at a school with a mostly low income population- I forget what they call it, title 1? Something like that. It meant low test scores and low income students. IMO, the status gave teachers and administrators the view that they must treat these poor kids like felons in training. Lines, no talking (basically ever), silent lunches where they ate and put heads down. It was almost like someone had gotten into a home schoolers head who is thinking "the worst of schools treatment of children" and then implemented it. Seriously! His class averaged recess (10 minutes) once a week- it was always taken for some group punishable infraction. This was second grade, those poor kids NEEDED recess.

 

It was pretty much as soul crushing as you could imagine, and that year was our only foray into ps. The lunches were incredible though- this was an old school in the south with a kitchen and lunch ladies who cooked! Maybe not the healthiest stuff (greens with bacon, home made Mac and cheese, southern food) but it was fresh and wow, so good.

[MIch elle]

Nope not here!! Once I stopped homeschooling (after 11 yrs), I started substitute teaching in grades 3-12. One of the hardest things for me was all the NOISE during my lunch and recess duties. I now sub. in 2 different school systems and lunch and recess are very loud events. It's hard for me to believe that there is silent lunch time in ANY school.

[QueenCat]

Interesting though that parents eat lunch at school sometimes. That is something that never happened when I went to school. I don't know if it was not allowed, but no I never did see it.

 

It was very common at the boys elementary school (pre-homeschooling). Most days, there were at least one or two parents from EACH class sitting with their kids, eating lunch. You could either sit at the class table with your child or bring your child & one friend to the guest table. I usually went once a week. It was a great way to meet the boys' classmates.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I think teachers should sit with their classes. They can have their "break" another time (not that most teachers really use their breaks to relax--many are running around getting things prepared, but I digress...).

 

 

Back when I taught in public school in the late 80's I ate with my kids. I was the only teacher to do so. The kids loved it and we had a nice time talking - quietly. I wasn't there to keep tabs on them, though. At this particular school, the teachers ate lunch in the teacher's lounge and I've never ever been in a room with more nasty foul-mouthed people in my life. I ate with the kids to get away from all that.

[Violet Crown]

 

 

Back when I taught in public school in the late 80's I ate with my kids. I was the only teacher to do so. The kids loved it and we had a nice time talking - quietly. I wasn't there to keep tabs on them, though. At this particular school, the teachers ate lunch in the teacher's lounge and I've never ever been in a room with more nasty foul-mouthed people in my life. I ate with the kids to get away from all that.

 

I think I want you to be my kids' teacher. Well, if I weren't.

[zoobie]

A friend of mine said this was the policy at her son's Montessori school. She ate lunch with her son and another child patted her on the arm and whispered, "Ben's Mom..." He was reprimanded for talking.

 

That's sad! My kids have gone through primary at Montessori schools. Their lunches I thought were lovely. They randomly choose tables at the beginning of the week which encourages kids to branch out with classmates, and kids sit at tables of two, three, or four. They dim the lights and play soft music. You can chat with tablemates. There's a little vase of flowers on the table, placemats, napkins, metal forks and spoons, real glasses with a water pitcher. They get the tables ready for lunch, have outside recess, come in and eat. After lunch, they clean up (wipe the tables, placemats and napkins put in hamper, sweep up crumbs, wash the glassware and silverware) and the lights stay dim while the teacher reads aloud. I have wanted to try that at home, but the baby and the dogs and cats just won't play along with my romantic notions! :)

 

Oh, the silverware made me think of something--my friend's son got sent to the office and had his lunch confiscated because she sent a plastic child's "knife" (shaped like an alligator, no serrations) with his lunch to spread hummus or PB on crackers. She had to come pick him up and got a stern reprimand/warning from the administration for sending a weapon to school. It was puzzling to her because the school's metal forks would be more dangerous than a plastic spreader! I thought it was hilarious because my kids had real, sharp, pointy knives available in the classrooms.

[Alte Veste Academy]

That's sad! My kids have gone through primary at Montessori schools. Their lunches I thought were lovely. They randomly choose tables at the beginning of the week which encourages kids to branch out with classmates, and kids sit at tables of two, three, or four. They dim the lights and play soft music. You can chat with tablemates. There's a little vase of flowers on the table, placemats, napkins, metal forks and spoons, real glasses with a water pitcher. They get the tables ready for lunch, have outside recess, come in and eat. After lunch, they clean up (wipe the tables, placemats and napkins put in hamper, sweep up crumbs, wash the glassware and silverware) and the lights stay dim while the teacher reads aloud. I have wanted to try that at home, but the baby and the dogs and cats just won't play along with my romantic notions! :)

 

Oh, the silverware made me think of something--my friend's son got sent to the office and had his lunch confiscated because she sent a plastic child's "knife" (shaped like an alligator, no serrations) with his lunch to spread hummus or PB on crackers. She had to come pick him up and got a stern reprimand/warning from the administration for sending a weapon to school. It was puzzling to her because the school's metal forks would be more dangerous than a plastic spreader! I thought it was hilarious because my kids had real, sharp, pointy knives available in the classrooms.

 

I like the way Montessori weaves together school with life.

 

About the spreader... DH is happy enough with homeschooling, but it is nonsense like confiscated spreaders and discipline over pop tart guns that keeps him on board more than anything else.

 

I think teachers should sit with their classes. They can have their "break" another time (not that most teachers really use their breaks to relax--many are running around getting things prepared, but I digress...).

Here's an interesting perspective I wish were the norm. At the private school where I was an aide, the K'ers had their classroom aide sit with them at a table.

At my dd's elementary school, they had the stoplight. They could sit anywhere at the table, but each table was for a specific class (or two tables, IIRC--you could sit next to your buddy, but only if they were in your class). They did not have recess connected to lunch time, but had 15-30 minutes at another time of day, depending when the teacher wanted to let them go outside. NO silent lunches--I totally agree with them on that.

Secondary school (7th-12th) can sit anywhere. Line takes so long that dd won't buy her lunch, just packs. They can sit outside on nice days, but it is a privilege and will be taken away if they get rowdy. Talking is fine, tho.

 

I agree with you. The article was interesting. This struck me: "Dining, like working, is an important part of being human." It shouldn't have struck me though, you know? It should just be a well, duh kind of statement.

[Chris in VA]

You sparked a memory.

 

When I was in first grade, our class made pictures to give our principal. It might have been his birthday, IIRC. His name was Mr. Heath.

We used that paper with the big space on the top, and lines under, so we could write something under the picture.

 

I drew him standing on a cafeteria table (actually, ours was a multipurpose room), arms up, fists balled, yelling at the students to Keep it Quiet! or something like that.

 

My teacher thought it was so funny; she brought me (and several others) to the office to give Mr. Heath our pictures. I still remember him being rather embarrassed when he got mine! I didn't see anything to be embarrassed about--I'd told the truth, and I never felt he was mean or inappropriate, he just "was."

 

Looking back, maybe my sweet teacher was sending a bit of a message! lol

[Jennifer3141]

Yep. My older DD was horrified when she heard that and when she found out that you had to get permission to use the restroom. One of my friend's kids' schools banned actual soap and water hand washing because it took too long, so the kids got a squirt of hand sanitizer. My DD said, "I just threw up in my mouth."

 

 

That would have me storming the school within 10 minutes.

 

Just think about that. Time is sooooooo precious in school now that we aren't going to make the time for children to wash potential fecal matter and bacteria off their hands. Really?? What the heck are you teaching that is sooooo important that we need to cut that out? Because honestly, teaching my kids how to properly wash their hands is one of those life skills I'd put right up there on the list. :glare: :scared: