Do teachers go over the basic rules every year?

[oceanbaby]

My two boys will be starting 4th and 1st grade this fall. They have been hs'ed and never attended school. I am wondering if it is appropriate to expect that the teacher will go over basics - what you do if you need to go to the bathroom, what the bell means, if you can get a drink of water when you want, etc.

Is this something all teachers usually go over even with a 4th grade class, or is it something I should approach them about before school starts?

[NewDirections]

Most teachers I've known go over basic procedures and expectations on the first few days of school so kids know what to do and how to act.

[wytchywoman]

Teacher weighing in here to say that if they don't then they should be. Your sons are new to the school so most teachers would have enough sense to cover the ground rules and give them some time to adjust to a new routine. If that doesn't happen I would most certainly place a phone call to the principal.

[whatsnextmom]

First grade, absolutely, as kindergarten can be quite different (many have bathrooms in the classroom, they may not have personal desks yet, ect.) I'm positive your 1st grader will get the whole run down. 4th grade, maybe not. Depends on the teacher and if her rules are different from others. For example, in 4th grade, my kids were both allowed to bring their own bottled water to drink when they wanted. For DS, if you needed to use the bathroom you just raised your hand and asked. For DD, you had this stamp card you used. The bells are pretty straight forward except for maybe recess. Out schools have a bell at the end of recess but the kids are to freeze. They then move to line when they hear a whistle.... same for lunch.

I would go over standard ideas with your eldest and just have him raise his hand and ask when in doubt in the beginning. The teacher may go over everything but they may just go over general class rules and not recess procedure and such.

[happysmileylady]

Yes they should, especially since those basics can vary from classroom to classroom anyway. One teacher may have a bathroom rule of only during specific times of day, another may have a rule of any time, as long as you raise your hand first, and only one at a time.

[stik]

Another teacher weighing in to say, yes, teachers absolutely should be going over all the rules during the first few days of school. This is in every teacher handbook and teacher training course in the world - you go over classroom rules and procedures in the first few days of school.

I'm sure there are some teachers out there who don't. And they are nuts.

[CarrieMF]

some rules yes, other rules not so much.

In Grade 4 most kids know the recess/bell rules & chances are they wouldn't go over them. At my kids school there are warning bells & then the 2nd bell which is the bell where you should be in your class & sitting down by. There are NO bells between classes, the teacher will direct the class when it's time to change to the next subject. There is a bell for recess/lunch starting & then the warning bell/2nd bell for recess' ending. There is no bell between eating lunch & time to get dismissed outside for recess.

In this school division half the schools have no bells between classes the other half do. They both have pros/cons.

All the schools here are safe schools which means different things to different schools.lol In general all doors except 1 are locked(from the outside, not the inside). In some schools the kids have designated doors they come back in. These schools have to wait for someone to unlock the door to let them in. In my kids school ALL the kids come back in 1 set of doors. They do not have to wait for someone to unlock the door unless the main custodian is not there & the subs don't realize that door is supposed to be unlocked for recess'. Though the 1/2's & 5/6's go OUT different doors than the 3/4/K's. There is no lining up until you get to the door. Our playground is huge. All the kids go outside at the same time.

Bathroom breaks & such like that yes they'll most likely go over that.

You should be able to go to the school website & see if they have the school rules posted online. That'll help them understand some of the rules. you could always ask the school for an old agenda ahead of time, or a copy of the main rules.

There will be rules that won't be in the agenda or are not gone over, but your kids will pick most of them up within the first week by just watching what the other kids are doing.

[emilysmama]

For the fourth grader at least, why don't you contact the teacher (either by email or by calling the school at about aug 15) and ask the teacher for a brief (half hour) conference a week or two before school begins? The teacher will be going in at least a few times to get ready for the school year. The teacher probably wouldn't do this for every fourth grader, but if you explain that your child has been homeschooled up to now, I'm sure that the teacher would be happy to talk with you, because it will make the teacher's life easier. Tell the teacher that you are bringing your fourth grader (I'd not bring the 1st grader.), and that you want the teacher to briefly run through a typical school day schedule and the teacher's expectations so that the fourth grader can start the first week of school without anxiety.

If you can schedule a similar conference with the first grade teacher so that the first grader is present, that would be fantastic as well, but less crucial than the fourth grade teacher. As pp mentioned, the all of the first graders will be learning the new rules anyway.

[mommy2maya]

Our classes always do the rules first week. We have bathrooms in all k-3 classrooms. I think 4 & 5 have hallway bathrooms, not sure what the rules are with that- we will find out in september! as far as lunch/recess procedures- that is also explained on the first day/week, in the cafeteria. There are 2 bells- beginning school, end of day.

[luv2homeschool]

Former 4th grade teacher here (now homeschooling). The first few days of school I went over procedures galore. Not only did we learn them, I had the students act them out. It was important to me for the students to not only know what to do, but how to do it. From the basics of how to come into a room in a respectful manner to how to react for a fire drill. I would hope most teachers do something similar with their class. In fact, it was at a grade level meeting that I learned how to do that!

[oceanbaby]

Thanks everyone - as you can tell, I have some anxiety about them starting school! I would like to get in touch with their teachers briefly before school starts. I don't know yet if this will be possible, but I'll certainly try.

[Linda on the move]

When my DD started school in grade 5 after always having been homeschooled, the teacher assigned a "buddy" to her to help her through her first week and explain things.

Kids do internalized a lot of stuff those years in school, and DD's buddy explained the unwritten rules and social codes as well as introducing her to all her friends.

[emilysmama]

Originally Posted by oceanbaby

Thanks everyone - as you can tell, I have some anxiety about them starting school! I would like to get in touch with their teachers briefly before school starts. I don't know yet if this will be possible, but I'll certainly try.

It should be possible, in fact I think it will be easy to arrange.

My dd just finished kindergarten. Three months before my dd entered K, I realized that it is important for me to discuss food allergy issues with the school, and that the discussion should take place before the school year began. I asked the school secretary what to do. At that time, it was the last day of school before dismissal for the summer, so the teachers were going to be scattered for the summer, and also my dd hadn't yet been assigned to a K teacher.

The school secretary told me to call the school office when the office staff returned on Aug 17, and ask them to set up an appointment with parent and child and teacher to discuss food allergies. We met with the teacher one week before the school started, and it went well.

Believe me, the teacher would much rather know about any of your possible anxieties even just one week before school starts, rather than find out on the actual day that school starts. Or, worse, find out through trial and error because no one told her.

As a back up, I'd suggest that you ask the school office for the teacher's email address and just email the teacher that this is the first time your child has attended school so that the teacher will understand if your child doesn't instantly pick up on some of the little unwritten rules.

I think the idea of a buddy is a fantastic idea. Emailing the teacher before school starts will give the teacher some time to think of a good buddy for your child.

[oceanbaby]

I love the buddy idea - I am definitely going to ask about that.

And yes, I definitely want to email the teacher beforehand and hopefully get to chat with them. School starts on Aug 24, so I will call the week before to find out who their teachers are.

[shelbean91]

Another teacher here - yes, rules and procedures are gone over the first few days, as each teacher does things slightly different. In my districe, only return 3 days before the students do, so an early meeting may not work, but we have class lists posted and meet the teacher night a couple of days before school starts. If students are new to the school, I do pair them up with someone to show them around.

[Lisa1970]

Depends on the school, but in our local schools, no. My daughter tried to return to school and it was as if they were attacking her. I got a load of complaints about my daughter. One was "she went out the wrong door, everyone knows you go out the side door, not the front door" I asked if she was told to go out the side door instead of the front door. Not like she could see she was supposed to do that. I was told no, she was not told, she should have known. I asked how. The teacher retracted and said fine, but she better know for the next day. This was after I caught the teacher bent over in to my daughters face screaming at her. The other teacher told me that when it was time to go to the bathroom, everyone knows they stand in line only if they need to go to the bathroom. If they do not need to go, they get in the back of the line. My daughter was toward the front. Again, I asked if they told her that those who do not need to go should go to the back of the line. No, they did not tell her, but they could tell it was defiance that she did not know because ALL homeschoolers are defiant and do not know how to follow rules.

I withdrew her the very next day.

[ecoteat]

Generally, yes, but there may be seemingly obvious things that are overlooked. I had a girl start 3rd grade after HSing and I tried very hard to make sure she understood everything that was going on. She was my friend's daughter and I really wanted to make her transition as smooth as possible. But there were just some basic concepts of a school day that were completely foreign to her and that never occured to me that I might need to explicitly explain to her. (One night early in the school year, as her mom was putting her to bed, she shared that she was sad and startled that the teachers "expect her to learn things all day!")

I think the older the kid is and the more school history is not there, the more chance there is of some important info slipping through the cracks. But if the teacher at least does an overview and is patient and understanding about how the kids are settling into the year, most kids would integerate just fine.

[Sunflower223]

When I was a teacher I did this and every other teacher I knew did it. The first week was primarily devoted to reteaching the rules and procedures. However, I can't speak for every teacher in the world, kwim.

If I were a parent in this situation I would absolutely let the teacher know the situation ahead of time so she would be aware if any issues came up. I taught middle school and at that age there were a lot of kids coming in who had been in home school previously. It was a huge help to know that information ahead of time, it makes it easier for a good teacher to help your children adjust to the differences.

[Linda on the move]

Originally Posted by ecoteat

But there were just some basic concepts of a school day that were completely foreign to her and that never occured to me that I might need to explicitly explain to her.

yep

BTW, my DDs were both VERY tired and drained for the first quarter they attended school, then they adjusted. It's a lot for an older child to adjust to -- they are learning to "do school" as well as learning the material.

[oceanbaby]

Originally Posted by ecoteat

But there were just some basic concepts of a school day that were completely foreign to her and that never occured to me that I might need to explicitly explain to her. (One night early in the school year, as her mom was putting her to bed, she shared that she was sad and startled that the teachers "expect her to learn things all day!")

What are some of the other things you remember? I'm totally expecting that it will be something really obvious that never occured to me to mention to them.