Disengaged in Kindergarten

K can be quite academic these days. Inquire about what the schedule is like what kinds of activities do they do and which ones does he not engage in. It may not be the teacher as much as the high expectations of K these days

What do you mean, "is it the teacher"? You sound defensive rather than trying to get examples from the teacher. How would we know if its the teacher?

Examples are needed. My son has point blank told the teacher "xyz is boring" the teacher and I have worked in solutions. The fact of the matter is he is ready for first grade on paper, but is not mature enough and the school does not test for gifted until 2nd grade. So, the teacher happily worked in modifications to his day giving him opportunities to be engaged with the class like morning meeting, writing time, and read to others time. However read to self - math - and other learning activities he is typically done with before the rest of the class and is given alternatives. I wonder if something simmilar is happening, if my son was not able to stand up for himself I think I could be writing your post.

Preschool is much more of a guided play time with some group learning here and there, kindergarden is much more group learning with a bit of guided play here and there. My son has computer lab (his FAV) one day a week, gym time, library time etc, when I was in kinder we had NONE of that. Those activities started in 1st grade.

that's the buzzword du jour, isn't it? and so stupid. it doesn't give any useful information at all. it could mean bored, or stupid, or disinterested, or tired, or abused, or learning disabled, or obnoxious, or undernourished.
really, it's a bit much to expect people who are completely unfamiliar with both child and teacher to answer this sort of question.
schools by their very nature HAVE to teach to the herd. that means that forerunners and stragglers are not well-served. if your child falls into either one of those categories it's up to you to both advocate for your child and find more appropriate learning venues if the school cannot accommodate your kid.
but i wouldn't leap the defensive by assuming the teacher is somehow failing.
ask questions. get into the classroom. be open to suggestions from the professionals who are currently with your child every day. don't attack. don't assume.
khairete
S.

Not sure what you mean. Give us examples. Does not engaged mean not interested, not connecting? As an educator please keep an open mind. Kindergarten is much different from preschool, the demands, curriculum, expectations. Hear the teacher out, ask for recommendations, show the teacher you are on her side and will do everything possible to help your son through. Good luck!!

Did you ask the teacher to elaborate? give examples? explain what s/he means?

Is it a play-based kindergarten? Or are they trying to teach a lot of material (boring worksheets, a lot of sitting still, waiting for direction?)

My son was in a developmental, play-based kindergarten. It was very fun with a lot of movement (which kids at that young age need - he was 5) and learning was done by playing.

Otherwise, K is dreadfully boring. Even my bright, high achieving, academically minded 3rd grader starts to day dream in class.

http://learningsuccessinstitute.com/
Do their online learning style assessment. It will open your eyes as the best way your child learns. School (one-size-fits all) is not for everyone. Then when you don't learn their way, you are made to feel stupid, like something is wrong with you.

I've done the assessment for myself and my 2 kids. Really eye-opening.

She needs to give you examples. Maybe you can volunteer in the class so you can observe for yourself. Lots of K classes need volunteers.

This could be any one of about 20 things. For example:

He's showing symptoms of ADHD and is running like crazy all over the classroom.

or

He's a quiet, undemonstrative kid. He gets the material, but he's not comfortable raising his hand or anything. Some teachers have a hard time connecting with kids like this, but the kids are fine.

or

Something's going on -- say, he's being bullied and is afraid to tell you -- and he handles it by shutting down.

or

He's having a hard time grasping some concepts -- say, phonics -- and he's just not the type of kid to say "I don't get it, please explain." (I'm not that type of kid either; I have to force myself to do this as an adult.)

We can only really help you if you narrow it down.

Well, I would have asked the Teacher "What do you mean? Can you give me examples...."

Did she provide specifics? You S. his papers coming home every week, right? What do those look like? If he did well in Pre-K, and is not a behavior issue, I would say this is very likely a teacher issue. I have noticed over the course of 2 kids (the older one is in 5th grade this year) that teachers who are not all that great love to say that the child isn't engaging with the class. What this means is, "He isn't motivated by the same stuff as the other kids, and I don't want to figure out what WILL motivate him."

As the parent, what this means to you is that you need to do some digging. Ask for details. When is he not engaged? Particular subjects? Is it that he doesn't understand the subject matter, or that he's getting the correct answers, and just not jumping through the hoops the teacher wants him to jump through?

Kids aren't robots, but unfortunately, with huge class sizes, teachers seem to wish they were. It is what it is. Find out what you can, and go to bat for your child as necessary. If you're able to, it might be helpful to volunteer in your child's classroom to S. firsthand how things are going.

What else did the teacher say? Did they give examples? Are they trying to include him in class? Is he possibly bored? Keep asking questions until you feel satisfied with the answers.

Is he behind in learning the things she's teaching? If so, he could be struggling and disengaged because of the struggle. Is he more advanced than what she is teaching? If so, he could be bored and in turn has disengaged. Is he right on track but disengaged? Maybe it's her teaching style.

I would ask for more info, maybe for a qualified observer? If you observed you might get different behavior from your child because kids act different when their parents are there.

It's hard to know what she means by "not engaged in learning with the class." Like another poster said, that could mean many things. Without examples, we are just grasping at straws which does no one any good. I think you should sit in on the class and S. for yourself what's going on.

I've volunteered for many years and quite a few kids aren't "engaged" in kindergarten. Many times I thought kindergarten was kind of a waste of time. I had my dd go 1/2 day and I home schooled her in the afternoon. Our time at home was much more productive - I had her reading at a 2nd grade level by the end of the year (and her teacher didn't even realize how well she could read until they finally did an assessment toward the end of the year - that show's you how much the teacher spent one on one time with them.) Most of the time at the actual school was just socializing.

Kindergarten isn't always a good measure of a child's success in school.

Maybe he is bored. Is the teacher young and inexperienced or older and experienced? If the teacher is new-ish I would press for more effort on her part and/or a transfer to a more experienced teacher. My DD is only 2 so I have not experienced this for myself, but several friends have said that public kindergarten is not a challenge for kids who have been in day care because they have already done all the kindergarten stuff. I guess in 1st grade, they start to group by ability so it improves the situation but not in K. Good luck!