I am hoping some veterans can help me.My son is in kindergarten this year. He has been in structured preschool programs since he was 3, and he was in nursery before that part time. He is very accustomed to being in school and until this year he has LOVED it.I will try to organize my thoughts but it may be hard. So, apologies if this is all over the place.Firstly, you all should know that we are abroad and he is attending an international school. Hierarchically it is very similar to American schools, but the curriculum is a bit different which may be part of my issue.I also work at the school in the Learning Support department.My son attended this school for their prek-4 program and was very happy, but we were at a different campus. Same school, two campuses in the same city.Finally, the class he is in is part of a bilingual program. He is in a bilingual English/French class. The program just expanded this year to include his grade level. He has 2 teachers. One teaches in English, and the other teaches in French. By the end of the year they will be at a 50/50 English/French split.There's the background. Here are my issues:Firstly, I walked in on the first day and was SHOCKED how small the classroom was. They are cramming like 25 kids in a classroom that was probably designed for about 12. There is no room for toys and they can barely fit on the rug for direct instruction. In the US this would almost certainly be a violation of fire code.There are plans to expand the classroom mid year "Inshallah". If you're not Muslim, "Inshallah" is invoked whenever you have no idea if something will actually happen or not.At pick up time, his teacher came to me and was like, "Can you please tell him to help me because he is moving around too much in class. I've talked to him about it and asked him to stop"--I'm paraphrasing. She seemed stressed and unhappy with him.In response to her concern, I went home and emailed her and the other teacher. I let them know that we have issues with impulse control, emotional regulation, and staying on task at home, and that I was concerned about the size of the classroom for my son, but that we have been working with a child psychologist for over a year to help cultivate better behaviors. I let them know he is getting evaluated for ADHD this year, because I have it as well. I said I'd love to meet with them so we can work together to come up with strategies in the classroom to help him be successful.3 days later and I haven't received a response from either one of them.I am also working in a KG class and am unhappy with the formula of "direct instruction on carpet--desk time, direct instruction on carpet--desk time" It repeats over and over for 5 hours with very little variety. Play time is 15 minutes twice a day and then they have 15 minutes to desperately try to eat their lunch in time to be rushed to the next activity.Gahhh. I am wondering if this is just me being an over protective new parent? Am I coddling my special snowflake? Is it unreasonable to expect more play-based curriculum? Obviously if it's a curricular issue then maybe this school isn't for him.The teachers can't control the size of the classroom. But I feel that the school has prioritized tuition income over the best interests of the children.Finally, isn't it unprofessional to not even acknowledge my email for 3 days? I feel very unsupported and I worry for my son's success.Finally, at assembly I noticed the least organized class was my son's. All the other lower level classes managed to act like normal children whereas my son's class was not in a nice line, sitting inappropriately during the assembly, talking, goofing around, etc. I was actually embarrassed for his teacher. I could tell the principal was pissed. To me, this is a sign of poor classroom management.Is it time to jump ship? Do I demand a meeting with them? Do I speak to their head?I just need some guidance. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2xvHPKD
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