Kindergarten: to separate or keep together POLL

Hello friends,

It has been quite a while since I jumped on here. Been busy and wanted to stop by to say hello and throw out a poll to you.

My kiddos are getting ready to start Kindergarten in the Fall. So far, through all preschool, I have kept Caroline and Cameron in the same classroom. I am curious to find out how many ppl kept their twins together or separated them. I will follow up once I get some responses. Thanks for your time.

Jackie

 

I linked this to 6-12 because there are many discussions about this in that forum.

I am separating my boys. In fact they have always been separated, in classes where they are together they really play off each other, and I wouldn't want to do that to a teacher

 

I just did this same pollabt a week ago! I got some really great responses and advice. After reading the responses, talking with DH, and praying abt it I have decided that I am going to separate my boys in the fall. They are in preschool together now and have been doing well, but they are starting to fight more and blame eachother when something goes wrong, so I think they need some time apart. Good luck with your decision!!

 

I voted other, because they are not in school yet. However when they go, I will be seperating them. I will however put them in the same pre-school and nursery school classes.

 

I separated my triplets for the most part. Two were in the same class, though.

 

I'll be asking to keep my boys in the same class. They've never been to preschool/day care so I didn't want to throw too much at them at once. I figured we'll see how it goes, if it doesn't work out we'll separate them in 1st grade.

One thing I thought about was homework. Even though the curriculum would be the same they might not have the same things to do at home at the same time. It would be easier to do one set of homework so I could do it all at once with them.

 

quote:
It would be easier to do one set of homework so I could do it all at once with them


I am sorry, but this statement always bothers me. The children are supposed to be doing the homework, not the parents. Parents should monitor homework, unless a child is struggling, they really shouldn't be sitting down with the child every night. If they were in different grades, this statement would never even occur to a parent. As a teacher, it really is a problem when a child isn't doing their own homework, then the only time a teacher really knows when a child is struggling is when they fail test, rather than a day to day progress of trouble with homework.

 

i'd like to keep my boys together for Kindergarten. for my boys i honestly don't see what the problem is. some people feel like they have a dominant twin but so far my boys seem quite equal. they are both ahead of the curve with academic and physical accomplishments in PreK so why split them up?

this is a big issue and as we are househunting i'm really looking for a principal who wants to discuss this matter on an individual basis and not just lump all twins together.

as far as homework goes i expect them to do their own but it would be easier if they were working on the same material. that's another thing about my boys. they are great study-buddies. even now they do their workbooks, they sit across the table from each other and they like to see that they are working on the same challenges.

 

I said "Other" because mine are super little right now, and we've already made the decision to home school them. With two very bright teenagers struggling with boredom and the confinement of a mediocre, mass curriculum, I'm ready to be done with public schools. I'd take the teens out now if I could, but my ex/their dad would flip.

Good poll. I'm interested to watch the results!

Laura

 

I don't see why you would seperate them when they have been together since conception??

My boys are in their 2nd year of PS and they have seperate friends, personalities, etc...

I just feel that one year of full day kindergarten together is better for them to adjust to.

They will be going from 7.5 hours of school a week to about 21 hours. That is a big adjustment for 5 year olds, hopefully made easier by NOT ripping them apart.

 

I voted separate, unforunately that might not be an option for me unless I decide to take them to separate schools, because most schools in my town only have one class of each grade!
But I voted spearate because the few times that I'm able to give them time apart, when they get back together they play together much better. I think time apart is good for them. My girls have been in daycare since 12 months, so they are used to "school". If they had never gone to daycare, I'd be more inclided to send them together. In our case the number of hours they are in school will actually go down. Their daycare is 8:30 am to 2:00pm and Kindergarden here (which is two years 4 and 5 year olds) is 8:30 to 12:30.

I'm also a teacher and I agree with Sharon, that homework comment made me gasp!

 

Mine are still too little for school but they will be together when they start. The school they will be going to is used to multiples (DS has 2 sets of twins in his class 2nd grade) Kindergarten has 1 set of twins and 1st grade has triplets and 1 set of twins. The school is small (1 class per grade) so they will be in the same class until HS.

 

quote:
Originally posted by 2girls2boys:
I don't see why you would seperate them when they have been together since conception??
There are many reasons to separate them, imo, just as there are reasons to keep them together. My boys are identical and after being in the same preschool class for two years, they were more than ready to be separated, mainly because they were tired of their teachers and friends getting them mixed up. They so enjoyed being in separate classes in kindergarten and having their own "identity" during the day where no one had to ask them, "Which one are you?" They've always had mostly the same friends, even with being in separate classes, so it was never an issue. Homework was never an issue either because our school has a uniform curriculum so all classes had the same work, generally on the same night, especially in K and 1st grade. Anyway, my boys wanted separate classrooms, which made a huge difference in their adjustment phase. They were still a bit apprehensive at first but quickly came to love each having their "own" teacher and classroom. The sharing thing also was another reason we separated. They share everything and we felt it was nice for them not to have to share a teacher yet too. And a third reason we felt we wanted to separate them was to avoid any "sibling issues" in the classroom. My boys are quite competitive and I did not want to put them in a situation where they were competing against each other directly grade-wise (although they have always gotten virtually identical grades) nor did I want them to bring any sibling rivalry/arguments into the classroom as I felt that would be unfair to them, the other students and the teacher. So, for many reasons we felt it was healthy to separate them at that point.

I do think either separate or together, parents and administration at the school need to work together to come to a mutual decision and optimal placement for multiples. We kept an open dialogue with the boys' teachers and the teachers were more than accomodating in allowing them some "together" time during the day, generally at lunch and recess. And they were more than accomodating to my needs as a parent also, some teachers even going so far as to schedule their classroom parties together so I could attend both!!

 

I asked them if they wanted seperate classrooms and they both said NO right away. In class they do not play together at all unless there is a problem, then then they seek each other out.

I think for now, at the tiny age of 5 they should be together. Especially if that is what they want.

When they are all grown up at 6 - they will have to be separated.

 

And I think if they want to be together and they get along well, then it should work out terrifically for them (at least until they become a mature 6 ).

BTW, my boys have summer birthdays so we did not start them in kindergarten until age 6, which could have been a factor in them wanting to separate also. They were that much more "mature" and "ready" to separate. I should have pointed that out in my post.

 

quote:
When they are all grown up at 6 - they will have to be separated.

So K&K can spend Sept in the same class and then separate in Oct ?

 

Hi, I haven't posted on here in ages, but I'll answer your poll. I spoke with the principal and got my girls to be in the same class for K. They just turned 5 in November, so they are the youngest in their class. They had 1 year of preschool, in which they were in separate classes, but spent alot of their mornings together. I am very happy with my decision this year about keeping them together, as they ride the bus together, and have one another for support. Their teacher told me she has never seen such independent twins, since when one is home sick, for example, her sister functions just fine alone. Plus, even though they are in the same class, they have many separate activities. They sit at different tables, go to computer lab on different days, and they have made their own friends. They play with separate friends quite often at recess and yet, they are there to help one another in times of need.

 

I talked to the principal b4 I signed the kids up for K. He said he'd asked around teachers/principals in the district, and I appreciated that he'd taken the time to lok into it. I got the impression that he's open-minded about the issue. Anyway, he that SOME parents prefer twins be in same classes (easier to deal with the homework issues, and the fact that they don't have to juggle different test dates, etc. These aren't the only reasons, only some of them.) He then went on to say that SOME parents prefer twins be sep. He didn't say that what his own opinion is, which I would've been interested in hearing. I also asked some high school-age twins, who said that some years they did better sep; and other years they wanted to be toether. All this was running around in my head, and I mentioned to the boys' preschool teacher that I was thinking of sep. them in K, and she said she thought that'd be good for them. As a matter of fact, she was going to recc. that I sep. them if I never brought it up by the end of the year.
I hope that makes the decision a little easier.