In thinking a 2 hour rest time for 5 year olds at pre k is ridiculous?!

[mrsclausisdrunk]

Ds goes to a very small, rural pre-K. In the same building there is a daycare (so 6 months to 2.5 years then when they're 2.5 they move up in to the pre k.)

Ds was 5 in November so going to school in September.

They currently have an hour's rest time which isn't optional. He has to sit in a darkened room, quietly reading a book.

Those are the rules, that's fine. He quite often comes home before this as he's not so keen on having to keep quiet in the near dark for an hour.

But now they've sent an update saying due to low enrolment the classes will be mixed and there will now be a two hour rest period from 12.30-2.30.

Aibu I'm thinking this is fucking ridiculous for the two 5 year olds in the class?!

I understand there needs to be more give and take in a tiny school/facility but this seems to be heavily prioritising the younger needs of the older. And it's hardly setting them up ready for school.

We're not in the UK but school pretty much follow the same timelines and none of my friends here in other pre k even have a forced rest time.

@WaxOnFeckOff I'm sure they don't want him to leave as attendance is so low without him there'd only be one kid in the preschool class!

I threatened to pull him a couple of months ago as they kept taking him out without my consent or knowledge and the last straw was taking them outside when it was a wind chill of -30. Madness.

Apart from anything else I would worry about his eyes! You aren't meant to read in a darkened room surely?

@YearOfYouRemember there's only one other pre k parent there. There's 2 in that classroom and maybe 4-6 in the younger room depending on the day.

@silvercuckoo I've asked before if he could do a quiet activity rather than read the whole time. Sometimes he just can't manage to sit still that long and there was a month of him being hysterical and refusing to go to school. I'm worried this will set him right back.

But all the younger kids will be five eventually. What will the staff do then? Rest? A few five year olds are less likely to sit quietly I'd have thought.

@YearOfYouRemember ha. Yes I'd like to see them try it then.

It's a minefield as we're all very close due to living in a remote situation. You can't just send a stroppy letter. Although I may have done after taking them out in frostbite weather.

When DD was in daycare they had mixed age classes so the children ranged from 1yr to 6yrs old and there was a nap time for everyone but what they did with the oldest ones (the 5 and 6 year olds) is let them take turns staying up at naptime in a little room that could be seen from the staff rest area so the teachers could have their lunch break while still minimally supervising them. But they still had to nap/lie down quietly 75% of the time. DD moaned that it was boring but it did no harm, it's good for them to be bored, and she still had an overall very positive experience there even with that moaning.

As there's only 2 5yr olds ask if it's possible they do something quietly away from the sleeping ones.

Oh I'm all for being bored! I was a child of the 70s.

Ds will happily play alone for hours, his imagination is unbelievable.

It's the getting bollocked for not sitting still or talking for an extended time that I'm not so keen on. I just don't think it's appropriate for most 5 year olds.

That wasn't a stealth boast. He's a pain in the ass in many other ways.