r/kindergarten

My kinder kid (6) sometimes gets overwhelmed or overstimulated at school.

I always brought a snack at pick up (4-4:30) for the ride home, but if a day was really tough, the simple injustice of me not bringing the right snack would send her over the edge.

So! After a few failed attempts, I had an idea - portable snack basket.

When I was at the store, I asked if I could have an empty yogurt box that the fancy glass yogurts come in. The box is substantially made and has a hinging lid.

Once back home, I loaded it up with a wide variety of favs: fruit leather, fruit buttons, goldfish, apple chips, granola balls, mini pretzels, and more. I closed the lid and brought the whole box during pick up.

I didn’t mention it while I was collecting my daughter except to say that there was something on the front seat of the car she should check out.

Interest piqued! 👀

When we got to the car she went straight to the box and opened it. Just having that moment of her getting to be in charge of her own snack selection lifted her spirits.

My only lesson learned is that I shouldn’t leave the box in the car - I did that once and a raw fruit bar got all puffed up. 😬

It’s a little thing but she gets her own agency, and less brain power for me too! No more dreading that I would bring the wrong snack.

Hi all,

I’d really appreciate input specifically from parents of kids on the spectrum.

My son just turned 5 and hasn’t started kindergarten yet. He could be neurodivergent (we’re still figuring things out), and I’m trying to understand how to interpret his current social style.

Today at a playground, he saw a group of older kids (7–9) and got very excited to interact. What stood out wasn’t just what he said, but how he approached them:

•	He ran up very excitedly (not calmly)

•	Went from one child to another quickly

•	Asked the same question (“What’s your school?”) to multiple kids

•	It didn’t feel like meaningful communication—more like he was asking just to engage or for the sake of asking

•	He didn’t really stay with one interaction or build on it

•	When one child said, “Can you leave me alone?”, he didn’t register that and kept trying

He clearly wants to connect, which I see as positive—but the interaction itself didn’t feel functional or socially tuned in.

What I’m trying to understand is:

•	Have your kids shown this kind of over-eager, scattered social approach at this age?

•	Did it become more calm, purposeful, and meaningful over time?

•	Did that shift happen naturally with exposure (like starting school), or did you have to explicitly teach it?

•	Is this stage something to view as a good foundation (social interest is there), or more as a signal to intervene early and shape it?

I’m less worried about the repetition itself and more about whether this kind of “non-functional” social approach evolves into real communication.

Would really value hearing how this looked over time for your kids. 🙏

I have to work the day of and I know I could technically send them on the bus but I'm not to sure how I would do that and her not make a mess

We’re trying to understand how much the structure/quality of afterschool programs really matter.

We had hoped our child would use afterschool time to try activities and develop skills (e.g. martial arts, swimming). However, the program at the elementary school we were offered seems mostly like unstructured childcare across mixed ages.

Since we don’t need childcare, we were hoping for something more engaging; or else we’d probably just have her play at the neighborhood playground where she will see her her preschool friends.

At the same time, I’ve read that many kids benefit from unstructured time to socialize with friends after school, so maybe program quality isn’t as important as we thought.

We may get off waitlists at other schools, so I’m trying to figure out how much weight to put on afterschool offerings when making a decision. How important has afterschool quality been in your experience?

Hi all,

I am having but of of a Kindergarten admission dilemma.

My child's public school lottery got her into Castle bridge school in Washington Heights, NYC. I chose it as my first choice because even though she is bilingual, the prospect of being trilingual excites me for her cognitive and social emotional development. However, I see that in terms of academic excellence, it is rated low.

My partner thinks she should go into rigorous academic schools like Success Academy or KIPP (She got into both).

Also, I intentionally did not list the G&T schools high up (like Anderson) because I felt like I did not want her to get into this race of who is the smartest (maybe I should have considered, not sure). There are also no good G&T schools near where we live so having a 5 year old commute an hour everyday did not seem like the best idea (she qualified for G&T based on her offer letter. Also did not know about Hunter otherwise maybe would have tried for it).

I would love to learn from this community's experiences what would be the things to consider while choosing between these options. Should be enroll her in Castle Bridge and supplement her academics after school if we feel she is behind or should we put her in charter schools.

Thank you in advance.