How Is the School in America?

I can imagine you are very nervous about this. :) Hugs to you.

Since you cannot make the Meet and Greet. Call the school and ask to come visit on another time. This might be better anyway. You can walk the school and see where everything is. He will see the fun play things and feel better.

Take him to school the first day or so. Only plan to stay for a few minutes in the morning. They will call you if he becomes very upset.

If he is getting breakfast there, they may allow you to sit with him during this time. It is less formal than lunch time.

If he isin Kindergarten, they will probably eat in a lunch room with his classmates. The teacher will leave them at this time to eat her own lunch. They will be watched by the lunchroom staff. You may be able to come eat lunch with him. You need to ask about this. You will have to sign in at the office each time you come to the school. If it is preschool, he may eat lunch in the classroom with his classmates.

I can see taking him a few days the first week, sitting with him at lunch the first day (if he is in K), and picking him up for a few days the first week. Talk to the teacher about pairing him up with a buddy. Maybe someone who he would ride the bus with??

Then after a couple of days, put him on the bus, and only come in and eat lunch with him only once in awhile....as a treat for being so brave. :)

Please let us know if you have any other questions!!!

How old is he? How long of a day is this for him?

Gosh, I think in your case a meeting is VERY important. Call the school and set up a meeting with the teacher, or school counselor. Ask for a school tour, and to be walked through how the day works. No, it's not common for a parent to attend the entire first day with their child. (Many schools do have a breakfast or meet and greet thing on the first morning.) However, the school may be able to assign him a special partner throughout the first day. A teacher's aide, or some other person.

i think meet the teacher is very important since you are new and he is new and it is like a beginning of meeting his enviroment prior to starting school. Later they will have a back to school night to answer any questions.
I am one to not drop off the kids .... I like to hang out , Our school allowed that to a point but they do like to have the parents drop off and give them time to adjust. he may hate it at first or love it. He may love it for a while and then hate it later..... he may cry...... that is why the meet the teacher is so important because it will give him a sense of what it will be like, meet her / him and be comfortable. Maybe they can set up another date for him to come prior to school starting.

All schools, no matter where you are, vary.
Whether that be private school or public school.

Meeting the Teacher night, for me, is important.
On those nights, you meet the Teacher and also the Teacher or grade level, explains to the parents, about what the kids will learn, what their expectations are and the curriculum, and about the school, etc. At least, that is how it is at my kids' school. And the parents can ask questions too.

I take my kids to school, and walk them to class, (most parents do that where my kids go to school), and you go into the class, help the child get their things out and say hi to the Teacher and what not. The Teachers welcome that. They have no problem with parents coming to the classroom. That is how it is at my kids' school.
Per my kids' school, there is no bus, that drives them.
Hence the parents take their kids to school.

If you go to the school and the "meet the Teacher night", then you will know what the school's routines are.... and you can ask questions. This is the time and place to see and find out about all of that.

Per lunch, all schools vary in their routines.
Any questions you have, ask the school or the Director or the Teacher.

If your son is not fluent in English and is shy or will not eat... then speak to the Teacher and you can give them a head's up and tell them. Most parents, like to tell the Teachers, about their child or about any concerns. So that, the Teacher is informed, about your child.
If you do not tell the Teacher/school anything about your child, then they will not know. So, many parents, commonly will speak to the Teacher. It is okay to do so. Parents in this country, very commonly speak up and ask questions.

Do not, be afraid to ask questions or to speak up, or to tell the school about any concerns regarding your child.

You mentioned that this is for "Preschool." Preschool is not like elementary school, with a "cafeteria" like you see in American movies. Preschools, are often smaller in campus size, or it is only 1 room, or a few rooms, and what not. And the Teachers, "teach" per the age of the children.

One thing you would WANT to do, and which I recommend, is to get from the school, any paperwork or memos about what their "rules" are... and what their "discipline" methods are. You need to know this, as a parent. Every school, handles & "disciplines" the children, differently. So see what your child's school, does.
And ask them, how would they handle.... a child who is "shy" or who does not know or understand English very well???? You need to ask them this. It is IMPORTANT.
And, how do they handle a child, that may not eat????
And also, does the school, have a "nap time" and what are the rules on that???
These things, are a part of Preschool.
And as the parent, you need to ask them this, and find out. And see if their answers to your questions, are, what you feel is appropriate.

Also ask the school, what the kids are taught there, and how they are taught. Some Preschools, are more "play" oriented. And some Preschools are more "academic." They all differ, in their approach... to the children and their school routines.

I think you should try to attend the Meet the Teacher night. Having a chance to meet the teacher ans see the classroom before he attends is very important. Hopefully you will be able to go to the school and have a tour so he will see exactly what will happen on his first day. If the school does not have a formal orientation day, call and see if you can meet with someone from the school to take you on a tour.
Parents do not usually attend the first day of school with their children. The children are expected to be able to follow the instructions given to them. I think the best thing you can do for him is to meet with his teacher and see if she can arrange a buddy for him to help him out until he is familar with the way things go at school.
Even if he is shy, learning English will help him a lot. He will be more able to communicate his needs and make friends.

Meet and greet is a chance for you and your child to meet the teacher, see the classroom and get any questions you have answered. I would contact the teacher and tell them you will be out of town and see if you can set up a meeting with him/her. That way you have a chance to meet and get your questions answered.

My kids' school is only 3 block away. My son will be in 3rd grade and my daughter will be in Kindergarten. I've always driven to school. I went in with my son at Kindergarten down to breakfast and stayed until the teacher came to get the kids. I will probably do the same with my daughter. Other times I just drop him off at the front of the school.

I know what it's like to attend school and not knowing English. I was 9 years old and in 2nd grade when I moved to the U.S. (from Guatemala). I didn't know any English and was put in a regular classroom. The teacher and students were great with me. I had my own work to do until I was comfortable enough to do the work all the other kids were doing. Just work on English at home and make sure there is ELL (English Language Learner) available at his school.
Good luck!

If there is no preschool orientation, then call and ask if you can speak to someone about your specific concerns, as you will miss the meet the teacher night, are new to the area, etc. Schools can be very different from school to school. For example, my daughter won't attend a preschool associated with the school district, so I will take her daily. There is no bus option. The first day includes a parent coffee hour. You would likely not be the only parent to accompany your child and I think that it would be good for both of you to go together the first day, but you shouldn't plan to stay the whole time. Don't be afraid to pick up the phone and ask them.

Ditto what the others said. Also, start letting him watch some American television shows that model language skills a little bit every day and encourage him to speak English. The Disney channel is good in the mornings because the language is age appropriate, generally decent grammar and also uses words that he will be hearing at school (numbers, letters, etc). When I adopted my daughter, she did not know any English, and I only knew a few phrases in her native language. I was told "she'll know English in a month." Well, that wasn't true, but what I'd read was that she'd know English in 100 days. Her pediatrician told me to allow her to watch some tv, take her out and talk to her about all kinds of things that we saw. In about 80-90 days, she could totally understand me and within 120 days she spoke almost entirely in English. If you work with your son on this, he will pick up a huge amount of English before school starts, which will be a great benefit to him with school. It doesn't have to feel like work; just increase his exposure to it.

School is EXTREMELY variable.

We have NEITHER National NOR State standards. Each school district (my middle sized city has 8 districts) has a school board, and each school board chooses different curriculums, hours, schedules, etc.. There are thousands of districts in the USA. Some similar, most very different from each other.

Here's a comparison of 2 districts in my area:

In one district reading is required to START kindergarten.
In another district most of the alphabet is required at the END of the year.

In one district full day is 8.5 hours long, 2 hour "half" day, and only has a 30 minute recess
In another full day 6 hours long, half day is 3 hours, and 2 hours of recess for full day, 1 hour for half day.

In one district math isn't started until 3rd grade
In the other it's started in K.

In one you have PE 1x per month, art 1 week per year, music 1 week per year.
In the other it's PE every day, music and art 3x per week.

One has 6 weeks of summer break
One has 12 weeks of summer break

There is NO WAY TO TELL what a school does/how it is handled without going in and finding out.

All schools are different.

What grade? Kindergarten? It's nice if you can be there on his first day, or any time the schools will allow you to be there. It's also nice for him and you if you can go to "meet the Teacher" night, but not necessary.

It is good for your child if you can be involved in his school, so any chance you have to be at his school events, do it if you can. He will like it.

I would call the school and arrange for your child to go in and meet the teacher even if it is for 2 minutes. Your child can see the room and the teacher !

You need to tell the teacher about the things u have mentioned above. The 1st day of school is usually not the best day to talk to the teacher in length. That is why they have "Meet the Teacher Night."

If he is three and born at the end of the year...The kids born in January will be almost a whole yr older than him. You might want to wait a year and bring him to library programs, etc... Talk to the Principal of the Preschool as soon as you can. Find out if the teacher will be able to accomodate his language needs, etc...

Since there is the language barrier, I would contact the principal of the school to try to set up a meeting before school.

At the "meet the teacher night", it is recommended to go, since you get to see the school, the classroom, and the teachers, and some of the other kids. This is also a time for you to talk to the teacher about any concerns, etc.

I realize you can't be there, so I think the best thing is to try to set up a meeting a few days before school starts, if at all possible.

Most of the time the preschool teachers are well equipped to handle the very shy kids, or the kids with separation anxiety, or the ones with language barriers.... I'm assuming he qualifies for the ESL program at the school? Have you talked to the district about his English limitations?

Do you know if he will know any of the other kids there? If he did, that could help, too.

I don't see a problem with taking him to school the first few days, but I don't know if you would be allowed to stay for long.

Most of the time they will eat in the cafeteria, but I'm not sure about preschool, since I've always worked in middle schools. The teachers and aides will all be there to help with that, also.

Even though he does get the free breakfast, I would suggest feeding him a bit before he goes, so that if he isn't comfortable eating at the school yet, he won't be that hungry.)

The meet and greet with the teacher is kind of important because you will actually meet the teacher and she will fill you in on some of the classroom rules, and events to look forward to. It's not essential that you go if you can't.

As for the first day, I always take mine but then again I've never had the option of them riding a school bus. Even if I did, I'm sure I would have taken them on the first day of kindergarten or preschool.

As for staying with him, I don't think that will be allowed. Usually the teachers want you to give a quick kiss and goodbye and then leave. I do remember, however, on my GD's first day of school, the parents were invited into the classroom for about 10 minutes and then asked to leave. They may allow you to stay since there is a language issue.

You should talk to the teacher about the meal refusal. That could be a problem. Whether or not they eat in the classroom depends on the school.

I know this is exciting and scarey at the same time, but I'm sure your little guy will do just fine!

I agree, if you can't make the official meet and greet, call the school once you know the teacher and ask if you can meet the beforehand. I did this one year. It worked out well.

We also use that day/time to drop off school supplies, provide the teacher with email/phone contact information.

Usually the breakfast hours are right at the beginning of school so if he rides the bus, he would head straight to the lunch room. The teacher's there will tell him what the procedure is. Usually they get 10 minutes to eat and then are given a hall pass from the lunch teacher. The hall pass is important, because then they aren't marked tardy for class.

In the breakfast and lunch lines he will get to choose which items on the line he wants. They will tell him that he gets 1 of this or that, 1 milk or juice. He then will give his card with his name and class on it to the checkout host. For breakfast, he'll probably be able to sit anywhere in the cafeteria, but for lunch they usually have an assigned table to sit at. Something that helps us is that our school lunch menu is available online from the school districts website. I print it out, and then we decide what he will choose each day.

For the first day, if you son will ride the bus, have him ride the bus, and follow him to school. You most probably will need to sign in in the office. You can then accompany him to breakfast, but parents are discouraged in our school from entering the classroom, which means that you can walk him to his room, but not INTO his room.