Advice from Kids

As principal, mother, and now grandparent, I am often in the position to provide advice to others, solicited or not! Maybe, just maybe the best advice comes from the children. Here are some insightful and hilarious reflections and advice from grade one and three Ridgeview kids. As we launch into a new school beginning, my best wishes to parents and children for a productive joyful year!

Advice from Grade One Students:

You are going to love Grade One!

• You will learn to use the hundreds board. This is really useful.
• You will learn about different arts and crafts.
• You will learn about bees.
• You will learn how to subtract, like 3 – 2 = 1.
• You will learn more math and about friendship and you will read more words.
• You will learn about Daily 5 and Inquiry.

In Grade One, you will need to be ready.

• Be ready to put your name and date on every paper.
• Be ready to read chapter books.
• Be ready to do new stuff in grade one. It will be fun!
• Be ready to learn lots.
• Be ready to read and write.
• Be ready to stay for a full day on Sports Day!

In Grade One, you will need lots of things.

• You will need your desk to be organized.
• You will need to focus on listening.
• You will need water bottle every day.
• You will need a backpack and a lunchkit with healthy snacks.
• You will need to work hard.
• You will need supplies and will learn to use a planner.

What you need to know about the Grade One teachers:

• Grade one teachers like respectful listeners!
• Grade one teachers like books and like reading to people.
• Grade one teachers like no whining in class.
• Grade one teachers like quiet children.
• Grade one teachers like good kids.
• Grade one teachers like people that are nice.
• Grade one teachers like kids to raise their hands and not call out. They like kids to be patient.
• You are going to love Grade One!

And more Advice from Grade 3 students:

Welcome to grade 3! Somethings you should know about grade 3 are that you will have about 22 kids in your class including yourself. Grade 3 teachers are very beautiful and love art and theatre. In grade 3 you will learn how to write a paragraph and how to do cursive handwriting. There is lots of writing in grade 3. Grade 3s learn to do research. They also learn to perform and act. At the end of the year, grade 3s play a game called California Kick Ball where the class is divided in half and kids compete against one another. This is lots of fun! Grade 3s learn lots of stuff like division, subtraction with regrouping, reading chapter books, performing, painting…the point is that be ready for anything and lots of surprises in grade 3. All grade 3 students must use restaurant manners. Restaurant manners mean your mouth is closed when chewing, you don’t speak with your mouth full, and you stay seated until the bell rings to signal the end of lunch eating time and the beginning of outside playtime. Sometimes, grade 3 teachers will test your thinking…One of our grade 3 teachers claims she is 102 years old, but no one believes her!! Finally, at the end of every day, our grade 3 teachers ask for something called the ticket out the door. The ticket out the door is usually a question, a high five, or a hug. You are going to have lots of fun in grade 3. Good luck!

If you want someone to give it to you straight, there is no better group of people to look to for advice than kids. Unless they’re in trouble for something, kids tend to be brutally honest. At some point in our lives, we learn to mask that honesty in order to take the other person’s feelings into consideration. But not kids. And that is why they are the perfect little advice givers. They are not going to sugarcoat anything. So, if you are needing some inspiration and don’t mind brutal honesty, ask the kids for advice.