School Lunchtime

Sounds pretty typical to me. Last year, my son's kindergarten class started their lunch at 10:18 a.m.. He got a snack at his afterschool program. When I picked up him up after work, he was always starving. Best I could do was just cook dinner as soon as we walked in the door. I do sympathize, but this seems pretty standard nowadays.

My lunch break at work is 1030am. I did it for a few weeks but then I had to stop eating then and just eat while I work around noon. When I was eating at 1030 I was starving by 2pm and coming right home and eating dinner at 330pm. Then I was starving before bed. Wicked cycle.

I would fill up the kiddos w/ a good breakfast and pack stuff in their lunch they can eat then if they are hungry or they can eat in the car/bus on the ride home as a snack. Does the school have a snack time in the afternoon (my kiddos does)? If so, make that a more protein packed belly filling snack.

Some teachers and schools, with this problem in mind, encourage the students to bring a snack to eat in the early afternoon.

I would check and see if this is allowed.

I've been involved with schools (high school) where school starts about 8:45 am, and the last lunch period starts at 1:30! Teachers with the "D" lunch allowed the students to bring a snack to eat during their class..... heck, THEY were hungry, also!

I teach 2nd grade and my own class has had lunch at 10:30 - My son in Kindergarten had lunch at 10:50. We leave the house by 7 for me so he had to eat because even at 10:50 that was still about 4 hours after breakfast. Even so, my kids and myself are not real big on eating right when we get up. We made a lot of fruit smoothies with greek yogurt and egg white protein powder plus our fruits. It seemed to be easy enough and gave them something to not be sooo hungry by lunch time. Then I always gave my son a snack afterschool - something with some protein to tide him over until dinner.
I would think of things your daughter likes and they don't even have to be typical breakfast foods. Send her with something that does have some protein so she doesn't get a stomachache or headache before lunch time.
Good Luck!

Mom:

That was a TOUGH thing for me as well when they were in Kindergarten and first grade - but believe me - they are HUNGRY at that time and do eat.

They usually got a snack around 1:30 or 2PM and were home at 340 for ANOTHER snack!!! That was MY boys. I don't know about your daughter though.

It IS early. But the kids are hungry!

I always just packed a snack for my kids to have, regardless if the school had an official snack time or not. Sometimes they ate it, sometimes they didn't. My kids are now 12 and 9. My 12 yo just started 7th grade and went from 1 teacher in 6th grade to now 7 different teachers. She doesn't have time for anything between classes, they get FOUR minutes! So I make sure she has something in her backpack she can just grab. If I were you, I would give her a light breakfast, full lunch and ask the teacher if they have time for a snack in the afternoon before they come home. Good luck.

My son is now 13 & we dealt with this too. I was shocked about it. The way we dealt with was his classroom had afternoon snack it had to be a healthy snack and so I always sent him with a snack, had a before dinner snack ready once he got home. Dinner at 6. It was an adjustment but end being a good thing for him because he.learned the difference between healthy snacks and unhealthy snacks and the difference they made when he ate them. I later found out he would sometimes sharr a friends unhealthy snack instead of eating what I sent.

Now at 13, he still takes a snack to school to supplement lunch of course :-)

I would simplify the lunch box and "what's lunch" vs. "what's snack" - have a bunch of things she can eat during the day, and let her choose based on her hunger. I can't believe they have lunch at 10:30 and never another snack. I've never taught in a school where that was the case. But if you have enough choices in her lunch box, she should be able to manage as long as she isn't locked into "sandwich and yogurt are for lunch only" and "chips are for snack" - so encourage her to not be so literal. Or to get out the lunch leftovers during snack time. Whatever works for her way of thinking.

Sounds about the same as the schedule at DD's school. Personally, I'd think they'd want the younger kids eating more "on schedule" because of their age & what they can handle. You'd think they'd want the kids to be as satiated & alert as possible, especially in the first crucial years.

The kids get a small breakfast at DD's school & then eat lunch at 10:45 or something like that. DD's school did give afternoon snacks last year, but I'm not sure what they're doing this year. DD also gets a snack at after care. I didn't notice any adverse reactions because of the eating schedule, however.

See if you can send in a snack for your DD.

In K it was RIDICULOUS.

Schoocl went from 830-430

Lunch at 1030

No snacks allowed. I had to set up 2 nursing appts for him to go in and get a snack (hypoglycemia), the school was used to it, as all the diabetic (hyperglycemia) kids had to go in 1x-3x per day because of the stupid lunch schedule.

By the time school was out my son was still a complete mess. 2 milk boxes kept him from losing his mind, but he was still just falling apart.

If we'd stayed at that school, that would have been a battle I'd have fought. But I started homeschooling. Now (5 years later) that he's back in awayschool (different school, different district!) the hours are 9-3, and they eat lunch at noon AND have 2 snacks. Huzzah!!!!

_________

BTW!!!! Totally absolved for not asking about lunch times in K. The LISTS of things we just don't KNOW to ask (and the silly things we do, that just really don't matter in the scheme of things!) could fill a Mac truck.

I have two kids. The older one will have lunch this coming school year at about noon. My younger one will be having lunch at about 10:30. I've always made sure they both have a full stomach before going to school because in our schools lunch is only a half hour long. I never know for my oldest how much time she'll actually get to eat and with my youngest seeing as he's special needs I never know if he'll actually eat his lunch. Upon arriving home after school they are always allowed to have a snack and I try to have dinner ready by no later than six in the evening.

Sadly, I don't ever recall having lunch as early as my youngest does. Logically it makes sense as to why they do it but at the same time it's hard to understand how they can expect young children to be in school all day with only having one half hour for lunch and not allowing any other time for a snack.

I always have a good snack ready and waiting for the kids when they walk in the door from school. Something with both protein and complex carbohydrates.

Their bodies are starving and they need a small meal. IF you do eat early then perhaps you can do something lighter but do be prepared for a child that is starving to take up your attention while you are trying to cook dinner...lol.

We eat between 5:30 and 6 most evenings but on the days I work at the gym or the kids have class late we may not get to dinner until 8:45. So that afternoon snack is almost the most important meal of the day.

At my kids' school (I work there and help at the Cafeteria too):
Kindergarten has lunch at 10:45.
Lunch times for each grade level, is per the timing, as you said. And per the capacity of the cafeteria... and per the saneness, of the kids all being there at the same time etc.
At my kids' school, the timing, does not overlap. BUT, one grade level that is leaving lunchtime, MAY overlap with the incoming kids (ie: the next grade level).

Per Kindergarten, at my kids' school, the kids do eat and are hungry even at 10:45am. I SEE them eating and being hungry. **BUT.... if a kid has a home lunch, and it is something they do NOT like... the child will NOT eat... EVEN IF HUNGRY. I... see this ALL THE TIME. A kid simply will NOT eat... if the parent makes some home lunch that is not something they like. So, keep this in mind.

Now, per my kids' school, the kids ALL bring, water-bottles to school for drinking whenever (the Teacher allows that), AND they bring their own snacks (the Teachers allow this)... and Snacks, are eaten during recess times. Per Kindergarten, at my kids' school, they have recess after lunch, and one in the afternoon.
IF a kid is hungry, at any other time, if a kid tells the Teacher... the teacher, per her/his discretion, will let a child eat something. Because they are young.

The timing for lunch periods, per grade level, is timed according to the length of the school day overall. At my kids' school, which is thru 5th grade... it takes about 2.5 hours, for ALL the grade levels to have their lunch period.

And YES... MOST kids, are HUNGRY after school anyway. This is a given. They are very active in school. And they need a snack after school.

My kids, eat before going to school. My kids are 5 and 9. 1st grade and 5th grade. I TELL them, that they need to eat, because of their lunch times. AND they bring a snack to school to eat during recess. AND they bring water bottles.

Depending on my kids' appetites in the morning, they eat according to that. Then they go to school. AND if my kids "chose" not to eat much in the morning, despite my explaining to them... then they went to school, without much in their tummy. THEN, I let them... learn that way- ie: if they don't eat in the morning, they get HUNGRY and before lunch. So, once they learned that, they ate in the morning. Even if that was a yogurt.

Same here - with 950 kids in an elementary school (K-6), they start the Kindergarteners' lunchtime VERY early. But also, at our school, Kinder is either morning OR afternoon, so morning kids eat lunch at 10:20, and afternoon kids eat it at 12:40. Meanwhile, my 2nd grader ate lunch at 11:20 this year, and my 4th grader ate at 11:40. They only get 20 minutes to eat, so I packed a light lunch (sandwich, fruit), and then I just know when they get home at 2:30 they'll be hungry, so we have a snack then before homework starts. Then because they've eaten a snack, they aren't hungry for dinner until 7:30 or so. Oh well, I guess it is what it is.

I happened to have to drop something off in the cafeteria one time during lunch, and the actual eating of lunch is even more scary than the schedule. First of all, cafeteria lunch (even in our "award winning" district) is vile - more fake cheese than you can shake a stick at - and then on top of that, the kids aren't allowed to speak during lunchtime. It's creepy seeing 150 kids sitting there in total silence, cramming their food down their faces (because that's what it is, when they wait in line for 5-10 minutes to be seated, and then have 5 minutes to eat, because the last 5 minutes is dedicated to cleaning up the table). Uggggh.

At our school K eats at 11a, my son was always hungry and finished his lunch. But they also got a snack at 1p after going to PE (or music or art).

Dont they have a snack time in the afternoon? If not petition for them to have ten minutes for a healthy snack around 1:30 At my school, kids who have an early lunch have an afternoon snack time and kids who eat lunch late have an early snack time.