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Mrs.
Harper
e-mail
address: harperm@albanyacademies.org
Information for Parents…
What is it Like in Kindergarten?
by Maryanne Harper
Are you worried about what you should or shouldn’t be doing with your
daughter before she begins Kindergarten? My response to you is…“Please
relax, you are probably doing everything just fine”.
When I first started teaching back in the seventies, the transition from
home to school was scarier for children and parents because many children
did not have Day Care or Pre-School experience. Today it is rare for me
to meet a child who has not had that valuable experience and therefore,
many of the children come into Kindergarten less anxious and ready to
start. The children are more social because of more play groups and
family interactions with others. Extra curricular activities (when
scheduled in moderation) provide an excellent foundation for
opportunities to learn a new skill, co-operate, take turns and develop
patience. When children are overscheduled however, they can appear tired,
frustrated and unwilling to engage in some school activities because they
are searching for more “down time”.
In my Kindergarten at Albany Academy for Girls, I follow a
developmentally appropriate curriculum that allows each child to grow and
develop at her own pace. Activities are planned with each child’s
strengths and needs in mind. The classroom is set up with learning
centers so that the children can flow from area to area and work on
activities that are appropriate for their levels of learning and
interests. Our school holds high academic standards for all our students
and the Kindergartners are no exception to this rule. The difference,
however, is in the approach and the planning. The academic standards are
woven carefully into the way activities are planned and presented.
Learning also takes place through the child’s play. That is what is so
unique about Kindergarten. The children are having so much fun playing
that they do not even notice how much they are learning or working!
Our day begins with socialization time and play activities. The children
usually settle in quickly. But knowing that everything will work out fine
doesn’t necessary allay the concerns—even fears that a parent and child
may have. There are many things you can do to help your daughter have a
happy experience in Kindergarten.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
One of the adjustments young children have to make when they come to
Kindergarten is being part of a whole group with one teacher and a part
time assistant. They also meet with several Specialist teachers throughout
the course of their week at school. The students interact with many
adults and learn more about social responsibilities and expectations in
classes other than the Kindergarten classroom. The students share time
with the teachers and classmates. Exercising patience and the ability to
wait one’s turn during many activities is very important. Learning to
appreciate another friend’s talk time and opinion is an important skill
that is learned in Kindergarten. We spend a great deal of time on
character development traits which are components of our school wide
“Compass Project”. These areas include Kindness, Respect, Compassion,
Responsibility, Perseverance, Truthfulness and Co-Operation.
Learning more about getting along, showing understanding and appreciation,
demonstrating patience, sharing, and taking turns are the heart of the
social aspect of being a Kindergartner. The children have daily exposure
and opportunities to practice these skills every day.
At home it is helpful to provide opportunities for your daughter to share
her thoughts and opinions, listen to others in thoughtful patient ways,
exercise patience by waiting until it is her turn to talk and avoid
interrupting others. Reinforcement between home and school is important.
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
In Kindergarten there are many opportunities for the children to develop
self confidence and to take risks. When a child feels secure and well
cared for, confidence improves and a trust is built. The best way for the
children to feel secure in the classroom is from the trust that is built
between home and school. It is my job each day to provide the best
education I can for my students. I take pride in my classroom, the
materials I select and the centers I plan. The activities are chosen with
goals in mind and are appropriate for the young learner. My role as
teacher is to be a positive role model for each student. Not only will I
address each student’s intellectual needs, but equally important is how
she feels about herself each day. Each child has the right to a happy day
filled with opportunities to work, play, socialize and learn more about
herself as a person. When she feels loved and valued she will develop the
confidence to try new things and interact in new ways thus, developing a
good self image.
In my classroom I praise my students but I do not over use praise. My
praise is specific to their actions or the skills they are learning. I
try to praise the children when they are showing signs of growth and when
they too are feeling a sense of accomplishment. My praise is genuine
which helps the child recognize and appreciate her own accomplishments. I
value each child’s unique personality and path of development.
Hugs, however, are abundant and humor is used every day!! Kindergarten is
a very happy place to be!
INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
By intellectual development I mean the child’s emerging literacy,
numeracy
and cognitive abilities, including:
· Speaking and listening, already fairly advanced at this stage
· Reading and writing, practiced by many, mastered by few
· Mathematical processing, experimenting all the time
· Knowledge of the world-science, animals, people etc., which is
probably more advanced than we give children credit for.
Let me break these down…
Speaking and Listening:
Kindergartners are better talkers than listeners. The best way we can
nurture their speaking and listening abilities is to talk to them about
every day experiences. In the car, at the park, in the grocery store they
will be noticing things and asking questions. Engaging in conversation
with them is affirming the importance of language. Children need to see
adults as interesting sources of information, not just direction givers.
In the classroom we discuss various topics and many times I begin by asking
the children what they know. This helps me plan activities to see what
they already know and what we feel they need to know. How much I talk is
not as important as what I say. To promote children’s speaking and
listening abilities, I try to share my knowledge about things I am
interested in and what fascinates me. I do not hesitate to tell them more
about my family as that makes me “real” and not a teacher who lives at
school. I share my interests in music by sharing a variety of genres and
artists with them. I tell them about my love for sports by sharing
stories about my tennis matches or races I may run with my friends.
Sharing what I do opens up good questioning activities for what more they
want to know about various topics.
When we answer children’s questions we enlarge their knowledge of the
world and encourage them to ask about new things. When we ask a child
what she is doing, we can also model “correct” language in a way that
does not interfere with the conversation or inhibit her from trying out
new forms of language. Repeating what a child has said in a correct form,
if not overdone, is a particularly good way of achieving this. Children
need to see language as a useful tool, not as something on which they are
judged.
The Kindergartners are given daily opportunities to speak in front of
adults and peers. Even shy children will open up in the classroom forum
because it is non-threatening and what they have to say is valued and
appreciated by all. The children develop such confidence when given a
variety of opportunities to share and present projects they have done in
the classroom. Our weekly assembly is a very valuable time for the girls
to share classroom activities and experiences with their peers from Pre-K
to Grade 4.
READING
In the Kindergarten classroom I do not teach formal reading in the
traditional sense. There are no reading groups or lists of words to
memorize. But, the environment is rich in print and language experiences
and read-alouds take place every day. It is never too early to lay the
foundations of reading. Exposure to good children’s literature, Big
Books, Fiction and Non-Fiction and student created story books take place
on a daily basis. Bins of books are used each day and informal groups of
children gather to read pictures, words and repetitive story books. Those
who can read are given opportunities to share their talent with others.
The most important thing we can do is read to our children daily, making
it as pleasurable and comfortable as we can. The children will have
opportunities to take class books home as well as selections from our
school library.
Various activities and games in the classroom prepare children for
learning to read and enrich those who know how to read. Letter games,
word puzzles, rhyming games, etc. help the children see letters/words and
hear sounds.
Once I notice that a child shows interest in letters, words and print in
general, I follow her lead. Books, sets of magnetic letters, alphabet
puzzles and simple games help set the stage. These activities help the
students learn the “code” for reading. The best way to learn the code is
in the context of what you have already been doing. For example, when I
read a rhyming book, I let the children fill in the rhyming words. When I
read a book with a pattern, the children quickly pick up the pattern and
can read with me. When I know the children have learned some
high-frequency words (I, the, an, and), I select books that use these
words frequently and let the children read and point to them. A favorite
activity I use in the classroom is to let the children create some very
simple repetitive story books by using blank sheets of paper that I have
stapled together. These become some of our favorite books and always make
it to our special Author Share Day in the spring.
In the classroom I avoid “teaching” reading so that I do not harm a
child’s disposition to it. I want children to become fascinated by
reading and all kinds of fun ways to present reading (songs, poems,
charts, rhymes, puppets, Big Books, shared reading, original story
writing) has proven to be successful over the years. I don’t expect the
children to be able to decode the words on a printed page, but with lots
of informal, enjoyable activities, many begin to demonstrate this skill.
If they do, then we encourage and build upon it. One might ask, but what
about the child who comes in reading? What do you do for her? The answer
is embrace it, share it, provide experiences for enrichment and schedule
special sessions with our Reading Specialist. Our readers continue to
read and continue to love reading because we as a class appreciate
everyone’s abilities. By the end of the Kindergarten year, every student
is reading something and feeling good about this ability!
WRITING
In some respects, reading and writing are different sides of the same
coin. Both involve meaning, letters, and words, but in reading you are
figuring out what someone else has written. In writing, you are creating
a text for others to read.
Children can begin to write quite naturally. Providing lots of good
writing materials and a place for writing will help a child experiment
with writing on her own. Blank sheets of paper, pencils, colored pencils,
markers and crayons are good tools. Children at this stage do not need lines
and enjoy writing all over the paper.
At first, a child’s writing won’t look much like writing at all-it will
look more like drawing. But soon you will notice that there are some
scribbles along with drawing which is their imitation of adult cursive writing.
A little later, you will see some letters mixed in with the scribbles.
They are likely to be letters that are significant to the child, perhaps
one from her own name or ones seen in the environment. Later still, more
recognizable letters will appear, as do spaces between the letters that
go together to now form “words”. Eventually, the words will have the
correct initial/final consonants; the vowels are the last to arrive.
Although early writing looks like random letters on the page, most
children go through predictable stages if they are allowed to write on
their own without corrections imposed by adults. If too much emphasis is
placed on the correct spelling and sequence of letters, children feel
pressure to do it right all the time and lose interest in writing.
In the Kindergarten classroom we use sound-spelling or “inventive
spelling”. The children are encouraged to write down the sounds they hear
and approximations are acceptable. Reversal of letters is developmentally
appropriate at this level and with modeling and experience most likely
the letters will turn around. Also, more practice with magnetic letters,
making letters out of clay, puzzles and dry erase boards helps correct
reversals. By the end of the school year, every child is writing and
making story books. The children’s stages vary and the students enjoy
looking back at the writing they did at the beginning of the year and
comparing it to where they are at the end of the year. It is amazing to
see the growth.
MATH
While no one questions the merit of reading to young children, the value
of math before formal schooling does not seem to receive the same
recognition. Children learn all kinds of math concepts from
experimentation and by doing. Children learn best by doing. It is important
to give our youngest children many opportunities to learn math and to use
it. There is “natural math” around us. Children’s encounters with TV
remote controls, clocks, telephones, license plates, grocery stores, road
signs and computers all involve number recognition.
There are lots of things to count: items in their own toy collections,
stairs on the way up and down, different objects from the car on a road
trip, dishes that are being put in the cupboard from the dishwasher and
silverware in the drawer. A home calendar is a tool for counting the days
of the week and how many days are in between the weeks. The concept of
one-to-one correspondence presents itself as a child helps with setting
the table for dinner.
Sorting occurs naturally with sorting laundry and also with collections
(sorting all the pieces by color, size and shape). Sorting coins helps
children recognize the color and size as coins are compared and values
are discussed. This can take place when counting allowance or coins to
buy a toy or gift for someone. Combining quantities such as 4 pennies and
6 pennies makes 10 pennies helps with the concept of putting together
known as addition. Ten pennies take away 5 pennies leaves 5 pennies
teaches subtraction.
In the Kindergarten classroom the children are exposed to math everyday
at calendar time and in their learning centers. Hands on work with all
different kinds of math “manipulatives” gives the child time to play and
experiment as certain math concepts are introduced, reinforced and enriched.
Math concepts are abound in children’s literature. A whole genre is
devoted to counting and numbers. Various board games also are used to
teach and reinforce math concepts. Many computer games are used to teach
math. Among our favorite: Millie’s Math House, Zoo Zillions and Trudy’s
Time and Place.
KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD
Young children acquire a remarkable amount of information about the world
around them in their first four or five years. They gain it from though
observation and experience. Much of it comes from listening to adults who
either tell what they know or pass on other people’s knowledge usually
through reading. Today children also get knowledge from the media, mostly
from television, but also from the radio and computers.
We can help our youngest children by providing opportunities to expand
their knowledge of the world through books, films, videos, field trips,
computers and speakers. Family trips to zoos, museums, and theme parks
provide wonderful experiences too.
In Kindergarten we are fortunate to have a Science Specialist who
provides the children with hands-on science each week. The children learn
about their world by experimenting and doing real, age appropriate
science experiments. They become known as “scientists” early on in their
education!
There are learning opportunities everywhere. We don’t have to point
everything out or make every outing a science or social studies lesson.
Parents and teachers can talk about what interests them, ask open- ended
questions, and let the young child’s curiosity do the rest. At school we
like to let the children explore and become immersed and engaged in the
world around them. Whether we are planning seeds, recording different
kinds of weather, observing a pollywog as it grows into a frog or
watching baby chicks hatch out of their egg, the children get to see and
do so that they will learn all that they can.
HOME/SCHOOL CONNECTION
Kindergarten is where home and school intersect. Working together, asking
questions, showing support and confidence in what your child is doing
will help make the transition from home to school successful. I encourage
open communication between home and school so that children, parents and
the teacher can do their best to make Kindergarten a positive experience
for all.
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