Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten!
So it’s the end of March and my first thought every year around this time is how can I help parents make sure their kids are ready for Kindergarten before the school district screening in August? My district has always assessed and met with the parents and in coming Kindergarten students each year to go over what their child is good at and where they have needs for growth. But let’s face it, August is a little late to be hearing about the things your child needs to be working on. Reality is Kindergarten starts two weeks after the assessments. So I have been kicking around the idea of doing some short blogs for parents on making sure your child has what they need to be successful and give you some time to work on some basic skills. As I thought more and more about what I could write about, I realized I should divide my ideas into three basic groups. First, basic kindergarten skills that every child should be working on or already know to be successful. Secondly, things parents can do to make their partnership with the school and teachers easier for the students and their families. And lastly, how to unpack the CCSS standards at a kindergarten level so every family knows what to expect for the school year and how to help their child achieve their goals.
And so starts my first set of blogs. What every child needs to know before they leave kindergarten. Notice the big leave in dark, bold type. Please don’t read this and think, “We are behind!!! What are we going to do?” My goal as a kindergarten teacher has always been to take your child from where they are on that first day of school and work with them to make sure they can master all of these developmental goals before they leave me. Is every child successful? No! I would be lying to you if I said they were. But these are my goals none-the-less. My little kiddos work hard at trying to accomplish their goals each year.
The bottom line with these goals though, is the closer your child is to each of these goals, directly ties to the success they are going to have not only throughout Kindergarten but throughout their education. Starting out with any kind of educational deficit is a frustrating struggle to a student. And the honest truth is the more they have in their bag of educational knowledge before they come into my classroom, the more successful they will be. I hope my blogs over the next few weeks will help you to better understand what kindergarten teachers are looking for in an incoming student, give you resources to work with your child in a fun, non-classroom style of learning and make you feel confident in your child’s abilities to succeed in their first elementary school setting.
So, Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten!