What is Today’s Kindergarten Classroom All About?

Kindergarten was first introduced in America in 1873, mostly in private venues, as a way to

socialize poor children and ideally to introduce children to the joys of learning through their own

discoveries. As kindergarten became part of the K-12 system a shift took place such that by

1980 the goal of kindergarten became to prepare children for first grade. More recent historical

events such as No Child Left Behind and the introduction of the Common Core have further

impacted the focus and skills targeted in kindergarten. If you have a child that is in kindergarten

right now or one that will attend in the near future, it is obvious that this is not your grandma’s,

mother’s, your or maybe even your child’s older sibling’s kindergarten experience anymore!!

So what exactly are the experiences and expectations for a typical kindergarten child in our

community?

Renee Gillespie has taught kindergarten and developmental kindergarten in Belding for 28 years.

She has a first-hand account of what is required of children and of teachers during this first year

in the public school system. During the 2014-2015 school year Renee will provide a month by

month blog of the Kindergarten experience. Below is her first entry for the month of September.

To follow along with Renee throughout the school year and get more information about the ISD

and school readiness follow this link (ioniaschoolreadiness.blogspot.com) and subscribe to get

updates through your e-mail or your favorite blog reader.

 September’s Child is Full of Wonder!

September is a month of firsts for our smallest learners. It is always a whirlwind in kindergarten;

every kindergarten room is abuzz with excitement, giggles, a few jitters, and even some tears.

Some are away from home for the first time, while some have spent most of their young lives

at either daycare or preschool. They are all soon going to find out what kindergarten is all about

together. We have a very specific agenda, specific curriculum and much to accomplish in 175

days of school! Most kindergartners will have worked very hard on getting into a routine this

month, as well as learning the school and classroom rules. They may have been assessed on

their knowledge of alphabet letters, sounds, counting, colors, shapes, cutting, coloring, rhyme,

as well as a myriad of self-help skills. They might have, like my school district, gone through

Discovery Education testing in the computer lab. A writing test may be given to assess beginning

writing skills. Why all the tests one might ask? After all, these children are only 5-6 years old?

Well, each test, or assessment gives the teacher a clearer picture of each child. Therefore, we can

individualize instruction as needed for each child.

Skills that a child would be expected to know by the end of September may include some or

all of the following:

• Knowledge of upper case and lower case letters

• Letter sounds

• Following classroom and school rules

• Follow 2 step directions

• Raising their hand before speaking

• Listening expectations

• Coloring inside the lines

• Cutting on the dark line

• Coloring with colors that “make sense” ex: no purple turtles or pink striped

people.

• No white spaces or scribbling

• Able to take care of putting their belongings away & pack them up to go home.

• Able to draw a person without stick features

• Learning to add details to pictures such as beginning to label their pictures with

letters, showing a match between letters and beginning sounds. Ex: writing a “d”

or “dg” when writing about a dog.

• Rhyming words

• Writing their first names with upper and lower case letters.

• Working with numbers to 3 and showing, with manipulatives such as beans or

counters different ways to make 3. Ex: 1+2, 2+1, 3+0, 0+3

• Learning about the number zero.

• Working on/with beginning sounds.

• Sitting by themselves for 10 minutes with a book box and learning how to build

up their stamina for reading.

• Being able to choose a center to work at and clean up materials when they are

finished.

• Able to use school “tools” appropriately. Ex: no cutting hair or clothing with

scissors, no pouring glue onto furniture or floor, etc.

• Able to take care of bathroom needs

• Enjoying books, songs and poems

• Participating in class discussions

• Able to work alone, with a partner, in a small group or large group format.

One of our tools is using beach balls to identify letters, numbers, names of our peers etc. This has

been a great ice breaker and lots of fun for end of summer practice!