The Pilot News - Introduction to kindergarten helps children get a head start

Parents brought pertinent papers to be copied by office staff such as immunization records and birth certificates so all the red tape could be eliminated before school begins for the little ones. They were allowed to tour the school and visit the kindergarten teachers and classrooms together and later, while parents met some of the staff and received some instruction in the Blue and Gold Cafe, the children were led from class to class beginning with the one printed on their chest.
Some of the fresh faces were less than enthused when breaking from their safety-zone at their parents sides while others met the challenge with exuberant abandon, setting off for parts unknown. The children spent about eight minutes in each forum.
In the gym class they stretched and wiggled a colorful parachute. In the music room they got to bang on drums; in the library they got to hear a story and in the art room they got to express their creativity, all the while meeting the teachers in a comfortable setting and getting familiar with their new surroundings.
Meanwhile, the parents were given development information and were led through their packets. Extended-day kindergarten teacher Janet Beam explained to those gathered that while Triton Elementary only has what is considered half-day kindergarten, there are those students who may be eligible for extended-day services should there be a need determined for the extra instruction. “After about the third week of school those that need that extra boost will be determined,” she said. She also explained that the school offered two morning and two afternoon classes as well as the extended-day class.
Christine Cook, Triton’s Reading First cognitive coach told the parents how the reading assessments used by the school helped to determine the individual needs of each child, but explained that they were not a part of the student’s grade nor were those results reflected on the child’s report card. “Please know that in order to give proper instruction to your child we need to know where they are,” she advised.
Kindergarten educator Jill Finley asked the parents to prepare their students to keep them from beginning the school year, already behind their peers. She explained ways to improve success by instilling control over gross and fine motor skills and basic abilities like tying shoes and managing zippers and buttons, as well as to build integral abilities such as management of visual and auditory stimuli and reasoning and compression skills. “Give them three directions in a row,” she said. “Talk to them and let them talk to others—and on the phone—so they can acquaint themselves with proper speech.”                        Finley explained that someone from the school would visit the children in their own, secure base at home about a week prior to the first day of school, to bring them a book and further encourage their interest in beginning their structured education and to also allow for parents to ask other questions. “We want to make it a partnership,” Finley said, “to help your child achieve.”
Other information received by the parents included the directive to make sure the child could write his or her name, not necessarily perfectly on a line, but to ensure that they were able to correctly spell their first and last names on their own in a fashion that could be recognized. Parents also received a practice alphabet to go over with their child to assure they were all writing the same types of letters in their instruction at home.
Approximately 50 families came to initiate their little ones to the kindergarten experience, with only an approximate of 32 of them having had previous educational instruction through local preschools.