The first few weeks of Kindergarten are a HUGE transition time for 5 year olds but they are also full of learning and growth. No longer do students get to play all day in centers as they did in PreK. I hear multiple times a day- When can I play in housekeeping? When do we get to play blocks? Kindergarten is a change for many students. Students go from having up to an hour of recess time in PreK to 15 minutes in Kindergarten. They go from having an hour nap to 30 minutes or none at all.
We often use books, games, chants, songs, and rhymes to help us learn Kindergarten standards. We do a lot of authentic reading, writing, and problem solving. We practice routines and rules daily. We introduce new things slowly. We explain EVERY thing from exactly how they should unpack their book bags to how to open a glue bottle to how much soap to use.
We review our school and classroom rules/expectations daily. We have put a movement with each rule to help students remember it. See if your child can tell you them! We have 3 school rules- Respect Yourself, Respect Others, and Respect Property. We have 5 classroom rules- 1. Follow directions quickly, 2. Raise your hand to speak, 3. Listen when someone is speaking, 4. Always do your best work, 5. Be a caring friend
During this first week of Kindergarten we have practiced sorting objects by color, shape, and size.
We brainstormed a list of shapes we know! We knew a lot of shapes already!!
We practiced our poem of the week, ABCs, each day and on Friday recited it together.
I am excited about week 2! They are working so hard! You will be amazed at how far they go this year!
