Coloring

     One of the things that many parents seem to misunderstand is the importance of coloring. Although we give our class very few "required" coloring pages, some parents tend to see those that we do use as a waste of time or just-for-fun. However, the past 8 months have taught me how important this skill is.
     Coloring develops fine motor skills in a way that is engaging and fun for most students. It helps develop the ability to focus and track with their eyes (valuable for pre-readers) and it helps them recognize patterns. which is an early math skill.
     Here are some examples of the artwork created by my class to welcome me home from my recent trip abroad. The love that these little tykes readily shower on the adults that work with them is endearing and humbling, and the range of abilities in a class of kindergarteners is truly amazing.
     As you can see, some of the objects in these drawings float in space. They are not anchored, which is typical development of a child between the ages of 2 to 4. So are the "alien" people which are drawn with a very large head on a circle body with its arms extended (and sometimes, no body at all!)

     Other drawings show people that are much more proportional and detailed. Many drawings include a skyline or a ground line, and often the child will have a story to accompany the drawing. This is typical of the development or a child between the ages of 5 and 8.
     Using these skills is essential for the healthy physical and mental development of the young child. Parents who see this activity as mere play are missing the point, and devaluing an essential element of their child's learning. (Besides, what could be more entertaining!)

It's Exciting!

       So what is it that really excites you? I'm mean REALLY excites you. The kind of excitement that you just can't get out of your head. That monopolizes your thoughts, that affects your ability to concentrate. That thing that you just can't wait to share with your friends and co-workers, and anyone else who will lend an ear.
To a five year old, that thing... is a loose tooth.

      Now to you and I, a child's missing tooth may just mean a funny, gap toothed smile. To his/her mother, it is a tragedy before picture day. But to a five-year old, it means "I'm growing up!" 
         Even more important than the thrill of the treasure that the tooth fairy brings, is the pride that they feel when they show off the gap in their head that shouts to the world, "I won't be little forever!"

The love of reading

     In my mind there are few gifts you can give a child that are more valuable than instilling in them a love of reading. Reading introduces us to new cultures and new worlds; it expands our minds and our imaginations. Reading supplies us with valuable information, and provides us with an escape from the mundane in our lives. One of the thrills of this year in kindergarten has been watching the joy on the children's faces when I read to them. There isn't a single child in our class who won't sit and listen with rapt attention to a story.

      During the month of March, our school celebrated the birthday of Dr. Seuss with many different "reading-centered" activities. One of these activities was The Guest Reader. We invited members of our student's families to join us to read to the class. 


     We were thrilled with the response. We had Moms and Dads, aunts and grandmas. We even had a (slightly) older brother come from another class to read. The children were so proud of their relatives, and everyone enjoyed the experience.

Snowdays

     When you are a child, the words that never fail to bring joy to your heart are "***** Central schools are closed today due to snow."
     Snowdays! Mini-vacations that evoke memories of mornings spent lying in bed, afternoons with a good book, and hours spent in pajamas.
    Those are the memories... But what is the truth behind every snowday? 

This is what greeted us at 5:45 this morning.

     As it turns out, behind all those happy memories lay vehicles buried under mounds of snow.

     And if your spouse is not fortunate enough to have a snowday and must go to work, it means the morning out in the cold, shoveling, snowblowing and sweeping off cars and trucks.


     I won't say that those evocative words "School is cancelled..." don't still hold an incredible allure. But it is tempered these days with the realization of what awaits beyond the back door!

My Favorite Kindergarten

     One of the most surprising things that I have experienced this year is the change in my perspective on germs. 
     Germs.... There are LOTS of germs in a kindergarten class. In past years, I had a hard time tying shoes for the 3rd, 4th or 5th graders. The shoelaces were gross! Hah! I had forgotten what gross was! 
     But for all the sneezes, coughs and runny noses I have endured, the "wipe and hug" moments, and the unidentifiable sticky stuff that you find yourself cleaning up,  I find myself totally smitten with these messy, drooly, snotty adorable little kids. See for yourself!  
     (This week I have been playing around with the Animoto website and making a variety of videos. I created this one with photos and videos taken in my classroom. Unfortunately,  I don't have all the kids in the class included - something which did NOT go unnoticed by the kids when they saw it! Click on the link below.)

My Favorite Kindergarten

The Ultimate Challenge

     As stated in the previous post, today's kindergarten class only vaguely resembles the class that I attended at the tender age of five. Today's children have so many more challenges. The curriculum is, certainly, much more rigorous than it was a decade or more ago, as are the stresses caused by the non-conventional arrangements of many of today's families. To listen as five year-olds juggle between "Mommy's house" and "Daddy's house" and the resulting issues that come from living between two homes is a testament to their resilience. But some things never change. And one of the things that hasn't changed is the challenge of winter clothing! 

     For any of you who have attempted to dress one or two (or three or four?) of your own children to face the winter in upstate New York, you know what a frustrating and time consuming task it can be. Imagine, if you will, twenty-two pairs of winter boots, many of them identical, twenty-two snow pants, twenty-two winter coats with their stubborn zippers, twenty (if we are lucky) hats, and innumerable (often wet, soggy and mismatched) gloves. The process of matching the above-listed clothing with the correct wiggling bodies in time to get said bodies onto the correct buses at the end of the day takes choreography that would challenge Bob Fosse!

Not Kindergarten!!

      I have been employed by a small, rural school district in Central New York for eleven years. For the first ten years, I was a teaching assistant in the 3rd-5th grade resource room, working largely with kids who had been classified with a learning disability. This past summer, due to changes in the Special Ed department at our school, I was notified that I would now be a full-time teaching assistant in a kindergarten class.
     I was heartbroken. I had loved my job! I adored the kids in my classes. I respected the teachers that I worked with. I loved the curriculum that we taught in those grades. The thought of spending all day every day in the same classroom with the same 22 kids, tying shoes and wiping noses was somewhat less than stimulating.
     Well, that just goes to show how wrong a person can be. The past 5 months have been the most amusing, the most entertaining and some of the most fulfilling months of my working career. To paraphrase the car ad... "This is not your father's kindergarten!" Gone are the nap pads, the easels and the smocks. Naps are reserved for pre-schoolers, and painting is taught in art. My college-aged son attended kindergarten for 3 hours a day, had a nap, recess, a snack, and did an art project every day. These days, a typical kindergartener is in school for a full day, and will spend hours developing language skills, learning to read, developing number sense and learning to use tools like the Venn diagram to compare and contrast. Pretty heady stuff at 5 and 6 years of age!
     But, when all is said and done, they are, after all, barely more than babies, and the things they do and the things they say are almost unbelievable to anyone other than another kindergarten teacher. So join me on this happy ride I am taking with 22 lovely youngsters. I hope you find them as entertaining as I do!