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Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Calling All Kinder Teachers!

I am laid up at home sick today completing resting and relaxing going crazy in my mind all of the things I need to do. I have a question for all of you Kindergarten Teachers. It is hard to believe, but we are planning for Kindergarten Registration in 2 weeks! I freak out just writing that! Having said that, I am grateful it is early this year. Here is why: Our district is HUGE on kindergarten readiness. Our school started an initiative in our district with a few activities to make sure our kiddos were ready for Kindergarten when they came to us. We came up with a way to help those parents be prepared and ready for the big Kindergarten year. Here is what we do at my school:
  • As parents register their child, we give them a gift bag that includes a T-shirt, upcoming dates, parental information and newsletters.
  • They then sign up for an assessment date (in April) to have their child play "fun games" in which we assess what they know.
  • On this date, we assess their child on letters, sounds, colors, rhyming, counting, number recognition, beginning sounds, and sight words. They then meet with the principal so he/she can discuss what they need to be working on and are given a handout on how to do this. This is where we can really stress those kiddos that need to be working on their letters over the summer.
  • In May we have an ABC night with free food and activities to teach students and parents ways they can read with their child and work on letters/sounds.
  • In June we have a 123 night in which we do the same except with numbers.
I have to say that although this all takes a lot of time, it is SO worth it. We asses the students when they enter K to see if they have improved and we usually see some improvement. It gives parents a chance to say "Whoa! I need to get on it!" We also really get to know the parents and kiddos before they come and this really lessens the amount of tears we have on the first day (by kiddos, not necessarily parents - they still cry! :)

So..here is my question - Do you do anything to prepare students for K or any type of pre-registration? I would love any ideas, websites, handouts, etc. I'm looking for a couple of things to jazz this up a bit. If you have any questions, I would be more than happy to answer then!
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3 comments:

  1. KellyFebruary 29, 2012 at 2:51 PM

    Hi! I am a new follower! I really like that you do such a complete assessment and your principal meets with individual families.

    Our registration day is tomorrow (YIKES)! Our school is Lily Lake Elementary so we do a frog theme. The principal and other school staff do a presentation/info session for the parents in the media center while teachers meet the students in a kindergarten classroom. Our plan this year is to do a mini-morning meeting with the "5 Green and Speckled Frogs" song and finger play, read a frog story, eat snack, and have several frog-themed activities for the kiddos to choose from. All of the teachers will be observing social skills and behaviors while this is going on. Hopefully it works out! If you want, leave me a comment on my blog and I can email you the little note we give parents.

    Kelly
    Kindergarten Kel

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  2. Jackie P.February 29, 2012 at 6:09 PM

    Well, at my school we do not have pre-registration until May. That's when the students sign up for a testing time in August. In August, we test each student (English and ELL)using a test called the Phelps Readiness Test. It does not cover letters, numbers, etc. It is only a readiness test.

    We will have a Reading Parent night and a Math Parent night. This is where we will discuss our standards and ways to help their child at home.

    Here are a few websites you could look at:
    www.abcya.com
    http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/

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  3. Mrs. BrownFebruary 29, 2012 at 6:58 PM

    Well, we have Kindergarten registration in April/May. The parent register their child for a day and time to come in and assess what the students know. Our assessment is from the county but it does address letters, sounds, numbers, counting, cutting, name, stuff like that. I wish SO bad we would do a parent meeting and share the results with the parents. That is great that your principal works with you all and talks with the parents afterwards about the results. I would love to see what kind of handouts you give them. I was new to Kindergarten this year-taught first for 16 years-K the very first year and buddy has it changed. However, I wasn't really in on the planning for the beginning of the year last year. We did have a parent meeting after Labor Day to go over what parents should do when the kids bring home baggie books, how to help them, etc.
    Please send me anything! LOL

    kellybrown28021@gmail.com

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