Tonight I have the privilege of sitting down for a few
minutes and talking with parents about their concerns and hopefully reassuring
most of them that their child will indeed survive kindergarten. There have been
so many curriculum changes over the last few years that most parents make the
comment that what we do now is equivalent to what they did in the first grade.
I agree. But I also think that most children are eager to learn and certainly
quite capable of meeting and exceeding our new expectations.
Because our time is limited I will try to stay focused on
three key topics: test scores, work habits, and parent questions.
Test scores are certainly questionable at this age and I’ve
made my doubts about standardized tests pretty clear. However, yesterday I took
my students to the cafeteria, where there are no posters, charts, or desk tags,
and asked them to do four things for me: write their first and last name, write
the alphabet, write 0-20, and write down the 8 letters we have studied as I
made the sound of each letter. Most of my students can do all four of those quickly
and accurately. One boy even spells his name aloud for me if I ask him to do so.
One asked if I wanted uppercase or lowercase letters. Another can write any
series of numbers because he knows the “pattern” of numbering. The majority of
my students accurately identified all eight sounds that we have concentrated on
these past few weeks. One of my lowest students, who wrote only a few letters
of the alphabet, still recognized six sounds correctly. (Those are two
different skills.) I will use our little test in conjunction with their August
pre-test and the two formal tests to pinpoint areas of concern.
I consider work habits to be the most important skill
learned in the first few weeks of school. Year after year I see intelligent,
capable children flounder in kindergarten because they are sloppy,
disorganized, careless, and unmotivated. If those behaviors are not transformed
before first grade I can almost guarantee they will continue throughout the
child’s remaining school years. We often
overlook the power of habits; once formed they are incredibly difficult to
change. So I teach my students basic procedures and organizational skills. For
example, if we are working on multiple pages, as we would do when making a 4-6
page book, they are taught to keep all but one page stacked under their pencil
box. They can concentrate on completing one page at a time and are not apt to
cut through two pages accidently or drop one on the floor. If they are cutting
out little pictures or letters that will be glued onto a page later, they put
the little pieces in their pencil box or a little plastic cup from art center
so they will not lose them. After nine weeks most of my students move
efficiently from one task to another and still have time for the three “free
choice” activity periods in our schedule. Others are still making the same
mistakes over and over, losing their work, having difficulty completing their
work, and leaving a trail of trash and supplies all over the room. Those are
habits I will certainly discuss with parents!
Even though there are daily opportunities to meet briefly with
parents (breakfast, conference time, end of the day) and we communicate in
writing through student folders and daily work, parents are often hesitant to
ask some specific questions until this first formal conference. I know some are
waiting to see what progress their child makes during the first nine weeks and
hold off on questioning anything until they see that first report card. So
tonight I will answer any questions they have about the report card and what
they can do to help facilitate their child’s progress.
I wish I had an hour to sit down with each parent and
explain much more of what we do. But hopefully through all of the other means
of communication we can work together as a team to educate these little minds and
start them off on their educational journey with the knowledge and skills they
need for success!
