Kindergarten in Developmental Stages

Kindergarten in Developmental Stages

This page explains provides an overview of a student’s kindergarten experience.
All of the information on this page is also listed in the PDF links in multiple languages.

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A Message to Parents and Caregivers:

Children and parents look forward with a great deal of excitement to the first day of school.

Although many children today have experienced preschool programs, Kindergarten is the first, and perhaps the most important, step to their formal education.

We hope that this booklet will assist parents in understanding the purpose of Kindergarten and what we hope our young students will accomplish during this year. Parents are urged to review this information and to work closely with their children, the teacher and the school. By doing this, Kindergarten will be a delightful experience for our young students and will enable them to move to the higher grades with confidence in their ability to succeed. Please assist us in our efforts.

Have a wonderful year with your child!

By working together, it can be one of the happiest and most successful in his/her life as well as yours.

What is Kindergarten in Developmental Stages (K.I.D.S.)?

Kindergarten In Developmental Stages (K.I.D.S.) is a community of spontaneous, eager, curious and friendly young children. Although still firmly attached to home and family, they are beginning to discover the world of people around them.

Entering Kindergarten is a very special day for you and your child. The full day Kindergarten program will strengthen, complement, and extend experiences which have roots in the home. Your child’s early years are recognized as one of the most important periods in his/her development. The kindergarten year offers parents and teachers the opportunity to establish a relationship based on mutual confidence and respect which helps both to understand more clearly the behavior, growth, and adjustment of the child. The children are guided through a variety of “hands- on” experiences to gain self-confidence, solve problems, and work and play independently.

K.I.D.S. Shows Evidence Of:

Learning Centers

Learning centers such as block building, art activities, music activities, language arts, math, dramatic play, writing, and science are arranged throughout the classroom.

Activity

Learning occurs when children are actively involved. Manipulative materials are the real “books and papers” in a developmentally appropriate Kindergarten program. Teachers guide, support, and teach individual children or work with small groups of children.

Balance

Activity is balanced with periods of quiet and rest. There is a balance between individual, small group and large group instruction. Cognitive activities (those requiring mental activity) are balanced with those designed to promote children’s social, emotional and physical needs.

The Characteristics of Young Children

The characteristics of young children and the knowledge of how children learn are the foundations of the developmentally appropriate Kindergarten program.

Research documents that young children are:

• active – mentally, physically and socially
• developing control over small and large muscles
• learning to use speech and language but still have undeveloped auditory and visual perception
• curious – instinctively driven to explore, find out, experiment
• striving to learn and be productive
• sensitive and will go out of their way to avoid anything unpleasant or unsuccessful
• attentive for long periods of time if they have chosen the activity
• in the “good boy/girl” stage of morality and want to please adults
• vulnerable and fragile, in need of protection, attention, love and security

General School Procedure

School Hours

All parents will receive a letter in August specifying the date and time that each child will start school.

School Calendar

Just before school starts, the Sunday Telegram will publish a School Calendar listing vacations, holidays and professional development days. The calendar can also be found on the Worcester Public Schools web page, www.worcesterschools.org.

Arrival

Have your child arrive at school no more than fifteen minutes before the beginning of school when school crossing guards and teaching staff are on duty.

Punctuality and regularity of attendance are important to the child from the very first day of school. The earlier your child learns that school is his/her job and that he/she has something important to do, the more satisfactory will be his/her growth and development.

Absences

When it is necessary for your child to be absent, an explanatory note must be sent to the teacher (when the child returns to school) in accordance with State Law, Chapter 119, Section 69.

Late

If, and when, it is necessary for your child to be late, please send an explanatory note to the teacher.

Dismissals

Dismissals will be allowed upon parent or guardian request (by telephone or note). The parent or guardian must appear at the office for the child.

Educational Tips

An integral part of the educational program is the inclusion of field trips. Such trips are taken to enrich a child’s classroom experiences. All trips are correlated with the educational program and are carefully planned and supervised by the classroom teacher. Children who are invited to take these trips are required to bring to school a permission slip signed by a parent or guardian prior to the day of the trip.

Student Records Regulations

Chapter 71, Massachusetts general Law, Section 34A, 34B, 34E. Parents and legal guardians have the legal right to examine their child’s school records. If at any time you wish to see your child’s records, you should contact your principal for an appointment. It is advisable that a trained professional review the records with you and interpret the records for you.

Screening

In compliance with Public Law, IDEA-94142, each Kindergarten child is evaluated early in the school year. The results of this evaluation help to determine potential strengths and weaknesses in a child’s learning ability and to assist the teacher in developing appropriate classroom programs.

Special services are available to those children whose screening indicates the need for additional assistance.

Curriculum

The developmental Kindergarten curriculum in the Worcester Public Schools places emphasis on emotional, social, physical and intellectual development.

We believe that each child should be accepted in the educational program as he/she is. Your child should be provided with a stimulating school environment and opportunities for learning experiences designed to meet his/her individual needs.

Most important of all be patient with your child’s progress. All children do not walk or talk at the same time. Some children cannot develop as rapidly as others. The school will find your child’s level of development and help him/her to grow from that level.

Goals

As a result of the full-day Kindergarten program each child:

Emotional

• feels accepted, wanted and loved
• gains self-confidence and develops independence and personal responsibility
• builds a strong self-worth through experiencing both success and the frustration of failure
• learns to accept and understand his/her own feelings
• learns through experience and play
• learns to relate to others through friendship and conflict

Social

• Understands the freedom to initiate and direct his/her own experiences and involves respect for authority and the rights of others.
• Values the opinions of others
• Understands democratic values and beliefs and applies them to daily life

Physical

• needs a meaningful environment to provide optimal learning experiences
• becomes more curious of the world around him/her and how he/she relates to it
• expresses self in words, movements and songs
• cares for physical needs and develops good attitudes toward healthy living
• learns to listen
• is self-motivated and thinks independently
• uses curiosity in productive ways to extend interests
• earns to confront and solve problems

Intellectual

• gains meaning and knowledge in moving from the concrete to the symbolic
• speaks with confidence and clarity
• expresses self through a variety of media
• uses time efficiently and effectively
• develops appropriate work habits

In a developmental Kindergarten, skills are integrated among the content areas. A sampling of some of the skills being developed are:

Language Arts

Motor Skills

• throws, catches, bounces a ball
• dresses self
• prints name, alphabet letters and numbers

Visual and Audio Perception

• names colors, shapes, letters
• recognizes familiar sounds
• identifies beginning sounds

Listening and Oral Skills

• listens and follows directions
• enjoys stories and poems
• participates in classroom discussions
• demonstrates vocabulary growth

Mathematics

Understands size, position, concepts of numeracy, patterns, measurements, basic and geometric shapes, graphs and data collection.

Social Studies

The chief aim of the kindergarten social studies curriculum is to develop a respect and understanding of self, family, friends, community and respect for work.

Science

All children need an opportunity to explore, manipulate and discover as they try to find out the “what,“ “how“ and “why” of the world in which they live.

The topics that will be covered are:

• Earth and space science
• plants
• animals and their young
• seasons
• weather
• hygiene
• the five senses

Creative Arts

A child’s first means of written expression is through his/her art work. The child is guided his/her expression through the use of paper, crayons, paints, chalk, clay and “beautiful junk.”

Music

Young children find natural delight in rhythm and sound. Children are provided with a variety of musical experiences through singing, rhythm instruments, creative rhythms and dramatizing songs.

Student Evaluations

Parent-Teacher Conference

No school curriculum can satisfactorily accomplish its purpose unless there is an open two-way communication between the school and home. The school cannot understand the individual pupil and his/her needs unless it has some knowledge and understanding of the home and family. Similarly, parents should know the experiences their child is having at school.

In kindergarten, the formal November report card is replaced by a parent-teacher conference. You may wish to jot down any questions and/or comments you have which relate to your child’s growth and development.

Report Cards

Report cards are distributed to Kindergarten children in January, April and June.

Your child’s first year of school is very important. The Kindergarten program is planned to provide learning situations suited to the development of five-year olds. By the time that you receive your child’s first report card, you will have had at least one individual conference relating to your child’s progress.

Additional conferences can be arranged upon request by parents or the teacher.

Parent-Teacher Team

Although the first day of Kindergarten is special, it is not a true beginning, for YOU have given your child his/her start. The Kindergarten teacher recognizes your important role and will welcome you as a “partner” in your child’s continuing education. The Kindergarten teacher will seek your help and involvement in a variety of ways to make the Kindergarten experience most meaningful for your child.

Transition From Home To School

Helpful hints are listed below to help your child make a favorable adjustment to school.

Regular Routine

• Read aloud to your child daily.
• Take him/her on trips to the store, zoo, library, bank, airport, park and many other experience filled places.
• Control the time, type and number of television programs and movies your child watches.
• Allow your child to assume the responsibility of simple household tasks.
• Help your child to learn to dress himself/herself and to hang up his/her clothes.
• Teach your child to take care of his/her toilet needs.

Summer Tune Up

• Encourage your child to learn his/her full name, address and phone number.
• Establish the kind of going-to-bed, getting up, resting, playing routine at home that can continue when your child starts school.
• Your child’s clothing should be easy to manage.
• All clothes should be labeled for identification so that both your child and the teacher can identify every piece
• Teach your child to take care of his/her toilet needs.
• If your child will be walking to school, take him/her by the
• safest route several times before school begins.
• If your child will be riding to school, he/she should learn to be careful boarding or leaving vehicles and to sit quietly in a seat.
• Some children become anxious as the first day of kindergarten approaches. You may help your child overcome some fears by reading some of the following books to your child and discussing them with him/her:
  • The Night Before Kindergarten by Natasha Wing and Julie Durrell
  • Kindergarten Rocks by Katie Davis
  • I Am Too Absolutely Small For School by Lauren Child
  • Curious George’s First Day of School by Margaret and H.A. Reys
  • Vera’s First Day of School by Vera Rosenberry