Practicing the Bridge Between Preschool and Kindergarten

The preceding year before kindergarten, in one of the Preschools, in Pleasant Hill, one gets to be on a dock, with a small pack and large questions. On I can do it! and Can you help me? children to-and-fro. The parents are standing round, half ecstatic, half sniveling. There are no haste on that bridge between the preschool and kindergarten at Pleasant Hill. It's built plank by plank.

Children of four years do not talk of school preparation. They talk about big-kid classrooms. They talk of taking a bus ride. They ask whether kindergarten has nap time. It is the work of an impregnable preschooler to pull those divergent thoughts into a straight line. In environments like My Spanish Village, these early questions are gently guided into confidence and curiosity.

In kindergarten, harder pencils and longer group time are introduced. Preschool softens the leap. It gives the children space to experiment, fall and experiment again. Rhythm will be more important than flashcards ever will be.

Planting small Steps to Independence

Freedom does not have bells and whistles. It gets into snack time.

The water is spilled half by one of the children. No alarm bells. Only a towel and a second time. There is not much to be learned than a worksheet. It says, mistakes in deals.

Preschoolers who happen to be in an inquisitive classroom are left to hang their backpacks. They zip their jackets. They clean up paint cups. These small activities are a practice of kindergarten training.

Teachers prefer saying, "First, attempt. not an invitation to brush up, but to brush down. It is taught to children to believe in their hands. They become familiar with the fact that work is rewarded.

Language Which Bears them on

Kindergarten involves the ability of children to express ideas. Preschool lays the groundwork to the same.

Morning circle A laboratory of language. One of the children describes his visiting the park during one weekend. The other explains the reason why worms come out after rain. The teacher nudges gently. "Tell us more." "What happened next?"

It is through stories, songs and simple ordinary talk that language is developed. Children learn to ask other questions other than yes and no. They practice interruption free listening. That is harder than it sounds.

An effective preschool is no quiet talk. It shapes it. Words are tools as opposed to sound.

Academics without Stress in Early Years.

It is a narrow border between preparing and pressure. Cross it over, and there is less interest.

A nice Preschool in Pleasant Hill has letters which are viewed in an equal manner. Names are traced in sand. Claps are received during songs. The counting is done when serving napkins.

Children begin to perceive patterns. They sort blocks by color. They compare sizes. They see the cup with the greater quantity of juice.

No one is drilling them with heavy stacks of work sheets. Teachers on the other hand use literacy and math in daily life. Lesson on mathematics is presented as a dramatic play corner in a grocery store. A series discussion is brought about by an anecdote of caterpillars.

Social Muscles in Motion

The kindergarten classes are larger. Expectations are clearer. Social stamina counts.

Preschool is a field of training. Children learn to wait. They practice taking turns. They estimate that other people hold different opinions that are not in agreement with theirs. The actualization of that may be deplorable.

These social muscles are developed through repetition. By the end of the year, children who were earlier attached to adults will walk in the classroom with a fast move and agenda of the day.

The significance of Emotional Preparedness.

Kindergarten is not merely being familiar with letters. It is the working with large emotions in a mass of colleagues.

Preschool classroom that feeds children is free to discuss feelings. It can possess a feelings chart displaying the faces with ecstatic to grumpy. Children communicate how they are. This would be enough to create awareness.

The teacher can say, it sounds as though you are in a tizzy. The naming of feelings downgrades them to a certain degree. Children begin to perceive patterns in them.

It is not all about glitz emotional preparedness. It cannot be seen in a report card. However it prescribes how easily a child will adapt in a kindergarten classroom in which new rules and new people arise.

Routine and Freedom of Discovery

Kindergarten days are likely to be more planned. Preschool attracts sanity but never obedience.

It has a routine: arrival, circle time, centers, outdoor play, lunch, rest. Knowledge about the next is gained by children. Predictability feels safe.

In that respect, exploration thrives. The child, interested in insects, can spend the days looking at the ants in the playground. One can make high towers, and can be employing balance and gravity without the words.

Partnering with Families

Parents undergo the transition as much as children do.

The pick up time meetings matter. Teachers share little victories. "She helped a friend today." He even tried to write his name on his own. These stories illustrate a situation of development.

Kindergarten preparation classes will calm nervous minds. The families learn the practical value of skills. Illegitimate: it hardly ever concerns reading complete books alone.

When the school and home language are the same, the children feel more at ease. They believe that adults in their lives belong to the same side.

Cultivating an Excellence Curiosity

Children who will advance to kindergarten will fear answering questions in the wrong way sometimes. That fear can freeze them.

The preschool culture is a healthy culture which glorifies hard work. Teachers can claim that was a good idea even when the tower collapses. Failure becomes feedback.

Questions are welcomed. Imaginary theories are spoilt. When a child insists that clouds are made out of cotton candy, he is not refused. Alternatively, the lesson can talk of the actual nature of clouds.

Physical Development and Ruggedness

Kindergarten days are long. Small bodies have to withstand time.

Outdoor play isn't filler. It increases integration and concentration. Climbing structures are used to test balance. Running games build stamina. Fine motor activities like cutting and drawing train the hands to be able to write longer.

The manner in which children hold pencils is observed by teachers of pre-school. They introduce exercises that develop muscle of fingers. Playdough is not fun, at least it is preparation in disguise.

Preparing for a Bigger World

The kindergarten typically means larger campus and faces. Expansion of the circle of a child is achieved, firstly, in preschool.

Field trips to local parks. Community helper visits. Group work assignments in which they need to operate in a group. These are experiences that extend comfort zones.

Children learn to respond to such instructions by other adults not their primary teacher. They are adaptable to small change of routine. They discover that they can thrive outside the parochial cocoon.

The Quiet Transformation

The transition of kindergartener and preschooler is not instant.

A drop-off child who cried, no longer cries and runs in. And another who is not fond of wasting time in groups suggests to head a song. These changes cannot be observed on a daily basis.

At the time of May, nevertheless, the growth can be observed. Voices are steadier. Movements are not so hesitant. Questions are deeper.

A Preschool in Pleasant Hill which understands this journey values the pre-kindergarten year. It doesn't rush childhood. It prepares the children to look into the future without being disrespectful to their present standing.

It is not about holding the kids by the throat and making them love preschool to kindergarten dreams. It is everything in terms of walking next to them.

Tags: Preschool and Kindergarten, Integrated Early Learning System, Support Smooth Academic Transition