Kindergarten Information Night

By Katherine Jordan, Enrollment Administrator

Kindergarten is a child’s garden, a place where children grow. Many parents of preschoolers wonder if their child will be ready to blossom there. Bing parents pondering this question attended the school’s annual kindergarten information night, held December 2, 2010. A Q&A session with a panel including kindergarten teachers, elementary school principals, Bing teachers and a pediatrician was the evening’s main event.

Bing’s director, Jennifer Winters, opened the evening with a 10-minute video, “Kindergarten Readiness,” produced by First 5 Santa Clara County, Santa Clara County Partnership for School Readiness and the Santa Clara County Office of Education. After the video came opening comments from two kindergarten principals and a pediatrician.

Bill Overton, Ohlone Elementary’s principal, said it’s normal for parents to want reassurance they are doing the right thing. Referring back to the video, he said that the skills listed represent an ideal child’s abilities—not those that most have in reality. The ability to tailor instruction to children’s skills is the sign of a good teacher, he said. He went on to say that elementary school is not perfect, that it is a training ground for how to navigate the world. Kindergarten is where children learn to be independent, resilient and optimistic and to learn from adversity. Kindergarten is a “great opportunity to get the lessons they will need in life.”

Mary Pat O’Connell, principal at Lucille M. Nixon Elementary, said that teachers want children to like being at school. She also said that life is not a race, and parents should not be anxious about when their child masters certain skills. Parents should pay more attention to things such as whether their child has friends and is comfortable at school. While the media focuses on national test scores, Palo Alto schools still emphasize “purposeful play” in kindergarten, according to O’Connell.

Sabrina Braham, MD, a Palo Alto Medical Foundation pediatrician and Bing parent, discussed the developmental screening conducted at a 5-year-old’s medical check up. The major areas assessed are gross motor skills, such as sitting and walking; fine motor skills, like gripping a pencil; language abilities, including verbalizing needs and understanding directions; cognitive abilities, such as counting; and social-emotional skills, such as forming relationships with peers and adults. Chronic health issues are also addressed at the 5-year-old check up to ensure they are well managed before elementary school begins.

Many factors can greatly influence children’s development at this age, she said. Ideally, 5-year-olds should regularly sleep 10 to 12 hours a night. Weaning children from napping helps make this possible. An energizing diet with complex carbohydrates and protein also encourages development. Limiting screen time (time spent at computers or watching TV) also helps.

The Q&A session panelists were Bing teachers Nandini Bhattacharjya, Todd Erickson, Adrienne Lomangino and Peckie Peters; Nixon kindergarten teachers Jody Harrier and Stephanie Han; elementary school principals Overton and O’Connell; and pediatrician Braham. A condensed and edited account of the conversation follows.

What are some tips for parents who want to work with the kindergarten teacher to help their child succeed?

HARRIER: Talk to the teachers. Teachers have an open door policy with phone numbers and emails, and they will get to know your child very quickly. Sometimes the teacher makes the first contact since they want to be available to help all children.

Overton: Model by having direct communication with the person who is involved. If you are not satisfied with the answer, go to a higher authority.

What is a Young Fives program?

O’Connell: Young Fives is a program in Palo Alto that builds the skills needed to start school, giving the child extra time while also working with the parents. An assessment is done for children entering kindergarten to determine if they should attend Young Fives. This program will be expanded to accommodate children affected by the kindergarten age change, starting in fall 2012. [Currently, children entering kindergarten must be 5 on or before December 2. For each of the next three years the age cut-off will advance one month, until in 2014 children entering kindergarten will be required to be 5 on or before September 1.]

What should children “know” by the end of kindergarten?

O’Connell: The California Content Standards (http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/) lists the exact areas that are to be mastered in kindergarten, though children can move on to the first grade without mastering them all. Furthermore, it’s important for children to have acquired certain social-emotional skills even though they’re not included in the standards.

Harrier: Every child enters kindergarten with a different set of skills, and we [Palo Alto] do not expect all children to leave kindergarten with the same set of skills. Children start where they are and progress from there.

What is a typical kindergarten day like?

Harrier and O’Connell: First there is drop off and saying goodbye, followed by singing and movement and learning about their body, then 5-7 minutes of whole group work, for example, learning math or colors. Next is table time with three or four table groups working on the same thing, then Big Books (when the teacher reads to the class from a giant-sized book so all can see) and sometimes Daily Newspaper (when the class works together on their daily journal). After these activities comes art, followed by time for children to choose their own activities, for instance, playing with blocks or Legos, or painting. As the year progresses, activities may last longer. In addition, the day includes snack, recess, story time, science units, and occasionally individual or small group instruction.

What are the key things we should be doing now as parents?

Lomangino: While children learn through play at Bing, learning to ask for help and eventually learning how to solve problems independently is an important part of that process. Children begin to take on more and more responsibility through the year. We encourage them to make social connections, which also encourages their language development.

Braham: Sometimes I felt that the more time I spent here [at Bing] the more skills I learned for working with children—even more than all the books I read in the library during my pediatric training. If you come and sit at a snack table, you can observe the teachers facilitate and model for the children.

Bhattacharjya: Don’t talk too much about kindergarten in front of the child when it’s still many months away. Be aware that it might make them anxious.

Overton: Give the child responsibilities at home, help them be a self-advocate, help them with problem solving and with empathy.

Peters: Part of what we have to do is step back. This is part of their life which we should not anticipate with a lot of anxiety. Don’t worry about preparing them as much as just spending time with them.

Erickson: Create some time to listen, and focus less on your own agenda as a parent. Make one-on-one time and follow their lead in play.

There are so many choices of schools in this area. How do you decide which fits your child?

O’Connell: There will be information nights. Identify what will make you happy, make you feel comfortable and what is a good fit for you. Don’t ask your child, but rather make the choice that you feel comfortable with.

Overton: Go to the school websites, go to information nights, visit if you can and get to know the school. It is important that the parents are supportive of the school.

Erickson and Lomangino: Use the Bing teachers as a resource for helping you make your decision. They can give you information about your children and what kind of learners they are. Most children will do well in a range of situations.