What do kindergartners need our in school?
Wondering whether your kindergarten was more of playing and a little about learning? And the current system is completely different. Maybe it is true. Though in your kindergarten, you had to learn through games, your idea about education for your kid will be like they should excel in everything from the beginning. Education at its early stage is kindergarten, some parents start teaching from the day the kid is born. Thankfully that was not our case when we were in kindergarten.
Talking about kindergarten, it is an acting bridge between preschool and elementary school. And it is the baseline for all the future schooling. Now, how to pick the best education system for your kid and also how to analyze what is being taught to your kid for their present and future growth. I jotted down a few points about it, look at it and scrutinize to select your kid’s education pattern.
kindergartners need :For parents of this age, it is a bit harder to manage both the physical and mental growth of their kid. In a conversation with my friend about what a kid needs in school, we ended up with various questions and digging our brains we found solutions. Let me share those with you.
Should studies be the only focus for their academic growth? Talking about their growth, education is discovering and molding the child as a person who excels in everything, for which both academic and behavioral grooming is important.
Is it that, the present day schools concentrate much on academics and the kid’s growth in that?
When you compare the kindergarten education we had with the kindergarten curriculum of this age. Yes, it is more of play based learning, from which the kid gets an opportunity to clutch into learning in a play based manner.
With the insights I know, let’s segregate their learning as academic learning and behavioral achievement.
What do kindergartners need our in school?
Kindergartners need in academic learning
What are the skills that will be found and enhanced in a kid?
I have a lot to tell, kindergarten is an exciting exploration done by the kids under the guidance of the teacher (I include parents also as teachers here). Because a mother knows and teaches the kid since the time she/he is born.
The guidance has to be student-centric. Teaching is not exposing what you know to the kid, it is about what they need to know at that stage. Learning alone won’t make them right and playing alone won’t make them brisk. Both have to be equal. Ensure to educate through activities that would help to involve them along with you. Learning through activity develops cognitive skills and motor skills.
What do kindergartners need our in school? (skills)
Fine motor skills
Through writing, joining lines, coloring activities, they involve their hands. This will help to develop their cognitive skills and hand coordination. When they try to cope up with the teacher and their peers, they will understand the coordination concept.
What do kindergartners need our in school?
kindergartners need: Social skills
Learning to respect is respect to learning. By being in kindergarten it will help them to feel what respect is when they are with their teacher and people other than their family. They have to acquire qualities like moving in a line, being patient, waiting for their turn and sharing their things with others.
Gross motor skills
Developing gross motor skills in kids can be done through activities. Involve them in more of running, jumping and playing activities. “Active brain means active kid”. This point is valid. Apart from school, when we talk about homeschooling or taking care of kids at home, make sure that they are into physical activities rather than being idle at a place and writing. Make them explore their environment, be it at home or at school. It is the best way to keep them active and curious. Exposure and physical activity is better than video games.
Reading skills
Reading helps them to grow patience and this skill is very less practiced in kids nowadays. By the end of their kindergarten, they will be able to read at least small sentences. Reading small sentences is fine in the lower class which can be developed in upcoming classes.
To enhance reading skills in kids
Make them read along with you every day without fail. This will become a habit for them
Make the kids read stories as a group and also as individuals
Reading aloud will decrease their stage fear and help to build their confidence
Kindergartners need at home
While at home, read nighttime stories for them, make them read simple letters and words at home as fun activity which will enhance their reading skills
What do kindergartners need our in school?
Listening skills
Listening skill is the vital skill to be developed from the kindergarten which can be emphasized in later stages. Listening makes them understand things and will improve their observing skills. Their mannerisms like raising hands while questioning; patiently waiting for their chances and answering when their turns come will be induced and enhanced with the help of listening skills. Listening skills will help them understand the concept “let others deliver their point”. They will wait and listen to what others are talking about.
To enhance listening skills
Read stories and rhymes to kids every day. Ask questions from the stories, this will help you to recognize whether they actually listened to you or not.
Forming groups, make them read the story one by one. This will make them listen to what the other child is reading.
Kindergartners need at home
Provide small tasks for them. Say, pluck flowers, gives some games and its instructions to follow. This will enhance their listening skills.
How about their creativity? Will kindergarten induce their imagination?
Imagination and visualizing are two different terms but it is mistaken as same sometimes, imagination and visualization are their individual skills. This will help them to think from their own perspective.
How kindergarten induces imagination and visualization is by telling stories and making them tell stories, these are two different tasks. While reading stories to them that will get into their brain and they will visualize every scene that is read to them. Teachers have to induce that by making them visualize every word by telling their meaning.
By storytelling, their imagination will be increased. When they start to make their own stories they will start to imagine in their own world. Thus these two skills can be developed in kindergarten.
When I heard my friend explaining about all these skills, I got a doubt that without a good language understanding; can a child understand any information and converse back?
Yeah! There is an answer for that too!
Language skills
Language skills are the prime factor to be enhanced and which helps to enhance other skills. In the place of a kid, language base has to be built strong from their childhood. When their language is strong, they will understand things well and will develop the ability to grasp information much faster.
Teach a language at a time. Say, English. “Slow and steady would reach them right.” Make it a clear point that, though it is a class, every child’s understanding and outcome matters. Language learning in kids is the base layer which helps to open up the mind for further easy learning.
Kindergartners need at home
Speak your mother tongue to the kid and it has to be considered that they never get confused between words.
Follow a proper pronunciation of words because that is going to get registered in them for a long time. These are some of the basic skills that can be enhanced in their academics side.
To be taken down from the above discussion. Once your kid is in the kindergarten, make sure whether the schooling and curriculum spur their interest.
Skills that have to be seen in your kid academically after kindergarten
Identifying letters
Use words to express thoughts and feelings
To write their name without mistake
Able to count numbers from 1 to 100
Understand the concept of days and yesterday, today and tomorrow
Stand and go in a queue
Writing legibly, at least alphabets
Visualizing things when taught
Good in craftwork and holding paint brushes, crayons, and colors properly
Listening to teachers and parents patiently when they tell something
Independently working in the school and at home
Making friends and behaving well with others
Growth as a kid
Kindergarten has to kindle both academics and also the intellect of the kid. We both had this doubt in us.
Are they exposed to physical activities and sports?
Talking about sports, running, jumping and hoping itself is a sport for them. Kids of this generation must be exposed to a lot of physical activities which will make them feel brisk and active throughout the day.
Physical activities will make them feel brisk and fine. How about other conducts like eating clean and dressing neatly?
Kindergartens must also have sessions to groom them like eating without spilling, self-dressing, adjusting their dress before and after using restrooms, independently using restrooms etc.,
Physical activities, academic growth, cleanliness etc., don’t you feel that they are much occupied and needs some breathing space in between? Obviously, they need because it’s their age to enjoy their childhood. Most of the schools are only till afternoon and some work full day but after a set of academics, the kids free to do things that they like. Apart from that, there is an amazing rule followed in schools called “nap time”. A nap works magic in kids; it will help them to recall the events occurred in a day and the lessons which they learned. An active mind and briskness in doing activities is an outcome of good sleep.
Schools have a small nap time, but at home make sure that the kid gets sufficient sleep in the night without any hindrance as that helps them to move on smoothly throughout the day.
Kindergartners need :
Can we expect any improvement in self-confidence?
A kid is passing through various learning, in some of which they are so involved like reading a story along with the teacher or team, doing activities alone or together in a class. All these are key factors to improve their self-confidence. As a result at the end of kindergarten they will be able to speak out, at least their name and some stories and rhymes in front of others without any stammer or hesitation.
When they are involved in various activities their internal interests and talents will be shown out, all kids won’t excel in drawing or painting. You can’t mention that as a mistake too, but they will have their own talent may be like singing, dancing and many more. Identify them in lower classes and help them to build it up.
Skills that have to be seen after kindergarten in kids
Independently using restroom
Eat healthy food and eating it neatly
How to use spoons and forks
How to be clean and tidy
Team coordination
A friendly approach to everyone they meet
Listening skills
To obey elders
Enhance the habit of sharing
We discussed the skills that will be achieved by kids by the end of kindergarten, now you will be rushing out to analyze the achievement level of your kid and start gearing up to make them excel in their activities. Kindly note that it is fine to have a shortfall, when your kid doesn’t nail some of the activities which are mentioned above.
Never be in a hurry to make them perfect in all aspects, kindergartens will identify the flaws and make it right gradually in a way how the kid likes. Have an eye always in what your kid is learning and how he /she understand the concept taught to them. Also, keep a note that the kid does not get an overdose of the subjects and is also not left free.
Knowing about the curriculum and the skills that will be enhanced, make sure that you pick the right education system for your kid.
In the bottom line
Ready to head start kindergarten? Settle down with the point that the education pattern which you choose doesn’t affect their childhood.
There are various approaches to teaching your kid. Fix a system in which the orientation is not pressuring your kid. Play-oriented learning will reach them sooner. Kindergarten is the bridge that connects the preschool and the elementary school. Smooth and effective education in kindergarten would reap a better student in elementary school with strong fundamental skills
Comments
Post a Comment