Type to learn kindergarten5/30/2023 ![]() ![]() Things such as taking turns, conversations with peers, how to handle when you don’t get your way, managing emotions. Kindergarten is a HUGE year for learning social skills. If you don’t believe me, come visit me in September. I am telling you, they wander, they don’t understand to follow the person in front of them until many train songs and practice sessions later. ![]() ![]() If you think getting 25 Kindergartners in a line to follow you somewhere on the first day is easy, think again. Some things we take for granted in a classroom (lining up, going to the bathroom, sitting down, putting things away, etc.) many Kindergartners have NO IDEA how to do at the beginning of the year! In Kindergarten, we kind of are the basics! If you ask me, sometimes the basics can be the hardest of all to teach, because they are the foundation pieces of future learning.įorget academics for a minute. ![]() When I taught older grades, if a student was struggling, I could go back to “the basics” and build up from there. □ ) It is not simply ABC’s and 123’s but rather things such as: fluently adding and subtracting within 5, decomposing numbers to 10, adding and subtracting within 10, reading CVC words and high-frequency words, and much, much more. Have you looked at the most current standards for what Kindergartners need to know? (I guess if you aren’t a teacher this probably wouldn’t be your weekend leisure reading. (Not to say other grades aren’t hard – teaching is hard!) You are taking some students who come in literally not knowing any letters or numbers, and unlocking the keys to literacy and math! I have taught 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade as well where, yes, the content grows and gets more complicated, but I find Kindergarten to be the hardest, in my opinion (and still my favorite) of all. Kindergarten is most definitely not easy. Here is the TRUTH about teaching Kindergarten (from the eyes of this Kindergarten teacher anyway) in direct response to those comments: “Oh, you teach Kindergarten – that must be pretty easy, right?” But, I am okay with that! We can stand together and know what really goes on in Kindergarten.įor a good laugh, check out 7 (funny) signs that you are a Kindergarten teacher. I know the reality is that the people who read this post are probably already teachers. If I could guarantee that everyone in the world would read this post, that would be glorious. People just don’t know, and can I fault them for that? They think they are just making conversation and actually perhaps giving compliments. I’ve come to realize that honestly, they just don’t know the truth about Kindergarten. Then I realized that the people making these comments actually aren’t making them to be rude. I used to (and sometimes still do honestly) get really annoyed at these comments and feel the need to defend myself and Kindergarten teachers everywhere. “Kindergarten? Well, at least they don’t have to learn too much in Kindergarten.” What’s REALLY Happening? “Back in my day, we had 30 kids in a class, 25 kinders isn’t many.” “Oh, they are just so cute! They must be dolls all day long.” “What do you mean you can’t join us? School gets out at 2:30 right?” “It must be fun to play with the kids all day.” “Ahh, Kindergarten is fun, you get to teach them the alphabet!” “You really like Kindergarten? I would have guessed you would like something a bit more challenging where you do more.” “Oh, you teach Kindergarten – that must be pretty easy, right?” At least, until I began to be on the receiving end of comments such as these: (Please note that I understand these were sometimes said with the best intentions!) I used to think everyone understood what goes on in Kindergarten. You know what Kindergarten teachers and students do each and every day. You know what goes into a typical day in Kindergarten. If you are a Kindergarten teacher, you likely already know everything that I am about to say in this post. ![]()
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