As new educator teams prepare to embrace a brand new year in Full Day Kindergarten, various questions and uncertainties may come to mind;
Will my new teaching partner and I work well together?
What will the first day look like?
How do I plan for purposeful learning?
What will the flow of the day look like?
Let’s face it….everyone’s day will look and feel different. Some boards/classrooms practice a slow entry start to the week. While some welcome the Year 2 students in for the first two days, followed by small groups of Year 1 children who enter each following day, with all children in by the end of the week, others may all start at once. Personally, if your Administration and Board will support the slow entry, I do suggest this format as it allows educators and children to bond in smaller numbers, easing the transition for children and parents.
Begin your day by welcoming children and parents in. Expect a few tears, but if you are comfortable allow parents to help by staying for a few minutes. Let your Year 2 students lead the way. Prep them and let them know they are your leaders, and that you all need to work together to help out new friends. I have never come across a child who didn’t take this role very seriously and rise to the occasion.
Set up a table just outside the cloakroom with a sign in sheet. Make sure all the students names are present and available, but do not place too much pressure….your leaders will do most of the demonstrating while your new friends watch and observe this part of the routine.
Play soft quiet calming music (we used our smart board, and rotated photos of children at play), and provide books on the carpet to encourage a space to gather together. Some new friends will be very curious and interested in exploring the classroom, thats ok! They have plenty of time to adjust to the rules and routines of the day. Eventually, do your best to have all the children, even for 2-5 minutes at the gathering space to share introductions.
After this point, every classroom is different depending on planning times, outdoor times, library times and gym times. Keep in mind when planning your day to day routines that each play/inquiry period should be one hour in length twice a day. Pulling groups is not ideal at this time, so take a look at your schedule and see if you can find ways to utilize other times of the day.
Let’s begin with one key suggestion to help you get stared;
Work as a team! This is the key to a successful Full Day Kindergarten Program. We have been put together, teacher and ECE, for a reason. Both professions when brought together can produce something absolutely amazing! Trust in that. Will you always see eye to eye, no. Will conflict arise, maybe. Be patient, be kind, be respectful, be understanding, be thoughtful…go slow…and most importantly laugh together. Let’s face it the 26 + little people you are both working with are smart, super cute and most of the time… hilarious! To help you understand this partnership even further I will share a quote offered to my teaching partner Shirley and I from Charles Pascal ;
“Founded on mutual respect for the equal and complementary gifts that each of you brings to the sandbox, you are creating something bigger than the the sum of these gifts for the sake of the kids. Your understanding of genuine play-based, curiosity driven pedagogy is also critical to the future success of the children. Your leadership is inspiring.”
(This quote inspired the name chosen for the curriculum portion of the blog, The Sandbox)
To learn more about my team, please read more here.
Remember:
- This program is NOT meant to be prescribed, and should always follow the lead of the child when planning for learning in the classroom.
- Ideally, children in FDK have free choice to learn and play where they choose within the playroom and outdoor learning space.
- Educators must take the time during play to move throughout each learning area. Take the time to interact, listen, observe, ask questions (when appropriate), scaffold and extend learning.
- Know your learners and provide various entry points for all to engage.
- Remember, play and inquiry should be the primary approach for gathering group and individual assessments.
Keys to a successful playroom:
- Expect noise! However, when the children are presented a learning environment that is stimulating and engaging, the noise will sound more like a busy hum. However, when the noise gets too loud, the children seem to be disengaged and the play has no purpose (e.g., running around, throwing toys, etc.), take a good look at the classroom. Evaluate what learning spaces are not working, where the children are not playing and change up the environment! Add something new and follow their lead!
- Plan ahead! If one educator is invested and involved in a valuable learning opportunity, the other educator circulates and helps children to problem solve, find and discover materials they may be asking for that will enhance their play/learning.
- Attempt to gain as much assessment as possible during play and inquiry experiences, however realistically some children may need to be pulled aside to gain further insight into their current understanding. If you find you need to pull children aside, keep it short! Also, call on these children before they become involved and invested in their play/learning.
- Less is more!!!! Some children may need to learn how to use the materials found in the classroom. Take the time to teach the children what and how toys and manipulative can be purposefully used. While children are exploring new materials, start with just a few pieces, add more while children are using them, and tidy up appropriately.
- Share resources with other FDK classrooms. Ask your administration if there are any storage areas within your school to store resources and materials not being used. Educators can then go to this space each week to gather new materials to add to or change up centres.
- Note: No themes. Remember classrooms are interest led. Plan for all learners.
- One more word of advice, balance conversations with parents/caregivers. While some children will bounce into your classroom as if they were always there, an need little support to successfully move through the day, others may need a little more support. Every child is different! When communicating with families of those who may need a little more of a helping hand, please balance out positive and negative messages to parents. Make sure parents hear of the little successes as well as some of the struggles. Build a positive and healthy relationship with the whole family, this will create a team approach the child WILL notice and respond positively to.
This blog has both theory based information and practical advice in all areas of FDK! Here are some quick links to various areas of interest;
- Setting up the environment
- Promoting self regulation
- How to document the learning
- Learning together through inquiry and play
- Math instruction
- Literacy instruction
- Weekly curriculum planning The Sandbox
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Image found at: http://www.principalprinciples.net/2013/08/when-you-enter-classroom.html
- The information shared within this blog has been collected and shared through what we have learned from our own experiences. Networking is key! We can learn so much from other through dialogue and conversations. Thank you to all those we have learned from along the way!
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Journey Together FDK 