Welcome to the Wilmington Public Schools

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Welcome to the Wilmington Public Schools

• Full-day Kindergarten Presentation
• May 24, 2007
• Joanne Benton, facilitator

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The Goal of Full-Day

• To provide a developmentally appropriate,
  informal, intellectually engaging all-day
  kindergarten program that integrates new learning
  with past experiences through project work and
  through mixed-ability in an unhurried setting
• We will offer a balance of small group, large
  group, and individual activities that will
  stimulate your childs curiosity and develop
  his/her social skills.
• We will assess students' progress through close
  teacher observation and systematic collection and
  examination of students' work, often by using
  portfolios.

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Kindergarten is TIME FOR ACQUIRING THE TOOLS
NECESSARY FOR READING

• to build vocabulary, to know words and to use
  words
• to be introduced to books, learn to use them and
  love them
• time for listening to stories read aloud and
  answering questions about the stories
• time for being exposed to written words
• time for experience stories and charts to learn
  what can be said and written and what can be
  written and read
• learning to write using sound spelling

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Kindergarten is WRITING

• developing large muscles and fine muscles
• learning to coordinate hand muscles with eye
  muscles
• manipulating toys and puzzles and clay
• finger-painting, drawing, coloring, and pasting
• learning to write one's name correctly using a
  capital letter for the first letter and lower
  case letters for the rest of the name

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Kindergarten is MATHEMATICS

• building number concepts
• getting a feel of numbers by using unifix cubes,
  blocks, and other materials
• comparing sizes, recognizing shapes, colors,
  likenesses and differences, how many and how few
• manipulating materials that give meaning to terms
  such as smaller and larger, over and under, and
  equal to
• creating and extending patterns
• estimating, collecting data, and building graphs

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WHY WE 'PLAY' IN KINDERGARTEN

• Play is children's work. Many studies document
  the importance of active learning. Through play,
  children are learning to make choices and
  decisions for themselves. Through play, all
  facets of development are enhanced.

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• Kindergarten teachers promote self-discover and
  self-awareness. They foster independence and help
  children to gain and use skills necessary for
  working in small groups as well as the class as a
  whole. Children learn how to function well as
  group members, how to ask for help and to be
  helpful, how to complete a task and put things
  away. Each child is encouraged to move beyond
  his/her current level of understanding.

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• Kindergarten curriculum is designed to address
  all areas of development (social, emotional,
  physical and intellectual) and to meet needs of a
  diverse group of learners.
• Children are active learners touching, trying,
  moving, talking, writing, drawing, questioning.
  Throughout the kindergarten day, children have
  opportunities to explore, investigate, and
  predict.

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• The kindergarten classroom is a safe, supportive
  and welcoming environment. It provides children
  with a variety of opportunities to try out new
  ideas and be challenged with new experiences that
  engage budding readers, writers, scientists,
  mathematicians and artists.
• Teachers help children to be empowered, to feel
  valued, to be listened to, to be competent and
  successful in school.

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• We welcome your child as he/she enters
  kindergarten. We share in your excitement as we
  embark on this journey together.

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• We will encourage you to become involved in your
  childs kindergarten experience and look forward
  to having you partner with us in your childs
  education.

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• PARENTS CAN MAKE A TREMENDOUS DIFFERENCE IN THE
  LIVES OF CHILDREN BY BECOMING INVOLVED. Anything
  you do in or outside of the classroom will
  greatly benefit the children.

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The number one thing a parent can do to help
their child learn to read is read aloud to him or
her.

• 1. Make listening to a story a regular part of
  your childs bedtime routine. This will help your
  child develop a lifetime habit of reading before
  he or she goes to sleep.
• 2. Help your child select the story or book.
  (Take turns selecting - sometimes you select and
  sometimes your child selects.)
• 3. Relax!  Sit your child beside you, or make
  sure that he or she is lying comfortable in bed.
• 4. Talk very briefly about the cover,
  illustrations, and the books title before you
  start.
• 5. Make sure that your child can see the
  pictures. Pictures help a young reader follow the
  story or understand the information in a
  nonfiction book.
• 6. From time to time, run your finger under the
  print to show that your voice follows the line of
  text.

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School Hours

• Boutwell Wildwood
• 800-115 850- 205
• 6 classrooms 7 classrooms
• C.A.R.E.S. program is available before and after
  school.

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Open enrollment

• If you live in the Glen Road area, you may opt to
  send your child to Boutwell. Please contact my
  office if you are interested.

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Typical Schedule

• 830-845 Arrival lockers, cubbies, question
  of the day, attendance, arrival activity
• 845-915 Morning Circle pledge, greeting,
  dear class letter, calendar, school jobs,
  phonemic awareness poem or song
• 915-930 Shared Reading big books, theme
  related literature
• 930-945 Break snack, recess, bathroom
• 945-1015 Houghton Mifflin English Language
  Arts Lesson (phonics, letters, shared writing,
  etc.)
• 1015-1100 Learning Centers guided reading,
  independent writing, math, journals, art
  project, phonics, listening center, block
  area, sensory table, dramatic play, etc.
• 1100-1115 Story
• 1115-1125 Prepare for Lunch bathroom, hand
  washing
• 1125-1155 Lunch
• 1200-1215 Recess
• 1215-1220 Afternoon Circle poem, song, finger
  plays, lesson activator, sustained silent
  reading
• 1220-1245 Math Trailblazers Lesson
• 1245-115 Specialists (art, music, phys. ed.,
  library, computer lab)
• 115-145 Theme Related Science/Social Studies
  Lesson experiments, learning centers, hands-on
  experience
• 145-200 Prepare for Dismissal summary of the
  day, class discussion, distribution of take
  home materials

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Next Steps

• Teacher assignments First week of July
• Parent Orientation August
• Parent and children orientation August 29
• First day of School September 4th

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Thank you!

• Questions????