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Kindergarten is often the first time students are exposed to structured classroom learning. It’s an exciting and important milestone that sets kids up for lifelong success.

Physical development includes growing strong bones and muscles, learning to use the small muscles in their fingers and hands (like drawing or molding clay). Students also focus on identifying and labeling basic body parts like heads, shoulders, knees and toes.

Social and Emotional Development

Besides knowing their ABCs and 123s, kindergarten is a time when children learn to work with others. That’s a huge skill set that research shows is linked to future academic achievement, healthy relationships and career success. But those skills are not something kids pick up on their own — they’re something parents and teachers have to teach them.

At the Child Development Center, where Mi’Yanna is currently enrolled, teachers have specific goals and objectives for social-emotional learning, like pinpointing feelings and teaching children how to resolve conflicts. They also use books with interesting characters and storylines to enhance empathy and help children understand the emotions of others.

These noncognitive skills are now recognized to be as important for personal and public health outcomes as academic achievement. In fact, research has found that early prosocial behaviors in kindergarten predict whether a child will graduate from high school on time, obtain a college degree and be employed full-time in young adulthood.

Language and Literacy Development

Early language and literacy skills unfold naturally for young children as they interact with books, stories and the adults in their lives. Our current understanding of early literacy development emphasizes the importance of reading-rich experiences and discourages formal instruction that pushes young children to achieve adult models of reading and writing.

When children are ready for kindergarten, they typically know the names of all 26 letters of the alphabet and can recognize some 30 high-frequency words—words that appear frequently in text and tend to be spelled with predictable sounds (such as “the” and “in”). They also have an understanding of the conventions of print and are able to make early written marks.

The National Early Literacy Panel’s research identifies key indicators that predict later literacy success. New America is working to elevate the most important research about teaching and learning in kindergarten, identify bright spots, and promote state and local policies that create the conditions under which young children learn best.

Math and Science Development

While the growing national focus on reading is important, math and science also are vital to children’s success in school. Children learn about science and mathematics through a variety of experiences — from the natural world to their own everyday activities. For example, when children build with blocks, they gain valuable experiences involving shape, size and order. They also develop early math skills by counting and sorting them.

Discussion and representation, such as drawing and writing, support children’s inquiry and help them think about their experiences in new ways. In addition, when children connect mathematical ideas (for example, relating number to geometry, using arrays to understand number combinations and comparing objects), they strengthen concepts in both areas and learn that mathematics is a coherent system of ideas.

It is also important that children have opportunities to work in small groups to discuss and represent their ideas. This encourages collaboration and teamwork, and it helps children refine their thinking and language skills.

Independent and Self-Assurance

The confidence and self-esteem children build during their early years impact the way they navigate their world. A child who is confident and feels good about themselves will be able to take on challenges with resilience and perseverance. It’s our job to help children feel this way, right from birth.

Encouraging independence during daily routines and activities helps children feel capable. Giving kids opportunities to practice and master personal tasks like feeding themselves, brushing their teeth, putting on their shoes, and washing their hands enables them to develop the necessary skills for future growth.

It’s important to give kids short periods of time to struggle, and then praise them for their hard work. It will encourage them to continue attempting and completing tasks independently, and it will rewire their brains for future success. It will also set a foundation of self-reliance and confidence in their abilities that they can carry into elementary school and beyond.

Reading intervention is intensive, personalized instruction to help students who need extra support with their reading. It is one part of a school’s RTI or Multi-Tiered System of Support process.

The research on reading intervention shows positive effects for students in upper elementary grades on standardized foundational and comprehension reading outcomes. However, few studies examined multicomponent interventions or group sizes that vary by student needs.

Explicit Instruction

Explicit instruction is teacher-led, interactive instruction in which teachers explain content or skills using clear and unambiguous language followed by teacher modeling and scheduled opportunities for practice. This is a teaching approach that has been shown to be effective for students with LDs.

Comprehension is an orchestrated product of linguistic and cognitive processes that interact with a text, its context, and the reader’s prior knowledge, skills, and beliefs. It is important for students to have sufficient background knowledge and reading proficiency to understand grade-level text.

Explicit instruction can be used to teach students the reading strategies that are most relevant to their needs, including questioning, visualizing, monitoring/clarifying, inferring and summarizing. Explicit instruction also can be used to build phonological awareness, phonics, and literacy vocabulary. This includes naming and recognizing upper and lowercase letters, sorting consonant sounds, blending sounds to form words, and decoding multi-syllable words. It can also be used to build morphological awareness by teaching the meanings of prefixes, suffixes, and base words.

Repeated Reading

Repeated reading is a simple but highly effective strategy for improving students’ fluency (the speed at which they read with accuracy and expression) and comprehension. Students with poor fluency have trouble comprehending what they read and are prone to miscues. Originally, repeated reading was geared towards students with disabilities that impact fluency but recent research indicates that most students can benefit from this strategy.

In timed repeated reading, a student reads a passage a set number of times to improve their reading rate which leads to improved fluency and comprehension. It can be done alone or in a group, and it is often done with a stop watch to allow for the student to see their growth over time.

Another way to use this reading strategy is through assisted repeated reading in which a teacher or peer models the re-reading of a text. Students then practice reading chorally with each other over the course of several re-readings.

Guided Oral Reading

Students practice reading aloud passages that are at their instructional level. They are listened to and guided by the teacher or a peer as they read to improve their reading fluency. This strategy can also be called guided repeated oral reading, neurological impress, paired reading, shared reading and collaborative or assisted oral reading (NRP, 2012).

The goal is for students to move to a point in the text where they are making very few errors per page so that they no longer need to focus on decoding. When this happens, the teacher can shift the focus of the lesson to comprehension skills.

Guided reading is an evidence-based approach developed in New Zealand and later expanded upon by Lesley University’s own Gay Su Pinnell and Irene Fountas. It is an effective supplemental intervention and can be found in many reading programs across the country. A recent study comparing a GR approach to explicit instruction and typical school reading instruction, found that students in the GR group performed significantly better than those in the EX group on untimed word identification.

Oral Language Development

Developing students’ spoken language is an essential component of reading instruction. Oral language development activities that target specific lexical items can help to develop the child’s vocabulary and grammatical skills, enabling them to understand more about the story they read.

Effective phonics instruction for struggling readers should go beyond decoding single-syllable words to include strategies for recognizing word parts, such as roots and affixes. It should also incorporate strategies for encoding multisyllabic words, such as blending syllables and using consonant clusters, to improve decoding accuracy.

Studies of vocabulary and oral language interventions for struggling readers show that these approaches have large impacts on reading outcomes, with an average impact of six months’ additional progress. However, the impact on comprehension remains small. This may be due to the small number of studies that address these areas and use unstandardized measures such as skill inventories or informal diagnostic measures closely aligned with the intervention. Additionally, the effects of these interventions are influenced by the length and intensity of the program.

Children’s education helps them develop self-discipline and become more independent. Educators use different activities to teach them how to manage their behaviour in new environments.

They learn to listen and respect others’ opinions, take turns in conversations, and interact positively with each other. This experience also teaches them to live in a diverse society and understand that everyone has different skills and talents.

Learning through play

Play, in all its forms — solitary, dramatic, parallel, social, cooperative, onlooker, object, fantasy, or physical – is an effective teaching strategy (Parker and Thomsen 2020). Learning through play offers a unique opportunity for children to practice skills that are not readily available when they complete worksheets.

During their play, children learn to think creatively and solve problems. They also learn to take risks and manage emotions. They develop communication skills through verbal and non-verbal dialogue with their peers, and they can build their vocabulary as they learn about new topics.

Teachers are well versed in creating playful and joyful experiences to support social goals, but they may need additional guidance to incorporate learning through play as a pedagogy to meet more content-focused educational objectives. Research supports that discovery-based guided play results in greater learning than direct instruction for all learners. This includes spatial learning (Fisher et al. 2013), reading and writing (Moedt & Holmes 2020), and mathematics (Zosh et al. 2018).

Social and emotional development

Children need healthy social and emotional development to learn and grow. It’s how they understand who they are and their relationships with others. It’s how they experience and regulate their emotions, develop close relationships with adults, actively explore their environment and learn. It’s what they need to be successful at school and throughout their lives.

Parents and caregivers play the biggest role in social-emotional learning, offering consistent experiences with young children through predictable interactions. Educators can support social-emotional development by incorporating activities that encourage interaction, taking turns and discussing emotions with young children. They can also help children understand their emotions by describing their own feelings and modeling how to calm down. They can provide challenges that require perseverance, such as encouraging children to keep trying at something they are having trouble with. And they can use screening tools like ASQ:SE-2 to reveal social-emotional strengths and identify any needs. This helps children feel confident and motivated to learn.

Physical development

Physical development allows children to explore their environment fully, and it contributes to cognitive development. For example, infants and toddlers who are physically healthy and active are more likely to interact with their environment and other people, and they are able to express their emotions in ways that allow them to communicate clearly.

They may show a range of movements such as balancing, jumping and stepping as well as imitating animals and playing with large ball games. They can also learn to ride on larger equipment such as bicycles or push prams.

One theory of child development is the nature vs nurture perspective, which recognises that both genes and experiences play a role in children’s physical development. For example, some children have stronger muscles than others, because their central and large muscle groups develop quicker. This is because they are exposed to more stimulation and activities, which build up myelinisation (the process of strengthening nerve fibre connections). This is why it is important to expose children to a wide variety of activities and environments.

Cognitive development

Cognitive development involves children’s reasoning, problem-solving, decision-making, and understanding skills. It is one of four significant developmental domains that include physical, social-emotional, and language development.

The understanding that young children construct information based on their lay theories can help teachers and parents design more effective educational materials for them. For example, research indicates that a child’s implicit theory about weight and volume can significantly influence their ability to perform a simple arithmetic task or participate in a classroom science experiment.

Piaget proposed that children progress through a series of discrete stages: the sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2), the preoperational thinking stage (2 to 6 or 7 years), the concrete operational thinking stage (6 or 7 to 11 or 12 years) and finally the formal operational reasoning stage (12 or 13 years and throughout life). Each of these stages is characterized by a transformation of the thought processes of the previous one. For instance, at the concrete operational stage, a child can think logically about tangible objects and events but cannot reason hypothetically.

Education support services are designed to help students overcome obstacles that may interfere with their learning. These challenges can include financial difficulties, mental health issues, and social problems.

Education support services should adopt a learner-centered approach and be personalized, customizable, and accessible for all learners. They should also be integrated with new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

1. Personalization and customization

Personalization and customization improve user engagement and make them feel that a business cares about their specific needs and interests. This increases loyalty and encourages them to engage with the brand again in the future. However, it is important to note that these tactics should be used thoughtfully and should not be seen as a fix for poor website design or content.

Education support services include tutoring, counseling, mentoring, coaching, training, scholarships and awards, career guidance, learning centers, and many other programs and initiatives. They may be provided by students, teachers, parents, volunteers, community organizations, or other stakeholders.

ESPs are the backbone of the public school district system and play a critical role in classroom learning, student health and wellness, and maintaining quality schools. It is vital that ESPs are recognized and rewarded for their contributions to education. This can be done by recognizing their work, achievements, and accomplishments in the communities that they serve and supporting them through professional development opportunities and recognition programs.

2. Enhance coordination and collaboration

Education support professionals are critical to the student learning experience. From paraeducators, to secretaries, to custodians, cafeteria workers, security and technology staff, ESPs play many roles to help students succeed and provide valuable educational services.

Coordination and collaboration between education support services and other stakeholders in a school can help improve student outcomes. A collaborative approach can ensure a holistic learning experience and promote student-centered pedagogy.

Teachers should also collaborate to enhance their teaching effectiveness, satisfaction, and quality. This can be done by providing them with professional development opportunities and coaching, as well as supporting their career growth and advancement through mentoring programs, performance-based compensation, and recognition.

Furthermore, educators should foster a culture of shared learning by sharing resources, such as lesson plans, study guides, and other references. They should also be open to new ideas and perspectives and willing to adapt their strategies to meet students’ unique needs. This will enable them to develop a diversified and accommodating learning environment that caters to each student’s individual strengths, weaknesses, and preferences.

3. Increase resources and funding

Education support services can improve student achievement by providing guidance and resources to students, teachers, parents, volunteers, communities, organizations, and governments. These can include tutoring, mentoring, coaching, counseling, and other services.

The availability of these services is critical, but they need adequate and sustainable funding. This could involve increasing the allocation and distribution of public funds for education support services, as well as seeking alternative or additional sources of funding, such as grants, donations, or partnerships.

Education funding is a national responsibility, and the federal government should take on a greater role in it. This could involve increasing the amount of ongoing funding available to school districts and ensuring that this funding is available when needed, as well as providing more support during economic downturns, by making school spending one of the country’s countercyclical “automatic stabilizers,” boosting aggregate demand in times of economic contraction. This would disproportionately benefit low-income communities, which suffer the most during downturns.

4. Enhance transparency and accountability

A central challenge in coordinating and evaluating education support services is the need to enhance transparency and accountability. In this respect, parents play important roles as grassroots advocates and vigilant overseers of accountability. They are often able to raise awareness of concerns about educational plans and policies, thereby contributing to their improved quality.

However, it is critical to note that some issues cannot be publicly disclosed and remain confidential by law, such as student privacy and medical issues. In this regard, it is essential to provide space for structured democratic voice that can help prevent mistrust and polarization in the discourse about transparency and accountability in education.

For instance, a 2022 study found that state-level political orientation correlated with the policies adopted by the states, with politically liberal states more likely to emphasize SQSS measures and less likely to use standardized testing to punish or reward schools (Portz and Beauchamp, 2020). Moreover, transparency reforms must be aligned with points of decisionmaking and responsibility.

Schools are organized spaces that teach students. They may include classrooms, cafeterias, and libraries. They can also include specialized rooms, such as science or industrial arts classrooms.

Students are surrounded by hundreds of people their age. This teaches them how to act in society and communicate.

School means instruction, and it implies that students should be able to master the subject. But that is not always the case.

They teach

School teachers must learn how to run a classroom. The school should be a place of studious calm, hospital quiet. A teacher should be able to keep the students’ attention without resorting to discipline or punishment. Students should be able to focus on learning, and a school should encourage them to develop their own interests.

The teaching skills required to do this are complex and include knowledge of the subject matter, an understanding of student needs, and the ability to build relationships with students. Some schools also employ community educators, social workers, and mental health professionals to help students overcome challenges and barriers to learning. Others partner with local nonprofits and university programs to offer services like health and financial counseling, as well as summer programs that allow students to explore topics they are interested in, such as art and film.

Sadly, good teachers are hard to find. There is a shortage nationwide, and even in places with plentiful schools, it can be challenging to find people who are both willing and able.

They care

In addition to teaching students how to read and write, schools also give them the skills they need to succeed in life. They teach them to problem-solve and think critically, which are valuable in the workplace. They also give them a sense of responsibility and a willingness to work with others.

Besides learning, school provides opportunities for students to develop a passion and interest in subjects that appeal to them. For example, students may pursue their interests in art, science, and history. They can also make valuable connections with peers and mentors, which may help them later in their careers.

Research shows that students’ feelings of belonging and relationships with teachers are central to their motivation, engagement, and academic success. These feelings are shaped by the school’s culture and climate. A good school prioritizes relationship-building and community by making its policies, curriculum, and technology less visible than its students, joy, and hope. This is how a school can truly care about its students.

They challenge

A good school challenges its students, allowing them to learn more and think creatively. Providing them with opportunities to collaborate and work with others also helps them develop empathy, which can have a positive impact on their lives beyond the classroom.

Some schools still sort students by ability and prevent them from accessing top-level courses. This can lead to a lack of challenge in the classroom, and many high school students feel that their classwork is too easy.

Schools that support the whole child have a powerful impact on their communities. They can implement comprehensive multi-tiered systems of supports that include social emotional learning curriculum and intervention programs to reduce mental health concerns. They can also establish school-based health centers (SBHCs), which provide students with access to medical care and support services. These strategies can help improve student attendance and graduation rates. They can also increase the quality of student interactions and build community spirit.

They prepare

Teachers need to help their students prepare for standardized tests by teaching them basic test-taking strategies. They should also encourage their students to practice at home. This is a great way to combat the high-stakes stress that many students experience around testing.

The character of schools has varied over time. The traditional schools of the past were one-room schoolhouses with a teacher for each class. Some had a cafeteria and other general facilities. These were often in rural areas and were considered inefficient. Now, we have huge buildings where hordes of kids jostle each other during class-change time. Armed security guards patrol the halls, and teachers fear physical attack.

A good school is a place where students get along and support each other. It also uses every resource, advantage, gift and opportunity to grow its students. It understands that students come from different backgrounds and ages, and it connects them with other schools. It also sees itself as a part of an ecologies of ideas, cultures and communities.

Kindergartners learn to recognize and name all 26 letters (uppercase and lowercase) and their matching sounds. They also start to read high-frequency words (also known as sight words) and begin learning basic addition and subtraction.

Physical development is also a big part of kindergarten. Activities like playing outside and working with clay help children build strong bones and muscles, focus better, and feel less stressed.

Social and Emotional Development

In kindergarten, kids begin to develop a stronger sense of self and learn how to interact with others. These skills can set them up for academic success in all subjects and lead to more confident learners in life.

Children will become accustomed to a structured classroom environment and following school-based schedules and routines. They’ll also learn about different cultures, religions and traditions.

While the ABCs and 1-2-3s may seem like baseline kindergarten readiness, educators note that these are “nice-to-haves.” What matters most is the ability to work toward goals, handle frustration and stay focused.

Kindergartners will also learn to recognize and name the letters of the alphabet (uppercase and lowercase), and they’ll start to read high-frequency words, such as and, in and on. These are called sight words. The curriculum also introduces basic math concepts, such as addition and subtraction.

Physical Skills Development

Children in kindergarten have greater opportunities to develop their gross motor skills, which involve whole body movement. They also build fine motor skills, which require the coordination of small muscle movements.

Fine motor development is essential for the ability to learn, which means kindergarteners need to be able to pick things up, draw and use tools. They must be able to hold items like crayons and pencils in their hands, thread objects with wool or string and button and unbutton clothes during dress-up play.

At this age, children also need to be able to move on their own and take the first steps toward running. In addition, they should be able to balance activities that include moving their bodies while hopping or throwing a ball. To help staff members meet these physical needs, see Lesson Three for resources and tips on strategies to support children and youth’s physical development by age group.

Language and Literacy Development

As children move into kindergarten, they transition from more play-focused environments to structured academic settings. They learn to engage in formal learning activities with increasing independence and focus on building the skills necessary for reading, writing, and math.

Kindergarten curriculum typically teaches the alphabet and phonics, basic math concepts, and beginning writing skills. Students begin to build a growing vocabulary, notice environmental print, and develop their phonological awareness—the ability to hear and manipulate the sounds of spoken words.

To ensure all children can access literacy instruction, teachers should offer children who have visual impairments Braille overlays for books and large-print materials, and provide slant boards or book stabilizers for learners with motor challenges. In addition, teachers should encourage parents to read to their children in their first language so they can experience the connection between written English and their home languages. This supports students’ literacy development by accelerating the speed at which they can decode English.

Independence and Self-Assurance

Children who feel self-assured and independent are more willing to take risks, try new things, and persist in tasks they find difficult. This confidence builds a strong sense of perseverance, and prepares them for life’s challenges.

Kindergarten teachers work to build independence in young children by encouraging them to perform daily tasks such as getting dressed and brushing their teeth. They also help them to complete classroom jobs, organize their school bag and belongings and to complete homework assignments on time.

Kindergarten curriculum also covers academic foundations such as learning letter sounds, recognizing numbers and beginning to read and write. Children also learn about science, nature and the five senses. In addition to all of this, kindergarteners are supported in social development by establishing friendships and working together with classmates. This helps them to manage their emotions and resolve disagreements in a healthy manner. Parents are encouraged to discuss any concerns they may have with their child’s teacher.

Education support services are an important part of the education system. They provide teachers with the resources and tools they need to improve their teaching practices, student outcomes, and workplace satisfaction.

Some education support service companies offer employee benefits such as medical and dental insurance. Patriot Software can accurately calculate these types of payroll deductions.

What is ESP?

A sizable chunk of the world’s population believes in ESP, or extrasensory perception. ESP is thought to be a sixth sense that allows people to envision places and events beyond their own five physical senses of vision, hearing, smell, touch and taste.

ESP seems like it should be a natural phenomenon, but scientific studies have consistently failed to support its existence. The reason may be that ESP isn’t “natural” in the sense of being measurable with the methods of science, but rather an unconscious psychological response to a need to explain the inexplicable. For example, if you think of a song and then hear it on the radio or in a friend’s photo, is it a coincidence or ESP? Probably not. It’s just a little too familiar for that.

What are ESP’s responsibilities?

ESPs cultivate student learning and meet the educational needs of children, families and schools. They are also a vital part of the community.

Food Service ESPs provide nutritious meals that impact students’ energy levels, thinking, health and ability to learn. Security ESPs help protect students and school staff on campus. Custodians and janitors keep classrooms, offices, and cafeterias clean and safe for students and staff.

Educators can participate in a variety of career families, including paraeducators, secretaries, custodians, transportation workers and security guards. MTA has a track record of helping ESPs win decent wages, better working conditions and respect for the important role they play in our communities. ESPs can become members of a local union and attend professional development workshops and conferences to further their careers.

What are ESP’s career options?

Education support professionals need to be able to demonstrate that they can provide quality customer service in the face of a challenging economic situation. They also need to have good presentation, prospecting and customer service skills.

ESPs work in many different kinds of jobs. ESPs who work in food service help improve students’ eating habits, which influences their energy levels, thinking ability and overall health. ESPs who work in custodial and maintenance jobs keep buildings clean, safe and secure for students and staff. ESPs who work in administration and clerical services perform a variety of office duties. Limited judgment and decision-making is required within clearly defined procedures. Education support specialist I roles provide career paths for museum interpreters and demonstrators performing entry-level to journey-level specialists duties. Employees disseminate information to visitors, targeted audiences and/or program participants in designated agency programs or assigned areas.

What are ESP’s salary ranges?

ESP deserve decent wages, working conditions that are safe and healthy for all, and respect for their crucial role in the school system. They serve students in classrooms, office settings, cafeterias, and on buses every day. They are paraeducators, assistant teachers, bus drivers, custodians, and other education support professionals.

Using data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, NEA reports average earnings for ESP in K-12 and higher education.

In a recent NEA member survey, 32% of ESP said they have a serious problem making a living wage. This number rises to 45% among ESP who work in schools that don’t negotiate their wages through a collective-bargaining process. ESP also need affordable health insurance. They should not have to receive the dreaded zero-dollar paycheck in order to pay for their insurance.

What are ESP’s benefits?

An ESP provides an all-in-one email marketing solution for businesses. They save marketers time and resources with automated marketing emails, improving their deliverability rates and engagement. They also provide essential insights into their email marketing campaigns.

ESPs are in a position to positively impact the quality of education and the community. However, they face a lack of recognition and respect by school boards, communities, and state officials. They are also underpaid for their critical contributions to students and the community.

High-profile skeptics, like James Randi, help steer public discussion away from emotional responses to paranormal phenomena by debunking false psychics. They use logical analysis and data to show that paranormal claims are just coincidences.

Schools are places for learning, but they also have other important functions. These include building community and preparing students for the future. These functions are not only necessary for students, but also for society as a whole.

In addition, the school experience teaches you to figure things out as you go. This is a valuable skill that you can apply to your professional life.

They teach students to learn for its own sake

School is a crucial time in children’s lives, where they take on serious responsibilities and stressful situations for the first time. They learn to cope with their stresses by developing a sense of self-worth and dignity. They also learn to respect other people’s opinions. These skills are important for students’ overall social growth.

Teachers and students are under pressure to cover the curriculum and compete with other schools. They must make sure that students understand the material and pass the exams. They must also avoid discipline strategies that undermine students’ dignity, such as controlling when they speak and imposing rules like raising hands to speak.

Students who learn to learn for its own sake do better in life. They are more likely to be interested in subjects that matter to them, and they will enjoy learning more than just memorization of dates and facts. They are also more likely to develop an intrinsic desire for mastery, rather than just making the grade.

They introduce students to a wide variety of subjects

A school is an organized space designed for teaching students by teachers. These spaces include classrooms, cafeterias, and schoolyards. In addition, schools may provide support services for students. These support services can help students overcome barriers that interfere with learning, such as adversity or mental illness. These support services may also help students develop critical life skills, such as time management and communication skills.

In addition to providing academic instruction, schools often offer a wide range of extracurricular activities. These activities can be a great way to learn new things and make friends. However, it is important to know the difference between extracurricular activities and education. While extracurricular activities can help a student become more well-rounded, educational activity is more essential to a students success. Students who attend school regularly are more likely to be exposed to different ideas and to interact with people from all backgrounds, which is an extremely valuable experience in the world today.

They build community

A community is a supportive social group in which members share a common interest or experience. Specifically, classrooms can function as communities when students and instructors collaborate frequently in learning activities (Berry, 2017; Brown, 2001; McMillan & Chavis, 1986). Creating a sense of community in a classroom requires specific pedagogical choices.

Moreover, schools have the responsibility to create a safe environment in which all children can learn. This requires teaching students how to interact with one another and to respect different perspectives. Schools also need to teach students how to deal with conflict and resolve problems.

Ultimately, students learn to interact with their peers in healthy ways and develop their own personal relationships. These skills can help them become successful adults and contribute to their communities. Schools should work to build these relationships through various means, including community engagement strategies and student-centered pedagogies. Schoolwide community-building activities can be as simple as Family Film Night, where families invite each other to watch a movie at school together.

They prepare students for the future

Students learn to work in teams and develop their creativity. They also learn how to use new digital tools and become literate in these areas, which will be important for future jobs. Schools can offer these skills in a variety of ways, from coding classes to internships and cooperative education programs.

School teaches students how to interact with people who are different from themselves, which will be helpful no matter what they do as adults. Students also spend a lot of time around their peers, which can help them build interpersonal relationships that are important for their careers and civic life.

Schools vary in how they teach students, including how they organize their curriculum and policies. For example, some public schools are run by state and local governments, while private schools may be supervised by boards or organizations. Additionally, some schools focus on a specific part of their curriculum, like language immersion or religion. Others are specialized in their subject area, such as science or art.

A quality kindergarten provides kids with the foundation for learning and development. It teaches them to focus, follow directions and work in groups.

They learn about math and science. They are taught to question, experiment and discover.

Kids are naturally curious about the world around them. Foster that curiosity by introducing them to hands-on science activities and counting games.

Language

Oral Language—Speaking and listening to others—is a key aspect of kindergarten. Children build their literacy skills through the lively back-and-forth of conversation, building with blocks, playing with dolls and stuffed animals and using pretend play.

Kindergartners learn the difference between upper and lowercase letters, begin to name letters and their sounds, blend sounds to form words, read simple sentences and use the word parts of a book. They also develop a love of print that will last a lifetime.

Children need to be intellectually, physically and socially ready for kindergarten. Teachers support this development by enabling students to follow oral directions, get along with others and understand their own feelings and those of others. This helps them become responsible learners in later school years.

Math

Children develop a deep understanding of math concepts by practicing them over and over again (also called mastery learning). This helps them form lasting connections that help them solve problems, even when they make mistakes.

In kindergarten, teachers teach basic counting and number recognition skills along with more complex addition and subtraction. They also help children develop “number sense,” or an intuitive understanding of how numbers relate to each other.

Early childhood math experiences have a direct impact on later math achievement. For example, a study found that kindergarten number competence predicts first-grade mathematics achievement and achievement growth—and that the relationship is mediated by gender and family income. It’s important that classrooms have high-quality math materials that progress students through skills in an orderly way.

Social Studies

Young children need experiences that help them build a social world that incorporates family and classroom relationships as well as what might be called civic responsibilities. They also need to understand the nonverbal yet observable social cues that reflect subtle forms of bias and discrimination.

Kindergarten students explore four major social studies conceptual strands: culture, citizenship, geography and financial literacy. The study of culture teaches students about the differences and similarities among people and encourages respect for diverse cultures and traditions.

Geography teaches students about the environment in their community and school locales. They learn about national symbols and how to identify landforms. They also learn to distinguish past, present and future time and practice their map skills. They are introduced to history, simplified for their age level, through stories of courageous heroes and historical events.

Science

Kindergartners become junior scientists, exploring the world around them by asking questions and planning experiments to answer them. They learn about the similarities and differences of plants and animals, their identifying characteristics (birds have feathers, plants grow roots) and how the weather changes day to day and across seasons.

They also learn how matter can change from liquid to solid and back again, and that the same object can have different properties at the same time. For example, a pillow may be soft and heavy at the same time.

Children’s science learning is affected by many factors, including family SES, gender, cognitive ability and math and language skills. One study using a quasi-experimental design found that a project approach-based science “education program” significantly increased preschool children’s problem-solving skills.

Art

Kindergartners explore a variety of art materials and subjects, from line and color to shape and texture. Their artworks also serve as a visual representation of their feelings, providing a channel for emotions that are difficult to articulate verbally.

Educators should help children expand their artistic capabilities through guided participation that is not overly controlling or obstructive of their creative explorations (MoE, 2017). Having them try new techniques without a goal in mind allows them to gain confidence in their ability and learn from mistakes—and it teaches them to be resilient when something doesn’t go exactly as planned.

Encourage kids to use recycled materials to make unique artworks like this cardboard tube dinosaur. They can also practice fine motor skills as they cut shapes from craft foam or paint with sponges.

Reading intervention is intensive instruction that aims to accelerate the reading skills of students who are below grade level. It is often implemented in a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework, like Tier 2.

Individual reading interventions offer many benefits for students who struggle with reading. Teachers can tailor their instruction to address specific learning needs, such as phonics, fluency, and comprehension.

Individual

Individual reading intervention programs are designed to bridge the gap between students’ current reading skills and grade-level expectations. They provide intensive instructional support by focusing on the foundational skills of decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

In general, if kids are allowed to read books that appeal to them and at levels that challenge them without being penalized they become excited about reading and show much more improvement than kids forced to do required self-selected reading. This is likely due to the fact that reading for fun is a very low-stress activity that also reduces stress in children.

Beanstack removes all limitations from the way kids engage with books, which allows them to explore more complex texts and build their reading confidence without being penalized for doing so. This nonjudgmental approach helps them build empathy for characters and internalize their emotions, which can help them to be more understanding of the world around them. These are all important aspects of a strong, healthy reader.

Group

Group reading intervention offers a more structured, focused learning environment than whole-class instruction. This type of instruction also allows for differentiated teaching methods to address the varied needs of students in a small group. Research shows that effective group reading instruction requires consistency and frequency, as well as highly engaging materials. This includes a mix of fiction and nonfiction texts that are appropriate for students’ reading levels, challenging yet accessible, and interesting to the group members.

For tier 3 instruction to be effective, it should include targeted instruction addressing the five core elements of reading proficiency: phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. It should also incorporate writing to support the development of students’ comprehension skills. One of the challenges in implementing these intensive instructional practices is limited school and staff resources. Educators may need to seek creative alternatives such as community tutoring programs and/or parent volunteers. Alternatively, teachers could consider using online group-based instruction to supplement classroom reading instruction.

School-Based

Reading intervention is a critical component of the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework. It is an intensive, targeted reading instruction offered to students who perform below grade level on state tests and universal screening measures.

To provide effective reading intervention, it’s important to incorporate a variety of research-based strategies and programs. These reading programs can be used to differentiate literacy instruction and ensure every student receives the individualized support they need. Some programs, such as Lexia(r) Core5(r), offer a push-in model where teachers can deliver reading intervention in the classroom while others, like Let’s Go Learn, are web-based and give educators real-time data to make actionable decisions.

Using a structured literacy approach, these reading programs teach essential skills and strategies that can help students succeed with the curriculum. For example, these programs include phonological awareness lessons to develop the ability to recognize and manipulate the smallest units of sound in spoken language, known as phonemes. They also emphasize vocabulary development, morphological awareness, and the ability to relate text to self.

Online

Online reading intervention programs offer a range of benefits. For example, students are able to progress at their own pace, and teachers can focus on the skills that need to be developed. Online programs also help support social-emotional learning, which is critical to a student’s success in school and beyond.

These online programs offer diagnostic assessments, individualized instruction using Specially Designed Instruction and real-time tracking and progress monitoring. They can be used in conjunction with the RTI and MTSS frameworks to improve reading outcomes for all students.

For example, Fusion Academy uses a patented online platform that provides comprehensive student data to educators and parents. The data includes the student’s reading level, reading fluency, time spent on Lexia and other indicators of progress. Additionally, the program addresses soft skills such as self-awareness, motivation, metacognition and time management. These are essential to helping students build a solid foundation for academic achievement and lifelong literacy skills. In addition, the program offers professional development for teachers and instructional aides.