The word “kindergarten” translates to “children’s garden,” and that’s what Friedrich Froebel had in mind when creating his first classrooms. He believed that children learn best through play, within and between lessons.
Kindergarten has evolved into the new first grade, with students learning to read, write and do basic math. But is your child ready for this new challenge?
Language
Language helps children learn about the world around them. It allows them to express their emotions and show concern for others. It also develops their thinking skills.
By the end of kindergarten, children have a growing vocabulary and understand how sounds work together to form words. They can use simple sentences, ask questions, and follow directions.
Children in kindergarten need a lot of guidance and support from their teachers to master these skills. But in many kindergartens today, the pendulum has swung too far and kids spend most of their time in teacher-directed reading and math instruction with few opportunities for choice, exploration, socializing, or play.
Math
As in literacy, math learning is strongly influenced by children’s early experiences. In fact, low-income and racial/ethnic minority children achieve less well in math than do their peers. Kindergarten number competence is a strong predictor of their later achievement, and is even more important than early reading skills.
Kindergartners learn to recognize, write, and order numbers; begin one-to-one correspondence; and count objects. They also learn basic addition and subtraction, place value, simple patterns, and picture graphs.
They learn to sort and classify objects by their common characteristics (color, size, shape). This helps them better observe how things are alike and different, a skill that supports more advanced math concepts like classification and patterning. Children also start to understand money and how to tell time.
Social Skills
Children develop a wide range of social skills in kindergarten, including emotional regulation, empathy and conflict resolution. This is a critical age for social development because it helps children adapt to the more formal school environment and improves their overall life functioning.
In addition to developing large motor skills by playing outside and doing puzzles, kindergarteners learn how to use their small muscles in the fingers and hands for writing and drawing. They also explore different art forms, such as painting and architecture, to express their feelings and creativity.
Research has identified distinct growth trajectories for social skills in kindergarten, and these differ by children’s demographic characteristics and home-rearing environment. Understanding these patterns can help educators and parents recognize children who may need more attention in building their social skills.
Physical Activity
Physical play is essential for a young child’s health. It builds muscle strength and endurance, boosts bone strength and teaches motor skills, including balance, coordination and speed. It also helps develop a strong metabolism and healthy weight.
Preschoolers should engage in several hours of physical activity daily, including moderate and vigorous activities. Moderate-intensity physical activity makes kids sweat but not enough to change their breathing or heart rate and can be done anywhere – walking, swimming or playing organised sports like soccer, basketball, touch football or squad swimming.
Children who enjoy physical activities may be more likely to keep up these habits in the long-term, which can help maintain their physical health and wellbeing for life. For example, playing games like musical chairs or freeze dance can be fun for kids to play together.
Writing
Writing is a key aspect of reading, as children practice spelling and word patterns through the act of writing. When kids write, they also subconsciously absorb grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structures.
Writing encourages creativity and helps kids develop a sense of autonomy. Kids enjoy being able to express themselves with words, and they feel proud of their work.
In kindergarten, kids typically start writing by tracing their names and then progress to higher-level thinking skills like forming and expressing complete sentences. Encourage kids to practice at home by asking them to write lists, messages, and stories. Adding fun activities like penning postcards to friends or family members helps make writing fun for kids and increases the likelihood that they’ll engage in it regularly. This consistency is vital to developing writing fluency.