Ashley
Conner started kindergarten this fall knowing her letters and numbers,
confident in writing her name, and able to read some frequently used
words at that grade level.
One month after being in school, the 5-year-old began to read books.
“Her
reading has really taken off!” said her mother, Anna. “She talks about
books all the time now and is more confident in reading.”
Anna
attributes her daughter’s growth in reading to her participation in a
new full-day kindergarten program at Firgrove Elementary School.
The
free, full-day program is also offered this fall at Spinning and
Stewart elementary schools, with nearly 200 students enrolled among the
three schools combined.
The
state Legislature agreed to provide full-day kindergarten funding for
schools statewide that have high percentages of students who qualify for
free or reduced price meals.
While
only offered at three schools this year, the Puyallup School District
is exploring the expansion of full-day kindergarten districtwide in the
future, said Lisa Nolan, director of instructional leadership.
The
20 seats in each full-day kindergarten class at Firgrove, Spinning, and
Stewart elementary schools filled this year, including five seats at
each school open to Puyallup School District students who live outside
of the three attendance areas.
“The
full-day program can be a game changer for so many of our students,”
Nolan said. “It gives twice as much time for students to engage in
learning, develop social skills, and create even stronger partnerships
with our families.”
Kim Fishback, a veteran elementary teacher of 19 years, sees the benefits firsthand.
“The
extra time gives me a chance to read more stories, for example, and
build the language that they need at this age,” she said.
Fishback
said she is also able to meet the needs of different learners,
especially during small group instruction that is repeated twice during
the day — once during the morning and again in the afternoon.
“Best of all, I don’t have to hurry my students,” she said.
A typical day in full-day kindergarten
On
a recent morning at Firgrove Elementary, Fishback welcomed her
kindergartners at the classroom door and listened as they eagerly told
her everything important that had happened in their lives since the day
before.
After
sharing their news, students hung up their jackets and backpacks, went
to their desks, and practiced writing the letter “A” and coloring an
apple underneath it on a worksheet included in the kindergarten reading
curriculum.
Like
students in half-day programs, a typical kindergarten day begins with
taking attendance, determining what students are ordering for school
lunch, doing the flag salute, and reviewing the calendar, which is
referred to in the district math curriculum as “Number Corner.”
During this time, students learn about number awareness, patterns, and other math skills.
In
a full-day kindergarten program, extra time is available, Nolan said,
for teachers to talk with and question students about what they see in
the Number Corner.
“Right out of the gate they are able to have more time to think and ask questions,” she said.
The
morning time is also set aside for teachers to share with students what
they will learn that day; have whole class and small-group instruction;
and move students to learning center activities such as reading,
writing, art, science, and music.
A short snack break is held in either the morning or afternoon, with a longer lunch break in the middle of the day.
The
learning never stops, Nolan said. During snack time, for example,
students practice math skills by helping to count plates or cups and
learn about nutrition.
Because
this is the first time many of the students have gone through a lunch
line, it sometimes takes several days to learn the routine.
On
the first day of school at Spinning Elementary, for example,
kindergartner Christopher Chaffee struggled to keep a carrot in his
tongs as he carefully tried to maneuver the vegetable from the food cart
to his lunch tray.
“Students
are learning so much this first year,” Nolan said. “It’s an exciting
time.” After lunch recess, the afternoon schedule includes time for
reading books as a class or individually; doing art, music, or physical
education; writing in journals; and reflecting on what was learned that
day.
Before
sending students to their desks to write in their journals, Fishback
asked several students to stand in front of the class and tell about the
story they would write about.
Bailey
Flowers said she would write about when she went to Disneyland and met
princesses at Ariel’s Restaurant, while Izabella Gilman described how
she would write about giving nuts to the squirrels next to her house.
Spinning
Elementary teacher Kristy Power said she and the other full-day
kindergarten teachers are excited to track students’ writing progress.
“We
can’t wait to see the growth our students will make this year,” she
said. “The extra school hours allow us more time for letter and number
routines, as well as added opportunities for writing.”
Family partnerships
Part of the success of the full-day kindergarten program, Nolan said, is the partnership teachers have with families.
Stewart
and Spinning elementary schools, for example, learned about their
program early enough to schedule “Family Connection” meetings with their
incoming kindergartners and parents before school started in September.
Firgrove scheduled these meetings after school began.
The
brief family sessions, which are a condition of the state funding for
full-day kindergarten, are an opportunity for teachers to get acquainted
with students and parents, as well as to answer any questions about
kindergarten or school in general.
The
10 full-day kindergarten teachers in Puyallup also attended trainings
as a condition of the state funding. They learned how to administer a
state evaluation tool to assess student progress in areas such as math,
reading, and language.
Preparing for first grade
Melissa
Ryan, a first-grade teacher at Firgrove Elementary, enrolled her twin
boys in the school’s full-day kindergarten program. She feels her sons,
who were born nine weeks premature, will benefit from the extra learning
time in their first year.
Ryan
said the program not only helps students to be successful in
kindergarten, but also prepares them for the academic rigor of first
grade.
“This program is extremely important to bring them up to speed for first grade,” she said.
With one month into school, she said her sons seem to be adjusting well to the full day of kindergarten.
“When they get up in the morning, they say, ‘Do we get to go to school today?’”