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Education Dive
Youngest learners prepare to start school — without the school
Summer transition activities help acclimate 5-year-olds to the classroom. Can a remote version even come close?
Linda Jacobson
May 19, 2020
For the past 10 years, Portland Public Schools in Oregon has been one
of several districts in Multnomah County to offer the Early
Kindergarten Transition program for children entering Title I schools.
The three-week summer session targets incoming students who have little
to no experience in an early-childhood education program.
The model has been found to have ongoing positive impacts, such as
higher attendance rates and a greater likelihood of reaching early
literacy benchmarks. It gives students a “step up on learning,” said
Emily Glasgow, the district’s director of early learner programs, and
provides a “community-building” experience for parents, who often
become leaders in their children’s classrooms.
But now “all bets are off” on whether this year’s cohort of rising
kindergartners will have the same opportunity to learn their way around
the building, interact with their future classmates, and practice
taking turns or separating from their parents.
“We’re not sure it’s going to be able to happen,” Glasgow said — not
only because there’s no clear guidance yet on when children can gather
in school, but also because of potential budget cuts.
Parents of rising kindergartners in the Portland Public Schools work on
a project as part of the Early Kindergarten Transition program.
Portland Public Schools
'A slower start'
Almost 4 million children enter kindergarten every year — and
principals are often urged to work with early learning providers to
create a bridge between preschool or child care and the K-12 system.
But many of those children might experience a very different type of
transition this fall — especially if they haven’t been in a formal
classroom setting.
“When children have never been part of an early learning environment,
life in a classroom comes as a shock,” said Lindsay Dunckel, the school
readiness program planner for First 5 Sacramento in California, which
works with school districts in the county to run summer transition
camps. “Distance learning can help with some things, but not with those
fundamental experiences.”
Even if children were in preschool when centers and schools began to
close in March, the classroom environment will feel like a “distant
memory in a young child’s mind,” Dunckel said. And without summer
transition programs, teachers won’t have those “resident experts” who
are able to model proper classroom behavior for their peers.
“Kindergarten,” she said, “will get off to a slower start.”
In Michigan — still under a stay-at-home order — the spring activities
that help children in the state’s Great Start Readiness Program begin
transitioning into kindergarten will be conducted virtually, said Pat
Sargent, who manages the program at the Michigan Department of
Education. These include a second parent-teacher conference for the
school year and possible visits to a kindergarten classroom.
Sargent said the programs are expected to “mirror” as much as possible the transition plans that usually occur in-person.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning still plans
to run in-person Rising Kindergarten and Rising Pre-K programs, but to
reduce the sessions from six to four weeks. And in districts where
schools are still closed, the department hopes to work with Head Start
providers, which are receiving funds for summer programs through the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act.
It's unclear to what extent those summer Head Start programs will
operate virtually, but new survey data from the National Head Start
Association shows 60% of respondents said they have remained in contact
with all or nearly all of their enrolled families.
“When children have never been part of an early learning environment, life in a classroom comes as a shock.”
Experts say it will be difficult for young children to get as much
value out of virtual transition activities over the summer as they
would the real thing. But there are still strategies educators can use
to familiarize children and their parents with the routines and
expectations of kindergarten.
A video call between the teacher and the family is the first step,
suggested Aaron Loewenberg, an early learning policy analyst at New
America, a think tank. Teachers can also gather information from
parents on whether their child has attended preschool, how often they
read books together and what interests the child has.
“It's important to establish a positive relationship between teacher
and family from the beginning, and these calls can really help with
that,” he said. “In the absence of a reliable internet connection, a
traditional phone call can accomplish the same goals.”
But Ashley Jenkins, a kindergarten teacher at BIA Charter School in
Norcross, Georgia, said it’s hard to imagine meeting her future
students remotely.
“Since students are new, and young, the thought of meeting each other
virtually for the first time may also be intimidating and students may
struggle to form connections through the screen,” she said. “I will
definitely have to find ways to adapt some icebreakers and
get-to-know-you games through virtual meetings, so we can build those
bonds.”
Principals, Loewenberg said, can also create an orientation video
answering kindergarten parents’ questions about topics such as
uniforms, transportation, school policies and methods of communication.
And if schools don’t already have a process for sharing data between
preschool and kindergarten teachers, this is the year to begin that
exchange, he said.
“When I was a kindergarten teacher, I wanted to know as much
information as possible about my students before the first day of
school,” he said. “Any data that can be shared between pre-K and
kindergarten teachers, whether it be assessment data, progress reports
from the pre-K year or just anecdotal data about a student's strengths
and weaknesses, are very valuable to know prior to the start of school.”
Schools, he said, can also still distribute transition “toolkits” to
incoming kindergarten families — through grab-and-go meal sites — that
might include a book, some educational games or other supplies that
will get children thinking about the next step.
Dunckel agrees using digital tools over the summer to connect with
incoming kindergartners is better than no program at all. Children can
still practice raising their hand or waiting to be called on during a
Zoom call. Teachers, she said, could also “walk children through a day”
at school, using photos or videos to show them areas of the classroom,
such as where to hang their backpack, or the routine for picking up
lunch.
She also encourages parents to take their children for walks around the
school if they are not able to get inside for in-person introductions
or tours.
‘Trial and error’
Even with the variety of “blueprints” and recommendations for reopening
schools now circulating, officials say it’s still too soon to make any
concrete plans for the beginning of the school year.
“What fall will look like for anybody is too up in the air,” Sargent said.
For kindergarten teachers, the question of starting off the year
remotely — or having students in the classroom on a rotating basis — is
creating “a lot of anxiety,” Glasgow said.
It’s one thing, she said, to be with a group of students for six months
and then to shift to at-home learning. But it’s quite another to start
the year with young children still at home.
Without the transition program this summer, Glasgow said the district
is also rethinking how the school day will look when children are in
the classroom. She’s pushing for more emphasis on social-emotional
learning in the school day. Over the years, the Early Kindergarten
Transition program, she said, has developed a “robust curriculum” which
could be shared with kindergarten teachers.
And even if schools are open to all students, Glasgow is considering
staggering the start of the year for incoming kindergartners anyway — a
practice often used to help young children get comfortable in a new
setting.
The district has been operating one emergency child care program for
essential employees, which has given her some insight into practices
recommended for groups. Teachers, for example, are using pool noodles
to show children how to keep their distance from each other.
One advantage kindergarten teachers will be able to bring to next
year's students is they've now had some experience with how to teach
remotely
"The good news is we wouldn’t be starting at square one figuring out
how to do it," said Lani Schiff-Ross, the executive director of First 5
San Joaquin in California, which also provides funding for summer
bridge programs. "Technology has definitely opened up more means of
being creative at bringing learning to our children and families. We
get as close as possible to touching and seeing them."
Jenkins is thinking about how to adapt her “all-about-me” activities to
a digital format, such as having students create a photo journal of
themselves they can share with their classmates.
“The biggest key to welcoming new kindergartners in the fall will be
flexibility,” she said. “We can plan, but the truth is it is going to
take some trial and error to figure out what works and what does not.
Teachers are creative and problem-solvers, so I know we will be ready
for the challenge, no matter what.”
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