Kindergarteners also have dedicated time each day for “specials,” where they go to art, music or physical education class on a rotating basis with those specialist teachers at the school, and they have scheduled time for recess. Kindergarten students have access to the same educational amenities as older students — they have lunch in the school cafeteria, visit the media center and can take advantage of school bus transportation.

It’s an exciting time for parents and students alike, and we look forward to helping parents build that solid foundation students need to be successful through high school and beyond!

Different Than Preschool

If your child has been in preschool, you will see certain differences in kindergarten. The children tend to sit at desks more often than on the floor. While play-based learning is still an important strategy in kindergarten, you will see more structured learning in most kindergarten classrooms. Generally, kindergarteners don’t nap though a rest time may be offered. Children are expected to line-up for lunch, restroom breaks, and recess, etc. and walk through the halls in a quiet and orderly fashion.

Beginning of the Day

Generally, when you drop off your child, your child will be greeted by the teacher. The children put their belongings in their cubbies and wash their hands. Then they may sit at a table or on the floor to do an individual or small group activity as the rest of their classmates arrive.

The day usually starts with a morning meeting or morning circle where the children greet each other; talk about who’s there and who isn’t, discuss the day of the week, the weather, and their plans for the day; often they will sing some songs; and maybe enjoy a story.

After the meeting or circle, the children will alternate throughout the day with individual, small, and large group activities; independent or teacher-led activities; daily activities like lunch, recess, and bathroom routines; and weekly activities like art, music, and gym.

What Children Learn in Kindergarten

As parents it’s hard to keep up with our kids’ learning schedules.  When are they supposed to start learning addition?  By what age should they be able to read?  Are they on track with their grade-level learning or do we need to help them catch up?

The kindergarten year is one in which kids learn more about the formal classroom setting – learning to focus for segments of time on basic literacy and math, and learning simple science and social studies.  This is the foundation year for getting used to the routine of school, the process of focusing and learning, and the social skills involved in making new friends.  It’s a crucial year for building the foundation of learning.

Reading - Letter-sound correspondence, phonemic awareness, sight words, rhyming, words families and concepts about print are the areas in which your child will expand his knowledge this year. Kindergarten students learn how to identify letters in the alphabet and their sounds, and about how letters and sounds go together to form words.  Most kindergarten children are expected to read words by the end of the school year. The Board adopted Open Court Reading is the approved program used.

Writing - They also learn to print letters.  They will work on developing fine motor skills as they learn to write the alphabet in both capital and lowercase letter.  They will also attempt to write stories, journal entries or poems.  These will often be a disjointed jumble of letters and words, but it’s a first step towards expressing themselves in writing.

Teachers spend time reading with children and playing rhyming and word association games to build on their vocabulary and help them in their reading skills.

Math - Math in kindergarten is all about the basics.  Children will learn how to count, recognize numbers up to 10 and sort objects.  Using objects and manipulatives, they will learn the concepts of more and less, ordinal numbers, basic addition and subtraction, creating patterns.  They’ll start to learn about time and calendars and they will cover these regularly in class.  Teachers often start the day by having a student come up to the board to pin the calendar day, the day in the week and the weather on that day. That connects numbers to the calendar and numbers to the date and gives numbers another meaning.

By the end of kindergarten, students should know the components of a calendar and how to build on them – days, weeks, months,  and some basic time – on the hour, half hour segments -  – recognize numbers up to 100 and count to 100, and some basic single-digit addition and subtraction.  The Board adopted Math Expressions is the approved program used.

Science - Science is all about starting to make sense of the world around them.  Children learn about plants, animals, good health habits, the weather and keeping track of the weather, and about the five senses and basics about their bodies.  Teachers will conduct simple science experiments in class.  Kindergartners can remember more information and can now use that to make connections between things and group things together.  The Board adopted National Geographic Science is the approved program used.

Social Studies - In social studies the year start with the focus on “me”.  Children learn about their immediate and extended families, learn their address and phone numbers and share information about themselves and their interests.

By the end of the year, they will have broadened their field to look at different families, cultures, the neighborhood and the community. The Board adopted Our World social studies program is the approved program..

Lunch, Recess, Art, Music, & Gym

Activities like lunch, recess, art, music, and gym are scheduled by the school to fit all these activities in for all the children. Classroom activities are scheduled by the teacher based on the needs of the children as they move through their day.

Transitions

You will hear teachers talk about transitions. Young children sometimes have trouble moving smoothly from one activity to another – they have trouble transitioning. The teacher gives these transitions a lot of thought. Transitions are kept to a minimum and carefully managed to support the children.  Transitions are a critical skill to develop that will be with them throughout their school career.

Children have a desk for their books and classroom supplies. The teacher plans around the children’s alternating need to be active and their need to be quiet and participate in calming activities. The room is arranged to make it easy for the children to move around the classroom independently and in an orderly fashion. The children will be able to make lots of choices during the day and to problem-solve with their friends and teachers about the challenges that come up on any given day.

End of the Day

Most children rides the bus home after school and the kindergarten teacher is careful to make sure your child has everything they need to bring home.

Communication

Most teachers keep families up-to-date via newsletters or with classroom websites where they update the site weekly, upload photos to it, and communicate with parents via a “comments” section. Your child’s teacher will let you know about opportunities for other communication apps used in the classroom.

Kindergarten Learning Standards

The State of Ohio provides the Birth Through Kindergarten Entry Learning and Development Standards that describe key concepts and skills that young children develop during the birth-to-five-year period. 

The standards promote the understanding of early learning and development, provide a comprehensive and coherent set of early childhood educational expectations for children’s development and learning, and guide the design and implementation of curriculum, assessment and instructional practices with young children.

The standards address Approaches Toward Learning, Physical Well-Being, and Social and Emotional Development. These learning and development standards promote an understanding of the whole child and guide the instructional strategies that support all areas of learning.

These standards are not tied to any assessments but are intended to be useful in determining how to support students in these early grades with the acquisition of literacy skills needed to be successful with future learning.

Kindergarten Readiness Assessment and Other Assessments

Assessments are a very important aspect of learning. They enhance student, parent and teacher understanding of student learning, show evidence of progress, identify students who may need additional enrichment or intervention supports, and guide instruction toward course material mastery and personal growth.

Information provided by assessments provide descriptive and timely feedback that provides a means to monitor progress, evaluate instruction, and engage students in both their own academic and personal learning.

At the beginning of each school year, each kindergarten student is assessed using Ohio’s Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA). The assessment measures each student’s knowledge and abilities in six areas: social skills, language and literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, physical well-being and motor development. By selecting an answer to a question, performing a requested task, or being observed by the teacher, each kindergarten student is able to demonstrate what he or she knows and is able to do.  More information will be shared about the KRA by your child’s teacher as school starts.

New Richmond also uses additional assessments, including the DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) for reading benchmarks. Additionally, teachers create informal assessments in their classrooms. The results of assessments and of individual student progress are shared with parents during parent-teacher conferences and report cards after each semester.

Locust Corner Elementary

3431 Locust Corner Rd, Cincinnati, OH 45245

Phone: (513) 752-1432

Principal: Mr. Joe Roach

School Psychologist: Ms. Carly Cooper

Secretary: Ms. Vanessa Wyatt

Monroe Elementary

2117 Laurel Lindale Rd, New Richmond, OH 45157

Phone: (513) 553-3183

Principal: Ms. Jamie Kunz

School Psychologist: Ms. Carrie Pugh

Secretary: Ms. Sally Wylie