It’s been a really busy time in the Kindergarten.  In addition to our regular schedule, Christy and I have been out of our classrooms a couple of times each week for the last few weeks, completing our school district’s Kindergarten/Grade One Literacy Screener with our students, completing the Early Development Instrument (EDI) for participating students and attending Professional Development sessions.

We are looking forward to returning to a regular routine with our students.

Last week we wrote about the importance of getting your child to school on time.

Over the next two posts we’ll explore, as teachers and parents, our thoughts about routines you can establish at home to help your child get organized in the evening so the mornings are not so rushed, an important factor in arriving to school on time. Which brings us back to our greatest comfort, routines.

Let’s start with how we establish routines in the Kindergarten.

Classroom routines are necessary for successful teaching and learning.  From our perspective, classroom routines are one of the pillars of excellent classroom management which, in turn, is the foundation of successful teaching. Classroom management includes clearly established expectations and routines (sometimes called classroom structure); management of desired student behaviour; and organization of lessons in order to maximize student learning, process and productivity.

In Kindergarten the classroom routines are established by us, the teachers.

Partly from experience, and partly through learning about our new class each year, we create routines around student work (eg., Alphabet Books), student activities (Meeting Time, Centres) and any transitions in our class.  A transition would be any time students are moving between activities or subject areas.

Routines give our students security because routines establish boundaries around expected behaviour.  The children know what is expected of them, and the other students.  They feel safe because they know what they are allowed to do, and we teach them to peer-reference (look to others) if they are uncertain.  The children want to please their teachers, they want to do the right thing, and when they feel safe and secure in their classroom environment, they flourish.

Routines give our students predictability.  Being able to predict or know, exactly what is going to happen next, allows the children to relax and be calm and contributes to their self-regulation.  When the children are able to self-regulate their behaviour, all of their attention and positive energy can be focused on listening and learning, following the teachers’ instructions and having fun with their friends.

Here is the visual Daily Schedule from our classrooms.  We read it in three columns: the first column is the activities from the start of the day until snack time; the second is from morning recess to the end of the lunch hour; and the third is the afternoon.

The children love the schedule because they know what’s going to happen in class next, when their breaks will be and when we get close to home time.  The children often ask when they can go home during the afternoon as the full day in Kindergarten can be a long one.  When we can show the children on the schedule how many activities there are before home time, they feel they can cope because they can count them down.

Reviewing this visual schedule is part of our morning routine right before Centres.  Sometimes we remember to change it the day before, but lately we’ve started changing it with the children so they can see, and hear from us, how their day will unfold.  The children are developing a sense of the passage of time, which we believe helps them to pace themselves throughout the day.

We added the “I forgot…” card to the schedule because inevitably, we will forget something
resulting in a change in the schedule (eg., we forgot the gym is in use during our PE time for a school-wide event or we have to miss Centres to go to an assembly).  Each time we use the “I forgot…” card, it is an opportunity for us to teach our students about being flexible.  We just place the card in front of the activity to be missed or moved to another time or day.

Although there might be disappointment, a five-year old child is old enough to understand that sometimes what we planned for is not going to happen. Kindergarten children are able to learn to be flexible, adjust and accept the circumstances of a given situation.  We try to positively use these experiences in class to teach our students to express their feelings and use a self-regulating strategy to help deal with their emotions.

We begin teaching our classroom routines on the first day of Gradual Entry for Kindergarten.  We start with a routine for how to sit at the carpet during Meeting Time (walk to the carpet; listen with your whole body: sit cross cross on your Alphabet square, hands in your lap, eyes are looking at the teacher, ears are listening to the teacher, mouths are quiet).

We carefully explain what our expectations are, specifically praise the children for showing us the expected behaviour and in the days and weeks to follow, continue to practise and positively reinforce the desired routines and behaviours with more praise.  From there we add our routine for Centre Time (walk to a centre, four to a group, quiet voices, share), and continue building in more routines through the months of September and October.

Our students are becoming independent in the classroom as a result of learning routines.  They are able to do many things for themselves and take a lot of pride from that independence. It’s certainly one of the big goals we want for our children as they grow up and move through the school years.

When we hear the term “parent involvement,” we tend to think about activities such as volunteering in our child’s classroom, helping out with a school fundraiser, or coordinating a PAC committee. All of these roles are important, and certainly much appreciated by the teaching staff, parent group and school administration. After all, our parent volunteers help to make special events such as our classes’ Reindeer Games, or the Hot Lunch program, successful for our students.

But what is the most basic form of parent involvement you can do to support your Kindergarten children?

Arrange to have your child arrive at school on time.

When your children arrive at school on time they have those precious minutes at the start of the day to sort out their belongings, greet their teacher and classmates, and be confident they have not missed out on anything!

Being on time is a life skill, and affects every aspect of living–our jobs, classes and appointments, and even our entertainment such as concerts and sporting events. We all know how important it is to arrive on time for work. Our children’s work is to attend school, and to be on time.

Being on time is respectful to your child’s classroom teacher and the other students. It can be disruptive to the class when your child arrives late as the teacher has already started teaching and the children are involved in their activities. Often the teacher must stop teaching the rest of the class, to get your child settled and brought up to speed. And when your children arrive late, they feel like they are playing catch-up for the rest of the day.

Being on time shows you value punctuality and reliability. As parents, our organizational skills are paramount for modeling to our children that not only must they be on time for school, but we must also show them how to get ready to be on time for school.

There will always be times when your children may be late due to a dentist appointment, you had car troubles or the family stayed out late for a special event. But because we know these things happen, let’s try to be on time for school on all the other days.

If you arrive to school late, after the second bell has rung at 8:55 am, you must report to the school office. You will need to sign the Late Book, and take a “late slip” for your child to give to his or her teacher when entering the classroom.

It is just as important for parents and caregivers to arrive on time for dismissal. Your children have worked very hard during the school day and are excited to tell you all about it at 3 pm. Sometimes, when parents are not at the door to greet their children, the children can become quite upset and worried.

We understand that there are the occasional circumstances that cause a parent to be late for pick up. If you will be late, please phone the school office so that the office can let the teachers know, and then we can inform your child. If you are going to be very late, we will take your children up to the office and you can pick them up from there.

We know that being on time for school requires good planning at home. But what a wonderful gift to give your child, the gift of being punctual, reliable and ready to learn.

In the next few weeks we’ll talk specifically about how we establish classroom routines and how you can establish home routines to help your child be on time for school.

To learn more about Ridgeview’s Kindergarten start time, click here.

To learn more about Ridgeview’s Callback Program, click here.