Who is more excited or nervous for kindergarten to begin? Parents or students?
KinderCamp, a St. Cloud area districtwide collaborative with community education, occurs every summer to help prepare soon-to-be-kindergartners for that first day and beyond. Take a peek into a day of KinderCamp in Ms. Davidson’s class at Oak Hill Community School.
It’s day three of the four-day camp, and kids and parents line the hall anxiously waiting to start their day.
Ayan Omar, a parent of a soon-to-be-kindergartner and current teacher at Tech High School, drops off her daughter Sophia.
“She feels much better now,” explains Omar. “On the first day, she was saying, ‘Mom, I’m not ready.’ By the time I picked her up, she was saying, ‘I get to go back tomorrow!’ She is super excited about kindergarten now.”
On day one, there were a lot of jitters and some separation anxiety among the students. By day three, students were waving goodbye and sending their parents on their way.
The students learned quickly that kindergarten and learning are fun. They have play, snack and recess time, reading, writing and math.
Students start the day with play time at various stations. Legos for building at one table, reading and books in another area, and coloring and art are at another table. The kids socialize and play. When playtime is done, students are responsible for cleanup. A lesson well learned!
“Can you say, I am excited?” exclaims Ms. Davidson before she begins the day’s story. “We want everybody to be excited about the new school year. Can you say, I am happy?”
Reading and comprehension is a big part of learning in kindergarten. All the students gather as Ms. Davidson reads a story and asks questions about it. Hands go straight in the air and wave with excitement to volunteer the answer her questions.
When reading is over, they do body movement while saying and sounding out the ABCs. Using their ABC skills, they move on to writing and math problems; sometimes it coincides with art–coloring or cutting and gluing pieces on paper.
What do the kids say they like about KinderCamp?
“I like doing the whiteboard!” says Henry Nelson. I like triangles and the letter A. I like H, too. That’s my letter.”
“It’s all fun stuff [at KinderCamp],” states Maeson Henke.
“I’ve learned that tadpoles turn into frogs,” explains Sophia.
Five-year-olds aren’t the only students in the class during KinderCamp. Students from Tech’s National Honor Society also assist with classes. Many of the honor students volunteer to help meet their required 40 hours of service time each year.
Abby Glenn, a Tech student, likes working with young students. She’s amazed at their progress.
“From the first day until now, they’ve actually grown a lot,” says Glenn. “They know what to expect now [for kindergarten].”
In addition to Tech students, paraprofessionals and teacher assistants are also in the classroom.
“I’ve seen growth as far as their confidence and friend-making skills,” describes Joyce Roden, an instructional para. “They are comfortable with the area now, the lockers, the storytime and rug area. The social [behavior] is the big piece [of KinderCamp]- to become used to taking turns, meeting new people, introducing each other, saying their names and interacting. I bet there will be no tears in our group [on the first day of school].”
Sophia is no longer nervous about going to school. She’s met a new friend and is excited to see her every day at school.
One thing is for sure. The jitters and anxiety for these soon-to-be-kindergartners and their parents won’t be there on the first day of school. They’ll be prepared, empowered, ready to engage and have a little fun, too.
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