K 4
The Merrill four-year-old kindergarten program began this past school year 2010.
It is a community-based program and Merrill has five individual sites. The teachers collaborated and adopted a defining phrase of four E’s for Merrill 4K. They are… enrichment, experience, education, excitement. Here at the NTC site, we have certainly embraced these adjectives. Our first year has been all of these for both the students and the staff.
The 4K program is designed for a half day. Each site can choose to have two programs within the day or just one. Each program has a maximum capacity of hosting eighteen children. Here at NTC, we are at our capacity for the morning program, which is currently the only session we offer.
Hands on Activities
Because our students are preliterate, we try to allow as many “hands on” activities as possible. We base our teaching upon a learning community concept. Therefore, when a concept is introduced, the class comes together. Then, there is opportunity for individual expression during our times of free play.
A typical day
A typical day would transpire something like this…when students arrive, they will place their notebooks in a designated area and will “sign in” at a table by writing their name and/or drawing a picture. (Notebooks are the communication tool used between home and school.) At another table, there is a worksheet for them to complete which alludes to the topic we will be discussing that day. As students complete their worksheet, they can move to certain areas within the classroom such as the library or to the puzzles section until everyone is signed in and ready to take a bathroom break. After this, when students reenter the classroom, a signal is given to begin our day. We come together for circle time, calendar time, and story reading, At circle time, students are told their jobs which are completed throughout the morning.
The objective
The objective of having a job is to foster a sense of community, responsibility and independence. Jobs rotate weekly and include such tasks as watering the plants, feeding the fish, holding the door, turning off lights, etc. Circle time is also the time when we might discuss a new concept such as a change in the seasons, or observing something specific about nature. The teacher might display a new center item such as a math game. Circle time has some routine such as calendar time and the pledge to the flag, but it also has the openness to explore new. After circle time, we have a light snack and then it is open play in the classroom. We have various sites for the students to visit such as music, art, handwriting, listening, science, math, sand, library, puzzles, blocks and housekeeping. On specific days, we will have a group project rather than classroom play or we may have a group music session. When classroom time is over, a signal is given for clean up and a timer is set. If all students can clean up their classroom and beat the timer, a sticker is rewarded to them for their reward card. A card full of stickers can be traded in for a small prize. We try to end our day with a large motor activity. On poor weather, we have a wonderful sized gym where students can ride tricycles or scooters or play catch with a ball. On days with good weather, we have two playground areas. One area has a climbing bridge, sand box, teeter-totters, a merry-go-round and swings. Another smaller area has climbing units, a sand box and a small hill ideal for winter sledding. What we have noticed is that as children physically grow during the school year, their initial smaller size is ideal for the smaller playground area but by the time warm weather comes, they have adjusted to the larger sized playground equipment in the larger playground area. After gym time, our day ends with students retrieving their notebooks and heading home. Half of our current students are bussed home and half of our students remain on site and continue in the day care services.
NTC 4K program
Unique to the NTC 4K program is the fact that we have been blessed to receive several grants within our first year, which totaled $4,250. The grant funds have allowed us to purchase teaching tools such as a camera and photo printer, puppets, multicultural tools such as dolls, puzzles, a globe, and dress up clothes, an incubator to hatch chicken eggs (our successful hatch produced four chicks), butterfly items (We are currently waiting for over 35 painted lady butterflies to emerge from their chrysalis.), owl items (including a hand held bird song identifier with owl calls), outdoor backpacks for students to explore the nearby acreage, as well as posters, full denture model and a puppet to teach about dental hygiene. One grant will allow us to place ceramic tile in a currently carpeted area of the classroom so that the students can have a better place for their art easels. Items purchased with these grants will certainly benefit the 4K program for many years to come.
Structured learning environment
For many students, the 4K program is a child’s first exposure to a structured learning environment away from family. We keep this in mind as we observe students grow throughout the school year. The teachers will make notations of each student and then accumulate those observations when preparing the spring and fall progress reports. Each child will develop differently and each child will have their own natural strengths and weaknesses. It is a wonderful and amazing transformation. We understand our opportunity to be among the first to invest in each child’s life and we are so pleased to be given that chance.
