I am Teacher Tammy. I graduated from Utah Valley University with a degree in History. I love History, but decided that rather than teach high school or junior high school, I would teach Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten. I taught Pre-K at Helquist Academy in Layton, Utah for two years and loved it!
My plan:
- Put an emphasis on learning in a fun, positive environment filled with lots of play.
- Have activities centered around building socialization skills (serving lunch family-style, for example).
- Encourage kids to question things and be curious.
- Focus on learning new things according to developmental readiness, not chronological age.
- Have a low teacher-to-child ratio; the lower the ratio, the more individualized attention for each child.
As a teacher at Helquist Academy, I taught 20 children at one time and discovered that the best thing for children is a low teacher-to-child ratio. I only accept 6 children each year for this purpose.
Screenings:
Some schools routinely run screenings before kindergarten enrollment as a way of assessing a child’s abilities. A screening is not a readiness test – it doesn’t measure nearly all the factors that make a child considered ready for school – nor is it an intelligence test. It’s just a way of discovering whether your child is developing on par with his/her age group and of ensuring that his/her needs will be met in kindergarten. Most commonly, a screening lasts anywhere from fifteen to twenty minutes and includes tests such as:
- Drawing and copying: the screener will note hand preference, comfort level, and fine motor and gripping skills.
- Visual and auditory memory: how well the child is able to remember what he's/she's just seen and heard.
- Building with blocks: tests the child's hand/eye coordination, fine motor and dexterity skills, and perception.
- Using language: the screener will ask the child to describe things or solve simple problems using reasoning skills.
- Body movements: the child will be asked to hop, skip, and balance.
Readiness Test:
The following 7 things kindergartners need to know and may be tested on within the first month of kindergarten:
1. The upper case alphabet out of sequence or mixed up. Children will be asked to name the letters listed, such as: B, D, X, K, J, M, O, etc.
2. The numbers to 10, out of sequence or mixed up. Children will be asked to name the letters, listed, such as: 2, 5, 9, 8, 1, 3, 4, etc.
3. Children will be asked to identify basic colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple
4. Your child will be asked to identify basic shapes: circle, diamond, rectangle, triangle, oval and square.
5. Children will be asked to identify basic coins: penny, nickel and dime.
6. Your child will be asked to count objects to 10
7. Kids will be asked how far they can count to 100.
