The Beginning of Kindergarten

 In some ways, this school year has been like no other I have experienced. Change can be hard but also brings time to reflect on what we've always done, and make changes for the better. The slower pace of the day, the focus on social/emotional curriculum, the extra time in the forest classroom each day, has brought so much positive energy to kindergarten this year. Our classroom community feels so strong, and students are so happy. Most of my emails have been updates, details for hybrid schedules, etc. I wanted to post to give you a glimpse into our daily life in kindergarten this year.

We start each day with some quiet play time in the classroom. Students have enjoyed playing with dinosoars, legos, magnatiles, and coloring. This week they started playing some board games together! When everyone has arrived we wash hands and head just outside the classroom for a picnic snack. Kids eat about six feet apart, on their towel from home, and when they finish they use the bathroom and then look at books from their book bins. The first days there was a lot to learn about the routine, how to manage all the materials, etc, but now they've really got it! 

After snack and books, we head on our hike up to the forest classroom. Some days have been super chilly, some hot, some wet and we needed boots and puddle pants. The kids have loved the trek up, and we often joke about turning on our engines or charging our batteries to get up the hills. Once we are up there, we meet in a circle on our stumps and have morning meeting. We greet everyone by name, sing the song A Beautiful Day, and last week began our Second Step social/emotional curriculum around Being a Listener. After circle, we have begun a "sit spot" routine, where each day students return to the same spot. A time to rest, reflect, notice changes of the season, etc. Although it has only been a couple of times, they have loved this part of our day, asking if it can be longer! After that we have some time to play and explore in the forest. The kids did such an amazing job the first week that we moved the cones out to make the boundaries a little larger. We end our time in the forest with a read aloud and head back down for lunch. 

For lunch we are back to our picnic spots and kids have been LOVING the bagged school lunch. After lunch they have a recess spot on the hill to play. We come in from lunch/recess for quiet time, where kids have enjoyed playing with playdoh and listening to a Sparkle Story. This week they could choose between playdoh and coloring. 

After quiet time we have some literacy time. We use the Heggerty program for phonemic awareness, calling it "word play" and use the Fundations program to learn about letters and sounds. We learn about two new letters each week, so we have been sorting objects by beginning sounds, placing that magnet on a magnet board, and practicing writing the letters on white boards. 

Then we have essential arts. Our first three week rotation was PE with Ms. Porter, and starting yesterday we are doing Enrichment with Ms. Rogers, which includes lots of shapes, lines, and drawing! 

After that, we have some time for math activities, afternoon snack, and we go to the Library on Monday to "shop for books" as Ms. Clopton calls it! 

Overall I have been SO impressed with how students have adapted to new routines and how kind and thoughtful they are. They are learning so many new things, becoming such responsible and independent kindergartners, and being super flexible with mask wearing and all the new regulations.