Effective Kindergarten Teaching
Kindergarten children learn when subject areas are integrated
Effective kindergarten teaching occurs when students are offered thematic units rich with content. Important literacy and math concepts can be reinforced as theme content is shared. Whether by using thematic units or other methods, learning a new concept is easier when it is repeated in many different subject areas.
A child learning about the life cycle of a butterfly may act it out with creative movement and poetry, paint it with a large paper and paint, illustrate and label the stages in science and literacy lessons or listen to related stories and songs.
As a rule, continue kindergarten themes for no longer than 3 weeks. Exceptions here are ongoing units such as frog eggs to frogs or growing plants from seeds. Don't keep pushing a theme if the children have lost interest. Ask yourself if you are presenting enough "real objects". New themes get everyone motivated and enthusiastic.
Learning is developmental
Effective kindergarten teaching happens when teachers remember that children develop physically and progress academically, socially and artistically at different rates.
Just as some children get their first teeth at 4 months and others at 10 months, some children's ability to observe and process information develops at varying rates. Some four year olds have superb small motor coordination and draw and cut beautifully, but have delayed speech patterns. Other children may be verbally eloquent at four years of age but be physically uncoordinated and be at a scribbling stage in drawing.
Offer open-ended activities to meet the developmental stages of all students. An open-ended activity is any activity that all children can have success with. The more advanced child may add words, a more complex drawing or use a higher level of thinking than a child at an earlier stage of development.
Children need instruction, practice and time
to learn new skills and concepts
No one learns to jump rope by only looking at the rope and exploring its properties. Effective kindergarten teaching happens when guided instruction and time to practice are scheduled into the kindergarten day.
Practicing concepts and skills does not need to be dull and repetitive. Be creative - there are lots of ways to practice skills using puzzles, games, diagrams and more. Do not automatically think "worksheet" when you think of skill practice.
Effective kindergarten teaching includes presenting thematic units to make learning interesting, understanding that learning is developmental, and giving students plenty of time to practice new skills.
Kindergarten Teaching Page 1: Understand how young children learn.
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