Vail Mountain School
KINDERGARTEN
KINDERGARTEN, HERE I COME! Helping To Prepare Your Child for School It seems that just yesterday you were bringing your child home for the first time. Now, in the blink of an eye, you’re preparing to send him or her off to kindergarten! The first day of school is one filled with mixed emotions for both you and your child. Understandably, most children enter kindergarten with some degree of anxiety. As parents, you can help ensure a smooth transition for your child. • Attend all orientation opportunities offered by your child’s school. Introduce yourself to teachers and administrators. If you have special concerns about your child, schedule a meeting with the teacher and counselor. • Start a school routine early. This includes bedtime, waking time, and lunch time. Think about your child’s upcoming school schedule and align your home schedule with this as much as possible. • Avoid statements such as “Mommy will miss you so much,” or “My little boy is leaving me.” Such comments send the message that you are worried about your child leaving. Instead, let your child know that you will miss him/her but that you have scheduled activities for the day and will be fine. • Make transportation arrangements very clear and reliable. Early in the year, kindergarteners often worry about how they will get home. If your child’s transportation arrangements will vary throughout the week, create a colorful and easy-to-read schedule and place it in your child’s backpack. Just knowing that it’s there will provide comfort. • Accept that your child and his/her best friend have been assigned to different classes. Discuss with your child that this is a great opportunity to make additional friends, and that “old” friends can visit after school. • Enlist the help of an older student whom you know well. An older student (even a first grader) can help your child walk into the building and find their classroom. Ensure that after a few days, the student helper steps back. Ultimately, you want your child to be self-sufficient. • Simplify your family’s schedule for the first two weeks of school. Chances are your child will come home tired and will need down time. Rushing off to doctor appointments, piano lessons, or running errands may cause emotional meltdowns. Spend a few weeks getting into a school routine. Then, gradually add extracurricular and family activities. • Encourage your child to assume responsibility for school materials. Your child (not you!) should empty his or her backpack each day, giving important papers to you. Designate a place in which backpacks and library books are to be kept. After a few weeks of helping to establish routines, step back and let your child be in charge. • Talk about school realistically. To bolster their children’s enthusiasm, parents often go overboard in describing the school experience. As a result, children may be disappointed that school isn’t the all-day play session they had envisioned. Keep your discussions about school realistic and general.
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We are at VMS because our kids are thriving in every way. They have strong social relationships with peers and teachers and are confident when speaking with adults. They are succeeding academically, are inspired to learn, and take pride in their work.
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~ Lower, Middle, & Upper School Parent
First Day Blues “What If My Child Cries and Clings To Me?” While some children enter school with complete confidence, it just wouldn’t be the first day of kindergarten without a few tears. In the event that your child cries and clings to you, stay calm. Avoid crying along with your child. Gently but firmly tell your child that they are going to school, and that they will be safe there. Give one last hug, remind your child who will be waiting for them when they finish the school day, and say goodbye. (Yes, it’s difficult!). Don’t prolong your departure, and don’t criticize or ridicule your child in any way. What they are feeling is perfectly normal. Separation anxiety typically subsides after a few days. If, however, your child is throwing full-blown temper tantrums every day before school, consult with the teacher. Chances are, they are fine upon arriving in their classroom. Remember, kids can be masters of manipulation. Rest assured, teachers and support staff are very experienced in handling crying children. Your child will be in good hands.
The information contained here was prepared by Reading Teacher Solutions, n.d.
WHAT IS A KINDERGARTEN CHILD? PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS:
• is quiet for only short periods of time • needs frequent change in activity • enjoys games with much movement but fatigues easily • is at the age of marked susceptibility to communicable childhood diseases • has good motor control, though generally small muscle control is less developed than large muscle control • has usually developed hand, eye, and foot preference
• functions more effectively in small groups than in large groups • needs attention and approval • is eager to assume definite responsibility on their level of maturity • is self-centered • enjoys talking • seeks companionship of other children, responds to group acceptance • needs adult direction in learning to share materials and taking turns
MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS: • is active, eager, interested and curious • is eager to learn, but most are not ready for formal abstract learning • is interested in stories and books • often confuses fantasy and reality • learns by experience - observing, questioning, imitating, examining, doing, exploring and investigating • gains understanding of relationships through dramatic play, music, art, movement and construction • tells fairly long stories rather well • likes to draw objects and explain them in detail • demonstrates increasing skill in thinking things through • solves simple problems
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Our child loves the whole Kindergarten experience at VMS. He runs into school after carpool drop-off.
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~ Kindergarten Parent
EMOTIONAL CHARACTERISTICS: • needs a sense of belonging • responds to praise, affection, encouragement, and consistent direction • searches for trust, fairness and definite standards • gains a feeling of security from routine • needs to live in a reasonably predictable classroom situation • needs reasonable freedom
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The school’s acceptance of all students gave our Kindergarten son the confidence to participate in the senior talent show. Best of all was the comfort the seniors gave him when he didn’t win the prize. Their warm generosity spoke volumes about the values that VMS has instilled in its students.
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~ Kindergarten Parent
WHAT EVERY CHILD NEEDS FOR GOOD MENTAL HEALTH* To grow healthy and strong, children should have good food, plenty of sleep, exercise, and fresh air. Children have emotional needs too. To have perfect health—to be both healthy and happy—children require: • LOVE - Every child needs to feel... that their parents love, want, and enjoy them...that they matter very much to someone... that there are people near them who care what happens to them. • ACCEPTANCE - Every child needs to believe...that his parents like them for themselves, just the way they are...that they like them all the time, and not only when they act according to their ideas of they way a child should act...that they always accept them, even though often they may not approve of the things they do... that they will let them grow and develop in their own way. • SECURITY - Every child needs to know...that their home is a good safe place they can feel sure about... that their parents will always be on hand, especially in times of crisis when they need them the most...that they belong to a family or group; that there is a place where they fit in. • PROTECTION - Every child needs to feel...that their parents will keep them safe from harm...that they will help them when they must face strange, unknown, and frightening situations. • INDEPENDENCE - Every child needs to know...that their parents want them to grow up and that they encourage them to try new things for themselves and by themselves. • FAITH - Every child needs to have a...set of moral standards to live by...belief in the human values of kindness, courage, honesty, generosity, and justice. • GUIDANCE - Every child needs to have...friendly help in learning how to behave toward persons and things... grown-ups around them who show them by example how to get along with others. • CONTROL - Every child needs to know...that there are limits to what they are permitted to do and that their parents will hold them to these limits... that though it is all right to feel jealous or angry, they will not be allowed to hurt themselves or others when they have these feelings. Children whose basic needs are satisfied have a better chance to grow up in good mental health and to become mentally healthy adults: people who are good parents, good mates, good workers, good neighbors, good citizens.
*Public Relations Department, National Association for Mental Health, Inc., 1790 Broadway, New York, New York, 1968 This content is taken directly from “Activities in Auditory Skills, Visual Skills, Motor Skills, Comprehensive Skills, SocialEmotional Skills, Language Skills” KINDERGARTEN EDITION By Chancy and Bruce Educational Resources.
Vail Mountain School
Lower School Homework Approach Homework may be the greatest extinguisher of curiosity ever invented ~ Alfie Kohen, author of The Homework Myth
The Vail Mountain Lower School believes in a no-homework policy. WHY? Many of us have varying opinions about homework that are likely influenced by our own experiences in school. But times have changed and we now know much more about the brain, anxiety, stress, and most importantly what fuels engagement, joy, and creative and critical thinking in young students. The Lower School team believes strongly in the decision to cut back on homework.
At VMS, we believe that teachers are the ones that should be reporting on your child’s progress, not homework. We provide student work, rubrics, assessments, standardized testing summaries and many other evaluative insights into a child’s learning in Friday Folders. We also prepare evaluations quarterly and have two parent-teacher conferences a year. Teachers are always willing to meet with any parent that feels uninformed about their child’s progress.
Our current Vail Mountain Lower School homework policy, based on data and the knowledge of young children is what is best for students. Reading nightly and encouraging families to use the “extra” time for athletics or special interests, family time (dinner, games, reading) and making sure kids have a good night’s rest will lead to better academic achievement and healthy and happy students and families. You’re welcome! :)
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If all you want is to cram kids’ heads with facts for tomorrow’s tests that they’re going to forget by next week, yeah, if you give them more time and make them do the cramming at night, that could raise the scores. But if you’re interested in kids who know how to think or enjoy learning, then homework isn’t merely ineffective, but counterproductive.” ~ Alfie Kohn, author of The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing
Meet the Kindergarten teachers
Mrs. Blumenreich
Mrs. Szmyd
This is my 15th year at Vail Mountain School. Prior to VMS, I taught preschool for four years in Breckenridge. I reside in Frisco, CO and have lived in Summit County for 18 years. I live with my husband, Gregg, and my 5.5 year old son, Xander, who will also join our Kindergarten this year! Originally, I hail from western Kentucky.
This is my 10th year teaching and 8th year in Kindergarten. I taught 1st grade and second grade prior to Kindergarten. My husband Matt, daughter Ruby, and dog Telemark (Tele) live in Edwards. I am a Colorado native but grew up on Long Island, NY. I went to Boston College and studied Biology. I have a Masters in Education Psychology from UC Denver.
a.k.a. Mrs. Blume (pronounced “bloom”)
(pronounced “Schmid”)
Activities to Promote Kindergarten Skills GROSS MOTOR Activities Gross motor development is the awareness of large muscle activity such as the muscles in the arms and legs.
HAVE YOUR CHILD: • Walk, run, march, dance, hop, gallop, and skip it possible to the rhythms of a piano or drum. • Creep with opposite hand and knee striking the floor at the same time. • Roll at different speeds. • Walk up and down stairs using alternate feet. Walk on tip toes and walk backwards. • Stand with hands at sides. On command have your child jump and spread his feet apart while they clap their hands above their head.
• Try body stunts such as a rabbit hop, duck walk, tumbling, pushups, rolling a hoop, playing on a jungle gym. • Walk a line four inches wide, eight to twelve feet in length in a heel-to-toe manner. • Roll, toss, bounce, catch a ball. Start with a 7* playground ball and change to a smaller ball gradually because they are hard to track in the air.
FINE MOTOR Activities Fine motor development is the awareness of the small muscles of the body.
HAVE YOUR CHILD: • Use clay, or playdough, color, weave, fold, cut, lace, tie, etc. • Fit objects together such as nesting cubes, simple jigsaw puzzles and cut-out stencils. • Demonstrate shapes with hand and arm, beginning with a circle, a square, etc. in the air, on the board, on paper, on a line (hold the child’s hand and help them carry through on the movement). • String beads in a reproduction of a pattern. String macaroni, sew with yarn, burlap or felt.
• Use toys such as marbles, peg boards, blocks, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Legos, and Pick-Up Sticks. • Practice snapping, buttoning, lacing, bow-tying and zipping • Color within heavy dark lines, outline shapes in picture ads while progressing to coloring books. • Practice with scissors cutting. • Trace and outline. • Practice turning book pages one at a time. • Finger paint.
VISUAL DISCRIMINATION ACTIVITIES Visual discrimination is the ability to visually differentiate they forms and symbols in one’s environment.
HAVE YOUR CHILD: • Practice matching colors and forms. • Sort objects by size, color, content (e.g., marbles, buttons.) • Match all things of about the same shape or size as round, square, smaller-than-a-book, etc. • Look at 4 or 5 items that are the same and one that is not the same. Have your child find the one that is different. • Using nesting cubes or blocks talk about the relationship of sizes. • Match letters, numbers which are the same. • Use geometric shapes to make pictures. • Play card games such as “Slap Jack,” “Go Fish,” “Old Maid,” and other matching games. • Point out common shapes in pictures from magazines.
(e.g., circles, squares, rectangles, etc.) • Cut pictures from magazines and cut off parts of the objects. (e.g., a leg off a table, a tail from an animal, etc.) Have your child draw the missing part. • Play memory games without cards. This one can be played at the table after dinner. Everyone should participate. All players study the table. The first player closes their eyes while someone else removes one object from the table. The question to the first player is “What’s missing?” As the game continues, the challenge lessens and the table gets cleared.
VISUAL MEMORY ACTIVITIES Visual memory is the ability to accurately recall prior visual experiences.
HAVE YOUR CHILD: • Use several small picture cards that are made up in sets of two. Give the child one set. Show them a card from your set, remove it and then let them look for the same card in his set. • Show the child a picture in a story book. Close the book. Have your child tell you at least three things they saw in the picture. • Arrange some items in a specific order. Have your child close their eyes while you mix them up. Have the child put them back in order or name them in order from memory.
• Arrange five or six different items on a table. Cover the objects and show one duplicate for five or six seconds. Remove the duplicate and uncover the original objects. Have the child identify the matching object. • Have your child close their eyes and describe something familiar such as their clothes or his room. • Play the “Memory Game” by Milton Bradley. Start with matching five sets. Add another set each time the child is successful.
AUDITORY DISCRIMINATION ACTIVITIES Auditory discrimination is the ability to receive and differentiate auditory stimuli. • Always verbalize experiences with your child. (e.g., when traveling, talk about what you are seeing.) • Play music and encourage your child to hum and then sing by imitating. • Tell your child a short nursery rhyme and ask your child to repeat the rhyme. • Play a game by giving a two step direction for your child to follow. Increase to a three step and a four step direction as your child masters each level.
• Play “Where is the sound?” Hide a loud ticking clock and have your child find it. • Have your child close their eyes. Ring a bell first on their right side and then in different directions. Have your child turn towards the source of the sound. • Clap a simple rhythm and have your child repeat the rhythm. • Have your child close their eyes and listen while you perform common sounds such as bouncing a ball, snapping fingers, turning on water, knocking on a door. Have your child identify the sound.
AUDITORY MEMORY ACTIVITIES Auditory memory is the ability to retain and recall auditory Information. • Ask your child to relate outstanding events of the previous day. • Ask your child to name as many animals, foods, or articles of clothing that they can remember. • Give your child simple directions: color the tree, color the circle, and have your child follow the directions. • Give your child simple directions for a game and have your child repeat. • Have your child repeat simple number and letter sequences. • Play games such as “I’m packing my suitcase. I put in a ______, and add more items one by one.
• Play restaurant with your child asking them to remember food orders to give to the waitress. • Pick a special word from a story that will be read many times. Each time the word is read, have your child raise their hand. • Have your child draw a picture about the story they have listened to. Have them tell you about what they have drawn. • Have your child close his eyes and “hear” in their imagination: a favorite song, a dog barking, a car horn blowing, etc. • Clap your hands in a special rhythm and then have your child repeat the clapping sequence.
RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES Receptive language development is the ability to understand words in accord with chronological age. • Play “I spy” (a color, a shape, etc.). Say “I spy something you don’t see” and describe the color, shape, etc. • Describe something in the room and have your child try to guess what you have described. • Give directions which ask your child to place something on, behind, in front of, between, under and next to. • Have pictures of animals. Give a descriptive word and have your child choose the animal that fits the description.
• Ask your child to pantomime activities such as: show me how you wash dishes, drive a car, brush your teeth, etc. • Have pictures of community workers and describe one action that worker may do. Have your child identify the worker. • Have your child point to various parts of the body. Tell them to point to his chin, his elbow, his shoulders, etc. • Put several items on the table. Describe one and have your child pick the one you have described.
EXPRESSIVE LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES Expressive language development is the ability to express oneself verbally. • Have your child use a play or real telephone and play conversations. • Use a play microphone and have your child introduce themselves, sing a song, recite a nursery rhyme, etc. • Show your child an object and have them describe it. • Have your child look at photographs or pictures and describe what they see. • Make a “touch and feel” box. Place a familiar object in the box and have your child touch the object without looking at it. Have your child describe what they feel.
• Let your child draw a picture. On the bottom of the page write exactly what your child dictates as they describe their picture. • Using a story book, have your child “read” the story by telling you about the pictures. • Let your child make their own book by cutting pictures from a magazine. Have your child “read” his book by describing the picture.
REASONING ACTIVITIES Reasoning comprehension is the ability to use judgment and reasoning as the child understands their environment. • Read to your child and ask them questions about the story. • Buy a commercial set (or make up your own) of pictures of opposites such as: front-back, hot-cold, old-new. • Gather many pictures of various items. Have your child sort the pictures according to association, such as: food, animals, and clothes. • Gather various items of differing materials and have the child sort items such as: plastic, metal, rough and smooth. • Have your child sort items according to color and size.
• Have your child make “like” and “different” comparisons between things. • Have your child complete various sentences such as: Food is for ________. Clothes are for _______. Scissors are for ________. • After you read to your child, have them sequence the story. What happened first, what happened next. • Show your child pictures with emotions and have them describe the feelings.
SOCIAL - EMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES Social - Emotional development is the ability to relate meaningfully to others and be accepted in one-to-one and group situations. • Listen to the child and respond to the importance of what they are telling you. What a child “tells,” they believe it to be important enough to talk about: something they did or saw, something that happened in school, etc. Help relate the happenings from his child’s world to your adult world. • Include the child whenever it is possible to do so in decisions that affect them; where the family could go on Sunday, what clothes to wear, etc. • Give reasonable tasks (explain what they are and show them how to do them) around the house for which they are expected to be responsible; caring for their belongings, clearing the table, etc.
• Praise them when they start and finish with such responsibilities. • Encourage social interaction with their friends. If they do not live nearby, provide a means of getting the children together. • Set reasonable limits for their behavior that they understand and that they can achieve. • Sometimes when a child expresses deep emotion, they may want to or need to talk about it. At such times, “ask questions” rather than “give answers.” Let them also ask you questions. Be as honest and as open-minded and as sensitive to their feelings as you can.
Jbill@vms.edu | www.vms.edu/apply | 970-477-7175