From a Preschooler's Perspective
A preschooler who thought that her friends were being too loud in the classroom exclaimed, "They're bustin' out my ears!"
The Kindergarten Connection
In the literature regarding early education, the transition from pre-kindergarten to kindergarten has a very prominent place. Research, as well as direct experience, tells us that the quality of the transitional experience of children and families to their first year of elementary school is of great importance.
Our preschool has had a very close and active relationship with the kindergarten classroom which is located right across the hall from us. This has been greatly beneficial to both the kindergarten children (most of whom have attended the preschool) and the preschoolers (most of whom will one day attend the Samuel Morey kindergarten). When school begins in the fall, the relationship that the new kindergarteners still have to the preschool is very important to them (and we also start to form a close connection to kindergarteners who did not attend our preschool.) During the later part of the school year we begin to have regularly scheduled joint activities with the kindergarten, thereby strengthening the growing bond between the current preschoolers and the kindergarten program and teacher.
Our impromptu interactions with the kindergarteners take many forms as: we see them in the hallway, they drop in to say hello, they come by to eat breakfast in the morning before school begins, they bring us birthday cupcakes, we see them outside during recess, or they just pop by our window to say hello. At other times, some of us from the preschool go into the kindergarten to say hello as well. The more formal, planned activities can take place in the preschool, the kindergarten, or on the playground. These are rousing and fun affairs where preschoolers and kindergarteners play and learn together - and the preschoolers are continuously getting more comfortable with the idea of their eventual move across the hall.
As the preschool teacher I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to stay in close contact with the preschool "graduates" long after they have moved on to their elementary years and I also have really enjoyed the opportunity to become acquainted with the children that did not attend our preschool program. And from the kindergarten point of view, I know that the teachers there have always found it to be extremely beneficial to have the preschoolers become so familiar with, and feel so comfortable in, the kindergarten - well before it is time for their transition to actually occur.
Below are some pictures of the kindergarteners (with a few of their preschool friends) during the course of this year. From these pictures you can see the importance to them of their ongoing connection to students and staff on the preschool level. I am sure that this positive connection has helped to make their first year in the elementary program a happier and more successful experience, and in turn will help to provide the same benefits to the preschoolers when it is their time to move across the hall!
