Thursday and Friday are Kindergarten Orientation at my school this week. Our Kindergarten students don't come to school so we can meet our new students and their parents can start the paperwork necessary!
As the parents are filling out forms, the Kindergarten teachers take the students into another classroom (away from their parents) to observe them and learn a little bit about their personalities. For those parents out there, the activities we do...
1. Self-Portraits- We ask students to draw a picture of themselves, write their name and then ask them to cut it out either along a straight line or a curvy line. We look for how a student holds a crayon, pencil and scissors. We see if students know their name without having to look at it and how mature their drawing is. For example, is it a stick person? A person with a head with legs coming out of the head without a body? Just a head? Is it purple or green? Can you tell it's a person?
2. Number Puzzles- We ask the students to identify different numbers and put them in order
3. Name Stamping- We ask students to use letter stamps to stamp out their name. As they are stamping, we ask them to identify different letters and ask them if they know letter sounds.
4. Sorting- We ask students to sort various items into groups either by color or by category. This is particularly telling; sometimes students don't know what sorting is but after watching a teacher do it, they can do it. Or, those students who still have no idea what is going on. We also ask students to make patterns.
5. Planting- This one is just for fun! Students plant a lima bean in a clear cup of dirt so they can take something home!
My favorite thing though is seeing how small the students are and realizing how far my students this year have come since this time last year!!
That is such a good idea. We do sign ups for kinder but there is no observing. Then those kids will also feel that much more comfortable on the first day of school.
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