Gavyn Satter might not know all of the phrases to explain how he feels about going to high school for the primary time in only a few weeks, most likely as a result of he hasn’t realized them but.
However he is aware of one factor.
“I am simply excited,” the 5-year-old mentioned.
Satter and his mom Kristi Satter, have been amongst a number of on the Kansas Kids’s Discovery Middle’s first session of Camp Kindergarten, a one-afternoon expertise designed to familiarize toddlers and oldsters with going to high school.
The camp, supplied at varied free classes all through the summer time, brings academics from space faculties to satisfy with households and briefly introduces kids to the customs and norms of life in kindergarten.
Camp Kindergarten is about ‘taking away the thriller’ of going to high school
Dené Mosier, president and CEO of the middle, mentioned the camp took place a number of years in the past as a part of a group effort to make sure each little one is prepared for kindergarten by age 5.
Whereas preschool and daycare would possibly provide socialization and studying alternatives to some kids, not all households have entry. Camp Kindergarten, then, “takes away the thriller” some households would possibly see in heading to a faculty for the primary time, Mosier mentioned.
Kids within the camp get to play with the museum’s varied exercise stations, whereas additionally getting the chance to sit down down and listen to an precise kindergarten instructor lead a lesson in a mock classroom setting. The kids additionally follow social-emotional studying expertise in studying easy methods to play and work together with different kids and adults.
It units up college students for achievement as they start studying to learn or depend, mentioned Haley Slusser, a kindergarten instructor at West Indianola Elementary. Slusser and fellow kindergarten instructor Shelbie Lutz led college students in a e-book studying and actions Monday afternoon.
But when the camp was an introduction to the principles and expectations of kindergarten, it was additionally time to instill in future college students that college is enjoyable and one thing to take pleasure in.
“It is enjoyable, and it is interactive,” Slusser mentioned. “They could even meet a good friend right here that they may keep in mind in August.
“A few of these youngsters won’t get to expertise that at residence — studying easy methods to go as much as others, take turns and play.”
Dad and mom additionally study kindergarten and modeling good habits
Although the camp’s actions are directed towards kids, mother and father are additionally inspired to study and play alongside their kids.
For a lot of kids, the camp might even be their first time interacting at size with different kids or adults who aren’t their mother and father or caregivers.
“Camp Kindergarten offers mother and father a snapshot of what it would seem like within the classroom for his or her child, in addition to give the mother and father some concepts of issues they could possibly be doing at residence to complement a number of the issues we do within the classroom,” Slusser mentioned.
For space faculties, the camp can also be a chance to have mother and father meet academics and different college officers, and ask any questions they could have, like what college provides their kids would possibly want or easy methods to discover schedule and speak to data for his or her faculties.
“If we will carry these alternatives to households to allow them to are available and go to educators, we can provide them the instruments they should assist their youngsters prepare at residence,” Mosier mentioned. “That manner, when August rolls round and it is time to go to kindergarten, they’ve had the possibility to follow a few of these expertise.”
“It is about persevering with to associate with households,” mentioned Becky Kramer, director of early childhood and elementary training for Seaman USD 345. “We educate them what to anticipate in kindergarten, whether or not that is by way of improvement, superb motor or gross motor expertise, or social expertise. It simply helps the youngsters have a extra profitable transition to high school.”
The right way to register for Kansas Kids’s Discovery Middle Camp Kindergarten
Households with incoming kindergarten college students are inspired to register for one in all a number of upcoming classes of Camp Kindergarten.
Camp classes are 4 to six pm on Mondays (June 20, 27 and July 11) on the Kansas Kids’s Discovery Middle, 4400 SW tenth Ave. Spanish-speaking academics can be out there on the final day of the camp on July 11.
Registration for all classes is free, however spots are restricted and out there on a first-come, first-serve foundation, so households are inspired to register as quickly as potential.
Moreover, the Kansas Kids’s Discovery Middle will host its annual Discovery Kindergarten Honest on July 25, at which kindergarten academics and representatives from space college districts can be out there to satisfy with households. Group companions with the middle can even be readily available to supply well being screenings, actions and different studying sources.
Rafael Garcia is an training reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He will be reached at [email protected]. Comply with him on Twitter at @byRafaelGarcia.
