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The Littlest Learners

The Littlest Learners

Preparing Your Child for Kindergarten

Dawn R. Roginski

I have been so blessed to be surrounded by a love of language and literacy. Without my wonderful role models my career may never have become a passion. And so, this book is for you:

To my parents, Richard and Nancy Turocy, thank you for the loving words that always filled my ears and our home.

To my children, Rachel, Leah, and Alex, thank you for understanding that a family that talks, reads, and plays together is a family that will love together.

To Bob, thank you for surrounding me with the silence I needed to complete this title. Your silent encouragement is one of my favorite blessings.

To the many educators not only from my academic career, but those of my children, thank you for providing me an opportunity to watch from afar. Your dedication and commitment to your craft often goes unseen. When you feel you are underappreciated, please recognize that your efforts are forever shaping the future and many are grateful.

Contents

There are many milestones that cause every parents heart to start beating rapidly. Sharing the initial news that one is expecting a child is instantly exciting and terrifying. Expectant parents worry about labor, delivery, and their abilities to be a good parent. They may worry that their child wont be able to compete with that baby down the block. Perhaps their neighbor attends Little Gym activities, Itsy Bitsy Yoga, and Kindermusik programs. A new parent may fret that her child will not be the best. The need to be competitive is reinforced when the expectant mom registers for her baby shower. She is bombarded not only by strollers, car seats, and cribs but also must-have activity mats, baby-safe puzzles, Leap Frog educational toys, and Baby Einstein multimedia products. A mother-to-be may even hear rumblings that the wait-list for the best preschool fills up before her to-be-preschooler has even arrived. A well-intentioned mommy may feel a need to get her baby-to-be on that wait-list lest she be too late.

A frenzied new mom may wonder if she will have the time to simply rock her baby while singing a soft lullaby. She may question if reading picture books out loud is ever going to prepare her child for that competitive preschool. She may wonder if the nursery rhymes she remembers from her own childhood are now too outdated to share with her baby. Mom may speculate that allowing her youngster to play with spatulas and bowls is wasting precious teaching time. She may also question if buying mass-marketed products is the best way to guarantee her childs future literacy and eventual success.

Once parents have survived infancy, toddlerhood, and preschool, the word kindergarten quickly rekindles both excitement and anxiety. Parents worry that their child might not be ready to separate and miss them too much during the school day. They are also concerned that their child doesnt miss them enough. Will their child be liked by their classmate? More importantly, will they be liked by the teacher? Today, in a time when core curriculums and early learning standards make headlines, parents anguish whether they have best prepared their child for school success.

As I look back nostalgically on my own childrens school careers, I recall field trips, choir concerts, art shows, Thanksgiving Day feasts, and Hundred Day celebrations. But, I would struggle to correctly name each grades teacher. If I did recall a teachers name, I may confuse which of my children she/he taught. While many elementary school memories are blurry, one parent-teacher conference remains crystal clear. It is that ten-minute conference that spurred my interest in emergent literacy. It is that wee conversation that shaped my career. It also triggered my need to write this book and share the culmination of my discoveries about our littlest learners.

I was realizing my own parenting anxiety as I entered a fall parent-teacher conference for my oldest daughter. She was a bright little girl (and continues to be an intelligent young woman) and I suspected that kindergarten was not terribly challenging for her. She knew not only her alphabets, numerals, shapes, and colors but was also beginning to read on her own. As a well-intentioned young parent, I asked her kindergarten teacher what I should be doing at home to continue to challenge my young student. I was shocked when the teacher responded. She said, Dont worry mom, you did a great job with your daughter. She is on the right path and I suspect she will be a super student throughout her years. Relax. Your job is done.

In all honesty I must admit that I was terribly disappointed to not be offered a stack of worksheets and enrichment activities. I was a teacher and a librarian after all! I knew that all sorts of products were available to enrich children. I pondered why this well-respected and experienced kindergarten teacher considered my parenting job complete. I was just starting to catch on to this parenting thing, I thought! My daughter had only just turned five. What was I to do for twelve more school years? How could I continue to propel my child onto a trajectory of school success?

As I now understand, that wise woman and early learning expert was absolutely correct. My daughter continued to be a stellar student. She achieved what most would consider academic success. What exactly happened in a childs young life that her future success could be predicted by her very first classroom teacher? I have now come to believe that our kindergarten teacher wasnt simply speculating. She did have research to support her observations and suspicions about kindergarten students. As one example, the Northwest Evaluation Association indicates that virtually the entire achievement gap in language and almost 70 percent of the achievement gap in mathematics is created before the beginning of second grade and most likely between birth and kindergarten.

My daughters conference was many years ago but remains in the forefront of my mind. As a result of that very brief parent-teacher conference, I not only relaxed as a parent but have spent my resulting career in education and early literacy trying to understand what precisely needs to happen BEFORE a child enters school to assure that they are ready to learn. Contributing to my conclusions,