What My Daughter is Learning in Kindergarten

My daughter is getting used to kindergarten now. At first she would say, "I like it but why do I have to go everyday?" It was quite an adjustment from attending preschool one day a week for three hours. Yesterday (a Saturday) she said, "I want to go to school today." I asked why and she said she missed Ms. DeLise. Now, what could make a mother happier than to know her daughter loves school and she loves her teacher?

So what is she learning in kindergarten? My worry was that she already knew most everything she would learn in kindergarten. She knows her letters and numbers, basic addition, some sight words, so what could she really learn? But my fears have subsided because she is actually learning a lot. To begin with, they have gym, and music, and art, all of which I think are great for her. She also learns all the basics of following the rules and interacting with kids. Plus, I get a report each week of the things they have learned. She has learned some shapes that I never taught her such as a trapezoid, and hexagon. She brings home these paper books she makes and she has circled all her sight words in the story and she likes to read them to me (sometimes with my help). She loves to follow the rules and gets a smile face every day on her behavior chart.

When I pick her up each day, I ask how school was and she says "Good." She doesn't really expand on it that much but I ask lots of questions and usually when we get home I learn more from little stories she tells me or we act it out. I am the student and she is the teacher and it is so cute to see school from her eyes. "Pupils, pupils, one, two, three, all eyes on me," she says. "I am looking for a line leader," she says, surveying her pretend class. We line up and she says, "Time for specials" as she leads me down the hall. "Ok," she instructs me to still against the wall and tells me we will play quiet mouse while we wait. Then in pretend art class she sings, "Get your feet out of your seat, do-dah, do dah, get your seat out of your seat so you can have a safe and happy day," before instructing me in the proper way to draw a person. She loves acting it out and telling me what to do! She shows me how they graph the weather and how to do push ups. It is great fun for me to see what she does at school. So next time you want to know what your child is learning in kindergarten, ask them to act it out!

You may also like to read about her First Day of Kindergarten.