WELCOME

 Welcome to our blog!

Are you curious about Kindergarten, child development, play-based learning and what it all means? Well than you've come to the right place. We created this blog in hopes of sharing our thoughts, research and personal experiences with parents who may have questions or concerns as their children enter the school system and begin their journey in Kindergarten. 

We are simply two teachers who want to share as much as we can with parents and families in hopes of creating a safe and welcoming blog experience for everyone!

We look forward to sharing and creating with you all!

- Oksana and Morgan 

What You Need To Know About Kindergarten!

Is your child starting Kindergarten this year?

Do you have questions about the program?

Don't worry, we're here to answer all of them!

Let's start by introducing the Kindergarten Program that your child will be attending, as it may look a little different from the Kindergarten that you attended or are used to!



In 2016 the Ontario Ministry of Education rolled out a brand new full day kindergarten program for four and five year olds that centres around how young children learn. This new program is child-centered and developmentally appropriate as it focuses on the learning ability of the children as they progress through the program. The main purpose of this program is to establish a strong learning foundation for children in their early years in a safe, play based environment that promotes the social, emotional, physical and cognitive development of all children.

The kindergarten program that your child will be attending reflects the belief that all students are capable learners and are full of potential to take ownership and be leaders in their learning. The program itself provides your children with the support they may need in order to develop the following:

• self-regulation
  
  
• health, well-being, and a sense of security
  
  
• emotional and social competence
  
  
• curiosity, creativity, and confidence in learning
  
  
• respect for diversity
  
  
• supports engagement and ongoing dialogue with families about their children’s learning and development.

What does this mean in the classroom?

In the classroom students learn and explore through play and inquiry based learning, and through building relationships with their teachers and their new friends! You may be wondering what play has to do with your child learning at school, don't they play enough at home?

Well... Play-based learning means that your child will be provided with various opportunities to “play” throughout the day, as when your child is playing, they are able to make connections to the world around them and work out their ideas and theories to further their learning! A great example of this is when a child is playing at the block centre, while yes they are playing with blocks, they are also learning how to stack, what shapes the blocks are, how to count, how to best organize or sort the blocks, what makes the most stable tower and how can they work with a friend to create their castle or other structure. While it might just seem like basic play to start with, it truly can form into beautiful learning experiences!

Who will be teaching your child?

In the current program, your child will have access to two amazing teachers who work together to create a fun, safe and caring program. Each classroom will have an Ontario College Teacher and a Registered Early Childhood Educator. The teacher and the RECE work together in the classroom with the students to create fun and creative learning experiences. This is amazing because no other grade or program has access to TWO educators at the same time. This also means that your child will have increased opportunities to work with and be supported by an adult in the classroom. The two educators work with your children to build upon their skills and explore what is important to them in their learning journey!

What does the classroom look like?

In Kindergarten, the classroom may look a little different than the classroom layout you’re used to. There are no teacher desks or desks set out in rows, instead the classroom focuses on an open and free flowing environment with a touch of the natural environment. Throughout a kindergarten classroom you will see a variety of different centres and learning stations set up throughout the classroom. For example you may see a block centre, a reading centre or cozy corner, smaller stations with other learning manipulatives, a house centre, an art centre and small pockets of desks grouped together for learning with a small group, one on one with a teacher and eating! The classroom will have touches of the natural environment throughout with art and creations from students hung on the walls and displayed across the classroom. Students also spend a great amount of time outside and continue their learning and exploration outside of the classroom. Any learning that occurs in the classroom, can also take place outdoors and it is where we see further connections and wonderings happen. Children love to explore the outdoors and there are always opportunities for them to learn outside. Whether they collect natural materials and create art or letters with them, conduct a science experiment or scavenger hunt or even begin learning about nature, the seasons, bugs and the weather! Truly anything can be explored outdoors and we see such great learning from children when they can explore the outdoors and get dirty!

Here are a few pictures to help you piece it together!

While this may be a lot of information to take in at once, we truly hope that this was a great introduction to the Kindergarten program and that you feel better prepared for September.

Check out our blog next week as we continue to explore the program and share more of our tips and tricks and answer your questions!

Reference:

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2016). The Kindergarten Program 2016. Retrieved from

https://www.ontario.ca/document/kindergarten-program-2016

Why Play?

 Welcome to Kindergarten, Where Our Work is Play! 

What is Play?

Play is the ultimate vehicle for learning! The Kindergarten Program believes that play allows for children to draw on their natural curiosities, own ideas and experiences to begin to make meaning of the world around them through sharing their perspectives with others. Whether indoors or outdoors, students will be engaged in intentional play-based learning that directly relates to the four frames of learning (belonging & contributing, problem-solving & innovating, self-regulation & well-being, and demonstrating literacy and mathematics behaviours).

What Are the Benefits of Play-Based Learning? 

There are many benefits to the use of play-based learning as the catalyst to drive student learning.

• Play allows for students to learn in an environment that is comfortable and familiar to them. The more comfortable students are, the more receptive they become!
  
  
• Play-based learning nurtures the natural curiosities that children possess, leading to higher-order thinking.
  
  
• Learning-through-play is one of the main contributors to emotional, social, physical, language and cognitive development. Neural pathways are advanced through play, developing students’ academic, emotional and social skills.
  
  
• Students become active participants and knowledge builders in their own learning, vs. passive recipients of knowledge!

Play-Based Learning In Action!

Within each of the four frames of the Kindergarten Program, there is a lot of playing and learning to be done! Here are some examples of what students may be doing throughout each of the four frames:

Belonging and Contributing:

• Sharing feelings and thoughts
  
  
• Building a positive self-image
  
  
• Developing social skills
  
  
• Caring and showing respect for self, others and the environment
  
  
• Exploring all forms of art

Problem-Solving and Innovating:

• Creating and Designing
  
  
• Hands-on exploration, observation and investigation into areas of student interest
  
  
• Sharing, ideas, opinions, questions and learnings with one another.

Self-Regulation and Well-Being:

• Developing self-regulation skills through collaboration and sharing
  
  
• Using and developing social skills in dramatic play
  
  
• Exploring movement
  
  
• Learning about health and well-being through the use of The Zones of Regulation

Demonstrating Literacy and Mathematics Behaviours:

• Number recognition
  
  
• Counting
  
  
• Matching
  
  
• Sorting/Classifying
  
  
• Shapes
  
  
• Patterning
  
  
• Letters and sounds
  
  
• Continuing to develop printing and fine-motor skills
  
  
• Developing early reading and writing skills
  
  
• Oral language development
  
  
• Rhyming recognition

Keep your eyes peeled for our next post on how play is assessed by educators within the Kindergarten classroom!

References:


​​CMEC. CMEC Statement on Play-Based Learning. (n.d.). Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. Retrieved from https://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/282/play-based-learning_statement_EN.pdf


Ontario Ministry of Education. (2016). The Kindergarten Program 2016. Retrieved from https://www.ontario.ca/document/kindergarten-program-2016


Student Achievement Division. (2013). Capacity Building Series: Inquiry-Based Learning.
Retrieved from https://lms.brocku.ca/access/content/group/f6bb4b50-0aeb-4f5d-a34e-b867e8ccbe9d/Course%20Materials/Inquiry-Based%20Learning.pdf

How is Play Assessed?

 How Do We Assess Play-Based Learning?

What is Assessment in Kindergarten?

Assessment is a vital aspect to the Kindergarten classroom. It allows us, your child's educators, to identify where your child is at in their learning, so to be able to plan and set goals for each student. Through the use of observation and documentation, we are able to reflect on the individual needs of each student, while planning activities and inquiries that will keep their learning development continuously moving.

There are three major forms of assessment we conduct within the classroom:

1. Assessment for Learning. This is continuous observation, documentation and assessment of learning conducted throughout the year and learning.
   
   
2. Assessment as Learning. This is a process where students gradually become autonomous learners through involving them in the learning process and reflecting on the learning process. 
   
   
3. Assessment of Learning. This is using student evidence and comparing it curriculum expectations to indicate where a students learning is, and what the next steps would be to further their learning in this area.
   
   

How Are We Assessing Students? 

We are assessing students every possible second of the day! In our eyes, there is no such thing as too much assessment. We are constantly engaging with students in their play, asking them questions to further their thoughts and learning process, while recording and notating important discoveries and ideas that took place throughout the learning. 

Some days, we may walk around and engage with students, simply jotting notes of observation on a t-chart with each students name. Other days, we may have a checklist, so to indicate which students have reached a set expectation for a certain activity. And other days we use technology, assessing students through photo/video documentation and other online assessment tools (such as a Google Form). The more information we collect regarding student learning through play, the better equipped we are to plan for furthered learning and specific instruction. 

References:

Ontario Ministry of Education (OME). (2016). Growing Success The Kindergarten Addendum
(Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools). Ontario Ministry of Education. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growingsuccessaddendum.pdf.

Ontario Ministry of Education (OME). (2016). The Kindergarten Program. Ontario Ministry of
Education. Retrieved from https://files.ontario.ca/books/edu_the_kindergarten_program_english_aoda_web_oct7.pdf.

Early Childhood Development: Why Is It Important?

 

Have you ever wondered what your child's development should look like, or why they learn one skill before another? This can be explained and explored through the understanding of early childhood development. As educators and adults alike begin to meet, support and build a relationship with your child, it is important that they have an understanding of how children develop and how to best support them. The Kindergarten program that we analyzed at the beginning of this blog was created and focused around early childhood development and has a strong emphasis on how to best teach and support children in the learning environment as they progress through their development. Luckily for us, children are always growing, learning and developing which provides teachers and parents alike with so many opportunities to support them!

When you think back to how your child started to grow and develop, you can remember that she learned to sit before walking, she babbled before she talked and she learned how to scribble before drawing a smiley face. This is exactly what childhood development is, learning one skill at a time before learning a new emerging skill. By knowing what comes before and next , this knowledge helps teachers determine what experiences and support your child will need within the classroom and at home.

Another important factor in teachers knowing how your child develops, is by having a strong understanding of how the child interacts with the world around them, from within the school, in the community and with you as a parent and family. Each child's development rate is different and is shaped by each child's family, their culture, daily experiences and socio-economic status. To say and think that all children in kindergarten are at the same development level is false. Every student that walks into the classroom will be entering at a different developmental level and have a variety of different experiences so it is okay if your child is still learning a skill or working really hard at learning their numbers, with time and support they will progress through their development at the right time. 

So stop comparing your child to your nephew Tommy or that kid from the park! 

Every family and child experiences things differently and will progress in their development in their own time!

References: 

Best Start Expert Panel on Early Learning . (2007). Early Learning for Every Child Today: A framework for Ontario early childhood settings. Retrieved from https://lms.brocku.ca/access/content/group/f6bb4b50-0aeb-4f5d-a34e-b867e8ccbe9d/Course%20 Materials/ELECT.pdf. 

Understanding Early Childhood Development

Understanding Early Childhood Development

In our last post, we introduced you to early childhood development and gave you a basic rundown of what it means and how it applies to your child. This week we will be taking a deeper dive into what it means and how child development is measured and viewed by educators!

As we mentioned last week, each child develops at their own rate and is shaped by each child's environment, family and culture. This means that your child may learn or progress through their development at a different pace than your neighbour or cousin and it doesn't help you to compare or feel bad when you think your child should be doing something that another child does.

As teachers it is our job to promote the healthy development of all of our students and support them in reaching their full potential, this is simply a priority for us! We know that our students' health and well-being contribute greatly to their ability to learn, and that learning in turn contributes to their overall well-being. With the understanding of what early childhood development is, the 2016 Kindergarten curriculum was built around the facts and evidence that support these findings.  One of the best documents that we have read as we learned about the Kindergarten program and childhood development is the ELECT ( Early Learning for Every Child Today) document which is a ministry document that describes how young children learn and develop and provides a guide for curriculum in Ontario’s early childhood settings. This is the main document that we will be referencing today as the curriculum was built in support of these findings!

Continuum of Development

The Continuum of Development describes predictable sequences of development within broad domains of development. It helps educators observe and document children’s emerging skills, based on an understanding of children’s development. The primary purpose of the continuum is to provide educators with information to support them in planning their lessons and activities that would be meaningful for individuals and groups of children. This does not mean that these are steps locked in stone or that it is a universal pattern of skills that should be achieved by all students at the same time. Instead, it is a guide that highlights sequences of development as a foundation or building block for children. Like we said before, when we progress in our development, we learn one skill at a time and then we slowly build upon those skills in order to master it or learn something different! The continuum is truly a professional tool used by educators to be able to observe and discuss our students' growth and learning. It helps us see individual growth, strengths, and challenges and supports that may be required.

Domain

 A domain is a broad area of development and there are five domains that early childhood development explores. They are: social, emotional, language, cognitive, and physical. You might remember these from last week's post! Though each domain is separate, the five domains of children’s development are connected and no one domain is more important than another. 

Root Skills

Root skills are specific capacities, processes, abilities, and competencies that exist within a domain. When adults understand and observe emerging skills they can create individual strategies to support the practice and extension of the skill. A great example of a root skill is when we think of a gross motor skill that a child is learning. When a child is an infant, they are working on their physical gross motor skills and will learn root skills such as: rolling, sitting and crawling. While the domain that these skills are under is physical, the root skill is the skill itself!

Indicators

 Indicators are signs  of what a child knows or does which show that the skill is emerging, being practised, or being elaborated. Indicators are given in progression within each root skill. Early childhood practitioners observe children’s behaviour and can use the indicators to identify the related skill, set goals, and plan appropriate curriculum. 

An example of this is when a child is learning the skill of rolling, the indicators would be that they are rolling from side to back and from back to side.

Interactions 

Interactions are examples of communication between an adult and child and connecting during the activity that supports the child’s accomplishment of the skill.

To continue our rolling example, while the infant is lying on his back, hold his favourite toy within his line of vision. Move the toy so he tracks it and reaches for it, rolling on to his stomach. Bringing together vision and motor skills provides practice that promotes the strength and coordination required to roll over. This is the interaction between the adult and the child that help support the development of the skill.

Below we will share an example of a chart that highlights the continuum of development and all of the components of it that we just highlighted. You can also learn more by viewing the ELECT document, the resource can be found at the bottom of this post!

 Keep in mind that while these are skills that children progress through as they develop between 0-12 years of age, they are not set in stone, this is not a tool that teachers will use to assess or grade your child, this is not a comparison tool or something that parents should refer to with strict ideas on how your child should be developing. These are simply professional and educational tools and guidelines that help educators have a stronger understanding of how a child physically develops and what they are capable of. You will never read the words “root skills” or “domains” on your child report cards. While this is a lot of information to absorb and understand, it is truly just a great resource for educators and professionals to understand and access when they are creating programming and creating lessons for students. If teachers do not know how a child progresses in their development, how do they truly know how or what to teach them. We would never start teaching division in kindergarten, because it isn’t developmentally appropriate, our students are learning how to identify numbers and count, they would not be able to divide at this stage in their development and this is exactly why teachers need to understand early childhood development. 

We hope that this week's post gives you further insight into early childhood development and why it is important for teachers and parents to have a basic understanding of how children develop. Please keep in mind that today's post highlighted an educational tool that may be helpful for parents in understanding how their child develops but that it is geared towards educators and professionals in the early education field!

Resources: Best Start Expert Panel on Early Learning . (2007). Early Learning for Every Child Today: A framework for Ontario early childhood settings. Retrieved from https://lms.brocku.ca/access/content/group/f6bb4b50-0aeb-4f5d-a34e-b867e8ccbe9d/Course%20 Materials/ELECT.pdf. 

The Four Frames of the Kindergarten Program and Child Development

The Four Frames of the 

Kindergarten Program

As mentioned in our previous post, Why Play?, the Kindergarten Program outlines four frames of learning to help structure student learning and assessment. Each frame is specifically aligned with the way students naturally learn and develop. The four frames are a reflection of how play and inquiry lead to student learning and development. As a refresher, the four frames of learning are listed below: 

• Self-Regulation and Well-Being. This focuses on children's learning and development relating to respect, care for self and others, emotional regulation and mental/physical well-being. 
  
  
• Problem-Solving and Innovating. This focuses on children's learning and development relating to hands-on-learning driven by natural curiosity, and building/creating in the environment that surrounds them.
  
  
• Belonging and Contributing. This focuses on children's learning and development relating to growing a positive self-image, sharing feelings and thoughts, building strong social skills and relationships, showing care respect for self, others and the environment, and understanding their connection to the community and the ways in which we all contribute. 
  
  
• Demonstrating Literacy and Numeracy Skills. This focuses on children's learning and development relating to communicating thoughts and feelings using words/symbols/representation, building literacy and numeracy behaviours, actively engaging in their learning and developing a love of learning.  

Working within the four frames are the four foundational conditions. These provide children with the conditions necessary to flourish and develop throughout their time in Kindergarten. These are conditions that students seek naturally. The four foundational conditions are:

• Well-Being
  
  
• Engagement
  
  
• Belonging
  
  
• Expression 

The four frames of learning stem from the four foundational conditions, and are geared towards student development and learning. Within the Kindergarten program, the overall expectations listed directly correlate with the four frames of learning. Any given overall expectation is aligned with a specific frame "that encompasses the aspects of learning and development to which that expectation most closely relates" (KGP, 2016, p. 14). Some expectations may align with more than one frame, depending on the characteristics of learning and development. 

What students learn in all four frames aids them in developing the skillset and attitude necessary in becoming well-rounded, engaged, and active citizens of our class communities, school community, and community as a whole.

References: 

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2016). The Kindergarten Program 2016. Retrieved from https://www.ontario.ca/document/kindergarten-program-2016