This year in kindergarten, the lesson plan is mindful play
Published 8:45 pm Monday, September 5, 2016
EVERETT — Joanne McCandless was drafting her to-do lists the first day of September.
Put up big signs above short tables surrounded by little, colorful chairs. Organize children’s books in yellow bins for the designated library corner of the room. Find some boy dolls to add to the toy collection in the “home area,” across from the library corner.
Girl dolls are easy to find, she said. Boy dolls, not so much. She wants to make sure the home area has toys that every child can relate to and play with.
McCandless has been teaching for 30 years, nine of them in Everett. She still gets excited each September. This year, she’ll be welcoming kindergartners to a classroom that’s set up a little differently than in past years. The focus is on creating distinct areas that encourage kids to learn through activities and games. It’s modeled after a state outline for full-day kindergarten curriculum, she said. Everett Public Schools adapted it for the 70-plus kindergarten teachers here.
“That’s how kids learn at this age is they play,” McCandless said. “If they all just sit here in their chairs all day, you’re going to have some chaos on your hands.”
The first couple of weeks in September are a chaotic time already for children, parents and teachers. Most Snohomish County schools are set to start classes Wednesday. The Stanwood-Camano and Darrington districts kicked off their school years last week. Some schools have younger students come a day earlier than the older ones, usually for middle or high school orientations.
Kindergartners usually start school after the other grades. In Everett, teachers plan to meet with kindergarten families Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, McCandless said. Class starts Monday.
Each day, McCandless plans to have what she calls a family meeting with her students. An hour-long block of time is set aside for “Plan, Do, Reflect,” where the kids decide what activity they want to do — drawing, puppets, building blocks, reading — and then go do it. Afterward, they all reconvene and the kids explain what they did, why they did it and what they liked about it or what they would do differently next time.
“It’s really planting seeds for a future skill,” McCandless said.
She plans to make cards with the students’ names and photos, then have the class play a game of Memory to learn each others’ names by matching the name cards to the photos. She’ll write up weekly newsletters and send home suggested questions for parents to help children talk about what they learned and to keep parents up to date on what’s happening in class. She always asks parents to read with their kids.
“Every year is different. That’s what I love about my job,” McCandless said. “Every group (of students) is different. Some groups are more difficult than others, but I just love these little people.”
She has her motto on one of the walls in big black script: “Kindness Matters.”
Before students get as far as the piles of stuffed animals, bins of books and wall decorations with colors, shapes, letters and numbers, they come to a classroom door decorated with a big cut-out of an apple. On the door is a sign with another bit of advice for students.
It says, “Just Imagine.”
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com
Back to school
Arlington — Wednesday
Darrington — last Thursday
Edmonds — Wednesday
Everett — Wednesday
Granite Falls — Wednesday grades 1-6 and 9, Thursday grades 7-8, 10-12
Index — Wednesday
Lake Stevens — Wednesday and Thursday grades 11-12
Lakewood — Wednesday
Marysville — Wednesday
Monroe — Wednesday grades 6 and 9, Thursday other grades
Mukilteo — Wednesday
Northshore — Tuesday and Wednesday
Snohomish — Wednesday grades 1-7 and 9, Thursday and Friday other grades
Stanwood-Camano — last Thursday
Sultan— Wednesday*
Kindergarten classes may start later. Check with your elementary school for dates and times.
