A week ago, 5-year-old Antony Seeman knew only a couple of English words and had few friends. Today, he can identify the letters of the alphabet, write his name in English and has a new group of American friends to help him learn even more.
Through College Place Elementary School’s Jump Start program, Antony and other incoming kindergartners spent the past two weeks learning “kindergarten readiness skills.” Through learning stations that rotate every 20-minutes, groups of about eight students work on reading and math, how to sit quietly during story time and raising their hand to ask questions. Students also get a chance to meet their peers and teachers, learn where their classrooms will be and other things that may cause anxiety on the first day of school. The program ends today, August 15.
Jump Start has made all the difference for Antony, said his mother, Najah Seeman. Only two months ago the Seeman family made the journey from their native Lebanon in an effort to escape the poor economy. Antony, Seeman said, was nervous and did not want to go to school.
“But now he is very excited about starting school,” Seeman said.
Seeman has volunteered her time to the Jump Start program and is planning to do the same throughout the school year.
Jump Start is the only program of its kind in the Edmonds School District, College Place Elementary principal Sue Venable said, and has proven itself through the benefits the children and the staff have gained. And while a fair number of English as a Second Language (ESL) students are enrolled in Jump Start, non-ESL kids also benefit from the program.
“It allows parents and kids to come in and meet the principal, the teachers, the nurse … and it breaks down some of the communication barriers that I’ve seen in the past,” Venable said. Before the two-week program begins, new students go through a screening process, testing their reading, listening, writing, math and social skills, in order to determine which students would most benefit from Jump Start.
“They’re not going to perfect anything during this time, but we get to see where they’re at and take out all the busy work of starting school,” kindergarten teacher Cathy Griffiths said.
The skills learned through Jump Start make a big difference in the classroom as well.
“From a teacher’s perspective, I see these kids come in on the first day of school, find their chairs and sit down, ready to learn. They already know what to do.”
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