Kindergarten

This is a wonderful article about what Kindergarten is supposed to be. Too often the focus is on Junior High School and High School, but kids won't do well there if they haven't gotten a good start early on. If a child can't grasp Kindergarten skills, and moves through the system, he may never learn to read. Kindergarten is where it begins to happen.

Pre-kindergartners eager to learn some basic skills
Robyn Russo, Beaver/Allegheny Times Staff
Beaver, Pennsylvania
09/07/2005


Barbara Bain, a reading specialist for Ambridge Area School District, was thrilled when a father told her his 5-year-old son hopped out of bed on Saturday morning, so excited about school he forgot it was the weekend. And that was in July, still more than a month before the boy would start kindergarten.

Bain, along with her fellow Ambridge elementary teachers, spent a month this summer working with about 100 students who started kindergarten last week to boost basic skills with a computer program, crafts and reading.

"It's so important for kids to come to kindergarten with at least the start of literacy, understanding letters and the direction of print," Bain said. "It's crucial for their success."

Bain explained that students are more receptive to learning many fundamental skills at a younger age. Work that takes a half-hour in kindergarten could take an hour by second grade, Bain said, and since pupils are required to show proficiency on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests by the third grade, that's time educators can't afford to waste.

Between the earlier accountability tests and the influx of think-tanks spewing research about the importance of early-childhood education, more and more districts are focusing on their youngest pupils in the new school year, adding full-day kindergartens, summer programs for kindergartners-to-be and even exploring public pre-kindergarten programs.

But with most district budgets already tight, many officials say more funding is needed for schools to drastically change public early childhood education.

According to a recent study on school readiness by the nonprofit Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, Midland School District was the only one in Beaver County that offered a pre-kindergarten program in its public school, serving 21 children. The group's president, Joan Benso, said while family and community influence a child's school readiness, and federal programs like Head Start also help, the state should take an interest in pre-school availability.

"Public school isn't the only option for high-quality pre-school, but for the children who can't afford a private program there is a gap," Benso said.

Jason Hustedt, a researcher with the National Institute for Early Education Research, a nonpartisan early childhood research organization, said public pre-kindergarten programs are still rare nationwide. Only Georgia, Oklahoma and Florida offer them in all their public schools.

Pennsylvania ranked 38th out of the 39 states which do offer some pre-kindergarten in public schools, since only 2 percent of the state's children attended public pre-kindergarten in the 2003-04 school year, Hustedt said.

But Benso said one important, positive move in Pennsylvania is the number of districts that have intensified their kindergarten programs. Several Beaver County schools extended their programs to full-day classes, aided by this year's $200 million Accountability Block Grant, which was distributed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

According to Benso, during the 2002-03 school year, Midland was the only district in the county which offered full-day kindergarten for all its students. By two years later, Aliquippa, Big Beaver Falls Area, Riverside, Rochester Area, South Side Area and Western Beaver all had full-day programs.Caroline Wilkovich, Rochester Elementary School principal, said the district has already seen a big change in student performance during the two years since it made all its kindergarten classes full-day.

"Having full day gives us the time needed to address development problems," Wilkovich said.

"The kids are so much better equipped for first grade; we've seen a decrease in special education."Wilkovich said while "about 80 percent" of the district's parents supported the change, some parents were concerned the full-day would be too rigorous for 5-year-olds. But Wilkovich said the program still offers snack, play and nap times, and pupils have done "very well" with the longer day.

Wilkovich said the district has also toyed with the idea of having their own pre-school, especially since declining enrollment in recent years means Rochester may have extra classroom space. But while Wilkovich and other school administrators say they would like to add a pre-school program, they'd need more state funding to make it feasible.

Ron Sofo, Freedom Area School District superintendent, said he thought "investment" in early childhood education gave the greatest return, and would support any measure to make voluntary pre-school available in the public schools.

"It's almost the new mandate. If we want all kids to get high results, we have to start earlier," Sofo said. "And I hear of pushes by state agencies to bring those pre-kindergarten programs to public schools, but I just don't see the funding."

Still, Sofo said the district has a "screening" program in early spring for the kindergarten pupils who will enroll in the fall. The screenings help parents see what their children know, and the district also provides a list of learning activities so if a child is lagging in one area, parents can use the summer to boost proficiency.

Kenneth Voss, Ambridge's superintendent, said the district used some of its block-grant funds to buy a computer program called "Imagination Station," which helps kids learn how to pronounce letters, syllables and words, and to pay for teachers, reading specialists, and transportation for its summer program.

While the summer pre-kindergarten wasn't mandatory, Voss said just under half of this year's kindergarten class attended. Comfort level"We just hoped to attract particularly students who were perhaps not as ready as they could be for kindergarten," said Voss. "Partially to give them a little comfort level with learning and skills, and partially the social aspect of it."

Voss said kindergarten teachers have already said the program seems to have bolstered new pupils' school readiness. While the block grant expires in June, Voss said he wants to continue the pre-kindergarten program next summer, so the district is looking for additional grants now.