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Building Blocks for Starting School the Right Way

Building Blocks for Starting School the Right Way. Ilene S. Schwartz College of Education Ilene@u.washington.edu. Every national report on education and every set of educational goals includes as #1 helping children begin kindergarten ready to learn.

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Building Blocks for Starting School the Right Way

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  1. Building Blocks for Starting School the Right Way Ilene S. Schwartz College of Education Ilene@u.washington.edu

  2. Every national report on education and every set of educational goals includes as #1 helping children begin kindergarten ready to learn

  3. All children start kindergarten ready to learn The challenge is insure that the kindergartens (and every other grade) are ready to teach to diverse learners

  4. So let’s reframe the question • What skills and behaviors are related to children being more successful in school? • What can we do before children begin school to help them acquire these skills and behaviors? • What can we do when they are in school to facilitate success?

  5. In other words, what can we do to help children achieve meaningful outcomes that lead to an improved quality of life for them and their families

  6. The most valued Kindergarten readiness skills • Physically healthy, well rested, and well nourished • Able to communicate wants, needs and thoughts effectively • Enthusiastic about approaching new activities

  7. Physically healthy, well rested, and well nourished • Health insurance and medical homes for all children • Insure that all children have enough to eat everyday • Address the issue of homelessness and substandard housing for all citizens, but especially our youngest and most vulnerable citizens

  8. From Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) SES Differences: Effect sizes (compared to middle class)

  9. Able to communicate wants, needs and thoughts effectively, • Learning to communicate effectively starts early and has life-long effects • All children communicate • For some children we need to provide explicit instruction in how and when to communicate

  10. Words per hour to the child (ages 10-36 months) • Professional class parents directed more than 3 times as many words per hour to their children than did welfare recipients From “Meaningful Differences”; Hart & Risely

  11. Vocabulary Size at Age 3

  12. Perry Preschool Study • High/Scope foundation • Michigan, mid 60’s • Two years of preschool and weekly home visits • Children followed through age 27

  13. Perry: Arrested 5 or More Times Before Age 40 Source: High/Scope Educational Research Foundation

  14. Abecedarian Study • Craig Ramey & Frances Campbell, et al. • North Carolina, 1970s • Full-day, full-year program beginning at about 3 months • Remarkable, long-lasting impact Reading Scores at age 21

  15. Abecedarian: Educational and Health Effects Source: Carolina Abecedarian Study

  16. Enthusiastic about approaching new activities. • Student failure is instructional failure • All students and families need to belong and be successful • Intensive programs are necessary to address complex problems • Individualization is key

  17. Community of Practice Participation in valued routines, rituals and activities Membership Relationships Skills

  18. Key Points for EC Programs • Startingearly • Providing intensiveservices • Beingcomprehensive • Ensuringquality • Focusing on relationships

  19. Is my child ready for kindergarten? Let’s examine the following questions…

  20. Does my child: • have strong self-management skills? • work independently? • make his/her own choices without teacher or parent interaction? • show willingness to try something new , is not apprehensive about new situations after a short adjustment period?

  21. wait his/her turn in a group situation in play, during snacks, sharing materials? • interact well with other children on an equal footing? • negotiate most of his/her own social problems fairly successfully?

  22. express his/herself well to communicate what he/she does and does not understand? • have strong self-confidence and self-esteem?

  23. Project SLIDE • Fostering smoother within-classroom transitions • Providing opportunities for practicing independent work • Facilitating active engagement during group instruction • Teaching children how to self-assess

  24. Was it effective? • Were less likely to need special education services when they reached first grade • Received higher ratings on positive social and classroom behaviors from their teachers in the year following intervention • Scored higher on academic readiness tests than a comparison group

  25. Points for Action • Target children who are at-risk, but make available for all children. • Identify important outcomes for students and use effective instructional strategies to teach them • Make sure that the program fits -- fits the child, family, and community • Remember, all children are children first

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