Source: Pioneer Press, St.迷你倉 Paul, Minn.Sept. 20--When Sharon DeRaad walks into her kindergarten classroom and asks her students in a sing-song voice, "Are you listening, are you listening," to the tune of a popular children's song, her students stop what they're doing and respond in unison, "Yes we are, yes we are!"DeRaad and her colleague, Cindy Solberg, are the two kindergarten teachers at Columbus Elementary in the Forest Lake school district, where free, all-day, every day kindergarten was rolled out this fall.Earlier this year, the state Legislature approved education spending of $15.7 billion, with part of that designated for free all-day kindergarten beginning in 2014.According to Larry Martini, business manager for Forest Lake Area Schools, the school board didn't want to wait for the additional funds."The district had extra resources," he said. "We thought it would be prudent to use those resources one year early and invest in our kids."According to Martini, Forest Lake schools were fortunate enough to have the space and staff to accommodate the roughly 30 extra kids entering kindergarten this year, issues other districts may have to scramble to solve.According to Neal Fox, principal at Columbus, the world is changing and educators have to adapt. Kids are coming to school with plenty of exposure to computers, tablets, smart phones and other technology."We wanted to make students' formal introduction to education a priority," said Fox, who knows almost every student by name not even four weeks into the school year.According to DeRaad and Solberg, the biggest advantage of all-day kindergarten is the luxury of time, often not afforded by part-time schedules."The day is organized to provide large group, small group, and individual instruction that includes a balance between active and creative tasks," Solberg said. "It really allows us to focus on developing the whole student."One of the ways the teachers do this is through "What I Need" time, or WIN time. During this time, students gather in small groups to work on literacy. Through what's called "tiere自存倉 instruction," students get individualized attention whether they're learning the alphabet, working on the sounds of letters or reading independently."All-day, every day kindergarten provides children the time to linger over learning and acquire a deeper understanding of concepts and their link to the world around them," Fox said. "Additionally, this will provide more time to meet the social, emotional, and academic needs of children."Despite claims that all-day kindergarten will help close the achievement gap between low-income and minority students and their more affluent peers, some parents worry it might be too demanding for theirchild.According to Martini, the school board initially planned to have a section of part-time kindergarten for parents who thought their children weren't ready for the all-day program, but there was so little demand that they decided not to offer it."My son turned 5 in July, so he was right on the cusp," Christi Swinehart said. "I thought instead of holding him back, why not see if he was up to the challenge."Her son, Makade Mastel, is in DeRaad's class."He likes it so much that he doesn't want to come home," Swinehart said.Another mom, Julie Saunders, worried her son, Trevin, would get tired and have trouble concentrating. But she said the supportive staff at Columbus has put her at ease."For any parents out there who are concerned about all-day, every day kindergarten, check it out," she said. "The teachers are so knowledgeable, and they will tell you if your child isn't ready or needs more one-on-one time."According to the staff at Columbus, they welcome parents to volunteer in their child's classroom to see for themselves the progress that their child is making, and to see first-hand the deep student-teacher bond that forms."When you develop the whole student, everything else just falls into place," DeRaad said.Brooklyn Hofstad can be reached at 651-228-5472.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) Visit the Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.) at .twincities.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉
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