What is the project?
Kindergarten Camp: ready to learn and succeed
From late June through early August, future Faribault Kindergarteners attended a mini boot camp. They learned the rigors of Kindergarten class structure, listening, following directions, working on early math and literacy skills, and socialization with peers.
These Kindergarten Camps, provided through United for Kids (UFK), focused on getting comfortable with routines and procedures of being in a Kindergarten classroom. Three classes were taught at Jefferson Elementary School and one at A Child’s Delight Too at the Faribo West Mall. Funding from a 21st Century grant provided bussing to pick up children from some neighborhoods and drop them off at Jefferson.
UFK is Faribault’s Early Childhood Initiative, functioning as a committee of the United Way of Faribault (UWF). The United Way received a $20,000 Incentive Grant from SMIF to make the Camps a reality
The classes were be taught by a teacher and an assistant who are familiar with early childhood education and bilingual in Spanish or Somali. Using a literacy-based curriculm, children learned basic school social skills like taking turns, sharing, following directions from a teacher, and getting along with peers in a school setting. The curriculum focused on developing basic phonemic awareness skills, such as letter recognition, name recognition and letter sounds, as well as concepts of colors, shapes, and numbers. Priority for the Camps was given to children who had not had a preschool experience, and families participated at no cost.
Caren Hoffman, Director of A Child’s Delight Too, had one group at her site. Early in the program, she was already seeing progress
“We’re seeing major strides already,” she said after four weeks of Camp, “The team all seems to be really pleased. It’s been a plus to have all the teachers working together really well.”
The Camp staff was able to implement field trips into the curriculum to provide hands-on experience.
“While working on a unit on farm animals we went to the County Fair and had a tour of the animal barns and the historical society,” Hoffman said. “The entire group, including teachers, had a lesson in making tie-dye shirts for the occasion.”
Two parent events were included in the Camps. One focused on healthy snacks for children where the children and the families made pizza, smoothies, fruit and yogurt parfaits, and tested a variety of fruits. On the last day of camp, there was an ice cream social where the children made ice cream, and they and their parents had pizza and ice cream sundaes. The staff provided parents with information about Kindergarten.
“We also had six Kindergarten teachers come who met and chatted with the parents about the program and about Kindergarten expectations,” Hoffman said.
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