Kindergartners get a trial run.
By: Madeleine Johnson
While many students are getting ready for the first day of school, kindergartners are getting ready for a whole lot of firsts.
And their teachers are here to make sure that their first taste of elementary school set to begin Sept. 6 is an inviting adventure, not an intimidating change.
Between Aug. 21 and Aug. 24, Greenbrook Elementary School held its kindergarten prep program, which introduced incoming kindergartners to their new school and the daily routines of a typical academic day.
"Basically, we get the children ready for school," said Laura Davidowitz, one of the kindergarten teachers who helped run this year’s program. "We get them used to a routine, they get to know each other, they get to know the school."
The teachers understand that their kindergartners might be a little apprehensive of their new surroundings and a new schedule, so they use the kindergarten prep program as a way to help the new students see that new isn’t always scary.
"We try to make it a smooth transition," Ms. Davidowitz said. "We connect to the things that they know something as simple as what they did over the summer so they feel comfortable."
Getting the students acclimated to their new school is one of the most important aspects of kindergarten prep.
"We took them on a tour of the school, so they got to see the school before class begins. They get to meet the principal and the vice principal, so they start to get a sense of who’s in the school," Ms. Davidowitz said.
Just a week of three-hour prep sessions is often enough to assuage the children’s fears.
"At the beginning of the week, they’re more quiet," Ms. Davidowitz said. "As the week progresses, they get more comfortable, they get more confident, therefore they’re more excited about doing new things."
Ms. Davidowitz said the program helps the students create bonds and make friends so that they’ll have a buddy or two before the school year even begins.
"By the end of the week, the kids have already formed wonderful friendships with each other," she said. "They grasp together quickly and sit together at snack time and play together on the monkey bars. They build strong friendships quickly."
According to Ms. Davidowitz, spending a week with the students also benefits the kindergarten teachers.
"It gets us ready. It helps us get to know the children and their parents prior to school," she said.
And, sometimes, parents need more assurance than their kindergarten-bound children. Ms. Davidowitz said that, in her five years of experience at Greenbrook, it’s usually the parents who shed the most tears on the first day of school.
"The parents are probably more emotional. It’s all new and they’re excited for their children, but it’s a new step and it’s scary on both sides," she said. "There are tears on both sides."
Kindergarten may be the beginning of a child’s educational career, and Ms. Davidowitz feels that it is the most important step.
"It’s the foundation of their education and it’s the beginning of the real world," she said. "You’re catching them while they’re young and doing new things. Everything’s an adventure and they absorb so much information."
And she hopes that the students will spend their first year at Greenbrook absorbing all they can so that they can leave kindergarten with a wealth of academic, personal and social knowledge.
"I hope they leave with a better sense of who they are and how they learn and how to work with each other and how to make friends," Ms. Davidowitz said. "The social piece is so big in kindergarten."

