WORDS & PICTURES: Gabrielle Versmessen
The Early Learning Taskforce held its first Transition to Kindergarten (T2K): Breakfast with a Purpose in January. The Breakfast sought to lay the foundation for a successful transition between prekindergarten and kindergarten for students.
The Taskforce is comprised of representatives from Step-Up Suncoast, the Manatee County School District, and the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County. In attendance at the Breakfast were kindergarten teachers, VPK teachers, prekindergarten teachers, and prekindergarten center directors.
Each month, the Taskforce meets to discuss critical issues facing their respective agencies to brainstorm cooperative solutions. This year they addressed the Transition to Kindergarten requirements from the State to plan and ensure that these young students are ready for the learning tasks that will be required of them in kindergarten. This transitionary period builds the basis for a student’s academic, behavioral, and social-emotional skills. Creating a positive family-school connection is also a huge factor in a student’s educational success.
The tables at the Breakfast were comprised of pre-K center directors and classroom team members who ready children for kindergarten and the individuals who work at the elementary schools near those centers.
Prior to the Breakfast, a survey was conducted amongst parents, pre-k teachers and directors, and school district kindergarten teachers and principals. The survey asked a variety of questions pertaining to how prepared those surveyed felt their students were for kindergarten. The results shown at the Breakfast were that 69% of the kindergarten teachers felt their students were mostly prepared for kindergarten, and 31% reported a mix of prepared and unprepared. Nobody said they felt their students were totally unprepared!
Those surveyed also answered how collaboration between elementary schools and private child care sites could be aligned to support each other. They answered that this could be possible through increased opportunities for sites to work cohesively, increased classroom field trips to elementary schools, increased data sharing, and an increased understanding of educational standards and expectations.
Attendees of the Breakfast heard from a variety of speakers. Rachel Spivey, Director of Grant Management for the ELC, gave a presentation on the statistics of how quality early childhood programs are more effective than education intervention later in life.
Rachel says: “When the Taskforce decided to take on the T2K project, we wanted to define ‘readiness.’ We came to the conclusion that pre-k and kindergarten could be better aligned to support our learners and their families fully and came up with a draft of what we feel kindergarten readiness looks like in Manatee County.”
On the attendees’ tables were copies of this definition, and they were asked to review the draft and add their own edits or comments.
Beth Duda, Director for Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, spoke about her organization’s connections with government, individuals, nonprofits, businesses, and media and the critical dimensions of parent and family engagement and health detriments on a student’s reading capabilities.
K-2 English Language Arts Curriculum Specialist, Jennifer Harrison, presented the importance of a solid early educational foundation and where to start using the Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards and B.E.S.T. K-3 Standards Crosswalk.
“The two best predictors of early reading success are alphabet recognition and phonemic awareness,” she says.
Jennifer also defined “number sense” and explained how something as simple as block play could promote both literacy and number sense.
Darrell King, CEO of ELC of Manatee County, says: “By working together and becoming more aligned, we are ensuring that as students move from one system to another, they begin to experience more consistency in expectations, familiar instructional practices, and reap the benefits from greater community involvement.”
The ELC of Manatee County provided classroom materials for the teachers between pre-k and kindergarten. Those materials were pro-social books, blocks for the classrooms, and the pyramid model social-emotional kits. This was done in the hopes that having similar items in preschool and kindergarten would help children feel more comfortable and confident as they would see familiar items.
The Breakfast concluded with a call to action planning. Kathy Patreka, HS/EHS Director from Step Up Suncoast, asked attendees to plan how they can contribute towards a solution to better Transition to Kindergarten practices.
With ideas such as creating a Transition to Kindergarten welcome video for incoming preschool students and hosting a family night with an invited kindergarten teacher to share expectations, it’s safe to say that the T2K: Breakfast with a Purpose event was a giant leap in the right direction to bridge the gap between preschool and kindergarten.
