Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 10, 1994 TAG: 9403100171
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-10 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By MARA LEE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
That was just one piece of advice three kindergarten teachers from Montgomery County schools gave to 16 moms and one dad at a Christiansburg Primary school seminar on preparing children for kindergarten.
Gilbert Linkous kindergarten teacher Candace Willis remembered one traumatic parting scene. "The mother was crying, the grandmother was crying, the child was crying. I almost was crying!"
Teachers emphasized that parents shouldn't worry about academic achievement yet.
Jane McGuigan, who teaches at Shawsville Elementary, said, "You want to foster a little bit of independence in them, in terms of getting clothes on, buttoning their coats," and having nontie shoes. She suggested letting kids play with crayons, scissors and glue and teaching them to pick up after themselves; 22 messes can be a real pain. "It's easier to clean up for them instead of fussing at them," she admitted.
Ann Frazier, who teaches at Riner Elementary, said socialization - sharing, waiting to be called on, standing in line - is incredibly important.
"I think if a child knows his colors, he's going to do OK," Willis said. "They really ought to know their shapes, too. I don't think it's real important that they know their alphabet, it's more important that they love books."
"Reading to them is the most important thing you can do," McGuigan said. So is talking about the books.
While being able to write sentences should not be a priority, the teachers asked parents to encourage children to scribble. McGuigan said when she sees scribbles she tells a child, "You wrote a story. Read it to me. After a while they feel they have to come up with something."
One parent interjected, "My son is able to write letters to his relatives. If you introduce him to letters, he's going to be bored and he's already a hyper child. He's going to be a discipline problem. He needs to be reading now."
Willis said bright children don't like to be set aside to read and write as others cut out pumpkins. "They don't like to be singled out."
"The bottom line in kindergarten is not learning to read, right?" asked Candace Mueller, whose daughter will attend the new Blacksburg Elementary next year.
One Prices Fork parent worried that too much pressure was coming to bear on children. "f\ tiIo couldn't read in kindergarten. Sometimes I feel like, 'Just have fun!'"
Kindergarten classes do begin the Writing to Read program, a computer program, in January. Pupils type, play games, learn how to print out, put the disk in, save. "It's a different world, isn't it?" asked one guidance counselor.
Becky Brammer, whose child will attend Falling Branch Elementary in Christiansburg, said she came to the meeting because this is her first child. "It's been a long time since I was in first grade."
Mueller said it was good to be reminded that the purpose of kindergarten "is not to be Albert Einstein at the end of the year, just to be school prepared."
John and Maryanne Sours, whose daughter will attend Christiansburg Primary, hoped to be reassured. "I want to make sure when she gets here, she's not going to be bored to death. She's already reading," John Sours said. He said the speakers didn't set his mind at ease on that count. But Maryanne Sours added, "The teachers came off well informed, very personable. They didn't label children."
by CNB