ASHLAND — Second in a series of stories walking parents through the various stages of education. Today: Kindergarten.





Birds push their young from downy nests into a sky criss-crossed by eagles.

Seals nudge theirs across the ice and into the frigid Arctic sea.

Wolves nudge cubs from the den into trackless wilderness.

None of them sheds a tear.

But human parents bite their lips as they pack the crayons and pencils in the brand-new bookbag, tremble as they open the car door, and hold back sobs when their children walk into the kindergarten classroom.

Not that parents seriously think their children won’t be safe and well cared for. Far from it. In small-town and rural areas like Northeast Kentucky, especially, schoolteachers are as well-known as anyone in the community.

But for first-time kindergarten parents, the first steps into the classroom are also the first steps out of their arms. They’ve been at home all through their infancy and toddler years.

How will we take care of them, parents wonder, when they’re out of our zone of control?

And parents soon realize that, in a sense, their children are spending several hours a day in a different world. It’s their world — one parents only see from a distance.

What really goes on in this strange new world? And how can parents keep tabs on their children — what they’re learning, how well they’re progressing, whether they’ll be ready for the jump to first grade at the end of the year?

That’s what The Independent is exploring in the second of a series of stories tracing the stages of education from preschool through high school.

Although a significant number of children attend Head Start or other preschool classes, kindergarten remains the official starting point in most children’ educational careers.

And unlike a generation ago, when kindergarten was an oasis of crayons and construction paper, today’s kindergarten is a true classroom, where children receive solid academic instruction while they solidify their social skills.

On a recent morning at Oakview Elementary, Rhonda Smith’s pupils shook out their morning jitters with a song and dance period and then scattered to separate areas for reading-related activities.

One group went to a bank of computers, another to do spelling exercises. Several children fetched Boggle games and stretched out on a colorful rug to spell out and write down words. The last group gathered around Smith, who read a story and discussed it with them.

Such an arrangement is the standard, said Diana Haleman, an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Morehead State University’s College of Education.

“Parents should expect to see learning centers. Instead of desks with pencils and papers, they would want to see a rich, hands-on environment so that children are actively engaged,” Haleman said.

In the afternoon of another day, Smith’s pupils sit cross-legged on the rug for a story. It’s a tale about monkeys and vegetables, and Smith uses the story to review some nutrition facts, practice sign language, and discuss the difference between fact and fiction: “Do monkeys talk?” she asks the children.

Kindergarten has changed over the years, Smith said. What children learned in first grade a generation ago she now is teaching her students.

In her 21 years teaching kindergarten, Smith has seen a lot of children and parents take the first step toward growing up and growing apart, and she is sympathetic.

“I’m taking their babies from them,” she said. It’s especially true of new parents, she added. They just don’t trust anybody with their little ones.

Smith reassures them that she’ll treat their children the way she’d want them to treat hers.

Oakview is one of a number of schools that invites parents for a “boo-hoo breakfast” the first day of school. (It’s the parents who are crying, not the children.)

Schools like Oakview help children make the transition with partial-day visits before the term starts. The bigger children aren’t there, so the building is quiet. Children and parents meet the teachers, tour the building, see the cafeteria and their classrooms.

Parents who want to keep abreast of their child’s progress would do well to make their initial visit one in a series.

“Parents should feel comfortable with questioning teachers and being in class sometimes,” Haleman said. “It’s one of the best ways to get the picture of what’s going on.”

The more parents are involved in their children’s schooling, the better. A good start is instilling in their children a love of learning, Smith tells parents.

“If they can teach them that reading and coming to school are the best things in life, that’s half the battle,” she said.

Encouraging parent involvement is a big responsibility for schools, Haleman said. That’s especially true of parents who themselves were not successful in school and might feel intimidated or uncomfortable. “It’s the school’s responsibility to make sure the parents are welcomed,” she said.

Because kindergarten is the gateway to education, first-time parents may wonder whether their children are ready, whether another year at home or in pre-school might better prepare them.

It’s really not that complicated, Haleman said. By and large, kindergarten is for five-year-olds. “The idea of not being ready for kindergarten is an adult construct,” she said. “Our kindergarten classes should be ready for our children, not the other way around.”

What often appears to be a warm and fuzzy playtime actually is a critical point in a child’s intellectual life. Of most critical importance is encouraging the eagerness to learn. That’s a job for parents and teachers alike, but it shouldn’t be that difficult, because children generally want to learn.

“Kids are like sponges,” Smith said. Not only do they soak up knowledge, they delight in demonstrating their mastery, she said.

Parents may worry if, by the end of the year, their child is not reading, Smith said. However, children develop at different rates, so it’s enough to be able to see that the child is progressing toward reading, she said.

Some children end the year being able to add but not read, while others can read but have trouble with arithmetic.

“Embrace what they can do,” she said.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.