Those differences make it hard to get the class on the same page, Tuman says. “This year I have students who have come in and are reading on a third-grade level,” Tuman says, “and I have students who didn’t recognize their name on the first day of school.” Studies show that can put kids in catch-up mode for the rest of their school careers. In Washington state public schools, only one out of three low-income students arrives at kindergarten with all the necessary skills. “Like when I ask them a simple question like ‘Hi, how are you?’ That’s a question that they’re not able to answer,” she says. Those who didn’t can seem confused by the most basic interactions. Some came from preschools or other environments with a lot of educational opportunities. Tuman says from being able to read about friendship, to actually making friends, her 25 students start the year at dramatically different skill levels. In a modern kindergarten class, you rarely see one lesson underway at once.Īt Bow Lake Elementary in SeaTac, these new kindergarteners are studying reading – and social skills – and how to work as a group.Īt the front of the classroom, teacher Chelsea Tuman addresses her tiny students slowly, in a sing-song voice: “I’m gonna call on somebody from the green table.
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