Programs help little students get ready for kindergarten

ST. LOUIS -- Despite all appearances, Danielle Egeling was not herding cats on a recent Monday morning.

"Can we get into a line?" she asked her charges, a group of 10 soon-to-be kindergartners. "Do you know how a snake's head follows its body? We're going to be a little like a snake."

She and assistant Michelle Cody led the wiggly snake through the Early Childhood Education Center in Webster Groves, giving them peeks of the bathroom, the school kitchen, and the multipurpose room. The children were generally attentive, but the snake metaphor wasn't quite working.

"Maybe it will help if you put your hands on the shoulders of the person in front of you, like a train," Egeling said.

"Oops, we're jumping off the track!" Cody said, placing her hands on a couple of little shoulders and redirecting.

By the end of next week, Egeling and Cody are sure, there will be no more train derailments, super-wiggly snakes and certainly no more cat herding. By the end of the four-week program, these students should know how to stand in a line, raise their hands when they want to speak, and get familiar with letters and numbers.

In other words, they should be ready for kindergarten.

Some school districts, like Webster Groves, realize that some students might need more help with the transition to kindergarten, so they're enrolling them for monthlong programs during the summer and teaching them what it takes to succeed in the fall.

The programs are a big step beyond your typical kindergarten introduction event, where wide-eyed youngsters may tour their classroom, eat a real school lunch and get to climb on that big yellow bus for the first time.

Ferguson-Florissant offers a free, five-week pre-kindergarten program for about 60 students.

"Even if we can just plant the seed on some of these concepts we're going to introduce later, the brain's already heard it once, so when we introduce it again, it's not going to be new news," said Joy Rouse, director of early education for the district.

Research shows that children who attend preschool do better in kindergarten, and the extra boost may help them succeed all the way through grade school.

Teresa and Murray Farish enrolled their 5-year-old son Jack in Webster Groves' program, called Jump Start. Jack had been with the same small day care since he was a baby. The day care didn't have a curriculum, and lately Jack was the oldest among a group of 2- and 3-year-olds. "He almost runs the place," Teresa Farish said.

When Jack first entered the classroom and spotted his name tag, his bottom lip quivered. This was a big step for him. He shed a few tears, and Mom and Dad took him into the hallway for a pep talk.

A half-hour later, he was happily stacking blocks when it came time for them to leave. "Bye, Mommy! Bye, Daddy!" he yelled, with the gusto of a child who belonged there.

Though these programs take time to plan and run, they're a win-win-win situation for parents, teachers and students.

Parents like knowing their children get an extra academic boost, and also appreciate not having to pay for an extra month of child care, since the programs are funded by the state.

Teachers learn early which students can't hold a crayon and which ones can already write sentences.

Students make friends, have fun and, if the program is held at their neighborhood school, learn things that are vital to a kindergartner like how to find the bathroom.

Connie Asher, a preschool teacher at the Hancock School District, started their pre-kindergarten summer program about six years ago. She definitely notices a difference between kindergartners with preschool experience and those without, so she hopes the summer program helps.

On her first day of summer class, she noticed some children couldn't hold their scissors correctly, something she is sure they'll know by the end of the program. "Any little thing that they get is a plus," she said.

Jetan Totton is a teacher for Hazelwood School District's Sunny Start program, which runs for four weeks through July. She knows the program is effective: Last summer, she taught her son Armon, who went on to enjoy a successful year in kindergarten.

"It's only four weeks, but believe me, it will make a big difference in the fall," she said.