'WE START HERE': WHAT EVERY PARENT SHOULD KNOW ABOUT KINDERGARTEN

Starting kindergarten can be as nerve-wracking for today's parents as it is for their children.

Skills like counting to 10, color and shape identification and writing -- which formerly were taught during the first year of school -- are now considered standard for incoming kindergarten students.

Even so, local educators said the only skills that are truly required are a positive outlook and the right birthday.

Missouri law mandates that children entering kindergarten be 5 years old prior to August 1. Outside of that requirement, area kindergarten teachers said children don't need to have great amounts of academic knowledge or high skill levels to succeed in kindergarten.

Teachers said it is of greater importance that children arrive to school prepared to enjoy learning. It's a message they plan to share with parents during enrollment periods beginning soon at most area schools.

"It's OK. We start here," said Clippard Elementary School kindergarten teacher Jill Janet. "They begin school at all different levels, and we take them from whatever level they are at and go on from there."

Janet said she has seen children enter kindergarten with a variety of skill levels in her 17-year career. She and her peers work to develop basic pre-reading skills -- such as letter recognition and sounds -- counting skills and classroom etiquette.

"If a child can do all of those things, that is wonderful. But teachers mostly look at the maturity of the child," she said. "There are so many other important things, like getting along with others, following directions. The socialization is so important at this level."

How screenings help

Socialization is just one of the areas Cape Girardeau schools will evaluate during kindergarten enrollment screenings this spring. Kindergarten teachers are working with staff from the local Parents as Teachers and Educare programs to screen each child in the areas of language, concepts, motor, vision, hearing and health.

Carla Aufdenberg, PAT coordinator, said the screenings are used to help parents detect possible physical problems or skill levels that fall outside of a "normal" range of development before school begins. The screenings also help kindergarten teachers determine what overall skills their classes have.

However, the screenings are not used to place children in academic categories such as special education, said Aufdenberg.

"Basically a screening checks to see those skills are in place to help facilitate a child's progress through school," she said. "If there is a question or concern, they would use that screening in conjunction with other evaluations to make that determination."

There is a national trend away from using educational screenings that assess children's motor, language, conceptual and other skills to make decisions about a child's placement or type of instruction at the kindergarten level. Alan Simpson of the Washington, D.C.-based National Association for the Education of Young Children, said individual tests are not appropriate to measure a child's ability to enter kindergarten because they don't consider children's individual abilities to take standardized tests.

"If it's designed to help parents, that's a good idea, but if important decisions are being made for a child in terms of placement or retention, certainly you shouldn't be relying on just one test." said Simpson.

Defining readiness

The determination of a child's readiness for kindergarten should be an individual decision made by parents after considering their child's emotional, physical and social maturity, said Simpson.

Children grow and develop at different rates, he said, and only a parent can truly tell if their child is ready for kindergarten at age 5 or if they would benefit from waiting another year before entering school.

"All families need to recognize that education is a collaborative effort between parents and teachers," Simpson said. "As a parent, if you're doing things to activate your child's interest in learning, you're not going to be going wrong."

Carolyn Eastwood, who works with the state education department's Missouri School Improvement Program, said many factors affect a child's readiness for school.

If they are smaller in stature, have birthdays close to the cut-off date or are first in the birth order, children may not be emotionally ready to start school at age 5, she said. And children who have not been exposed to child care or preschool programs may have less social development than others.

"Generally, kindergarten is a such a big step for them," Eastwood said. "Most of them are pretty much ready to make new friends and get past that awkward I don't know anybody' stage."

Eastwood, a former kindergarten teacher, said the cut-off date for entry into kindergarten is seen as a good standard by many parents in judging a child's readiness.

Although she had no firm data, Eastwood said very few children statewide are deliberately held out of school an extra year by their parents. For some children, an extra year out of school allows them to mature in areas that will benefit them academically.

"Age does have some bearing on whether they seem to grasp some concepts faster," she said.

Ready to learn

Hubert Ray, whose son, Afernee, will be eligible for kindergarten in the fall, believes his son has developed strong pre-reading skills through his participation in the local Head Start program. He also has benefited socially and has learned to share and get along with other children.

"I think he's ready," said Ray. "When he started Head Start, he really didn't talk to the other kids, but now he talks with them. He can write his name, and he also has learned some computer skills that he can practice on the computer we have at home."

Eastwood said there have been many changes in the expectations parents and teachers have regarding what will happen in the classroom. Many children start school able to count to 10 or write their names -- skills that used to be learned in the first year of classes.

She said she was unsure how the shift in expectations affects children with lower abilities, but believes kindergarten is the place where children should be able to learn freely.

"A lot is learned by modeling. When you have that kind of atmosphere in a classroom, children actually like to conform as long as they have a model to follow," Eastwood said. "I think it probably doesn't put children at an enormous disadvantage.".

READY OR NOT

Here is a list of skills that children generally have upon entering kindergarten. If your child has acquired most of the skills on this checklist and will be at least 5 years old at the start of the summer before he or she starts kindergarten, the child probably is ready.

Listen to stories without interrupting

Recognize rhyming sounds

Pay attention for short periods of time to adult-directed tasks

Understand actions have both causes and effects

Show understanding of general times of day

Cut with scissors

Trace basic shapes

Begin to share with others

Start to follow rules

Be able to recognize authority

Manage bathroom needs

Button shirts, pants, coats and zip up zippers

Begin to control oneself

Separate from parents without being upset

Speak understandably

Talk in complete sentences of five to six words

Look at pictures and then tell stories

Identify rhyming words

Identify the beginning sound of some words

Identify some alphabet letters

Recognize some common sight words like "stop"

Sort similar objects by color, size and shape

Recognize groups of one, two, three, four and five objects

Count to 10

Bounce a ball

Kindergarten screenings and registration Area schools have begun screening and registering children for kindergarten in the fall. Students must be 5 before Aug. 1, and parents must provide schools with the child's birth certificate, Social Security number, immunization records and proof of residence.

CAPE GIRARDEAUCOUNTY SCHOOLS

CAPE GIRARDEAU SCHOOLS

Parents should visit or call their elementary school to enroll eligible children and to set appointments for screenings. Children will be screened in the areas of language, concepts, motor, vision, hearing and health. Screenings require about one hour for completion.

Alma Schrader - 335-5310

April 2 1:30-7 p.m.

April 3 8:30 a.m.-noon

Blanchard - 335-3030

April 30 1:30-7 p.m.

May 1 8:30 a.m. - noon

Clippard - 334-5720

March 26 1:30-7 p.m.

March 27 8:30 a.m.-noon

Franklin - 335-5456

April 10 1:30-7 p.m.

April 11 8:30 a.m.-noon

Jefferson - 334-2030

March 19-20

Parents should call the school to schedule an appointment for enrollment.

CAPE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

335-8333

K-6 registration underway

DELTA SCHOOL DISTRICT

794-2440

April 3, 4

Parents should call the school to schedule an appointment for screening.

EAGLE RIDGE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

339-1335

K-12 registration underway

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

243-5013

K-8 registration underway

JACKSON SCHOOL DISTRICT

243-9553

April 9 11:30 a.m. - 7 p.m.

All students will enroll at Primary Annex, regardless of attendance area. Appointments not required.

NELL HOLCOMB SCHOOL

334-3644

April 5 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

Hobb's United Methodist Church on State Highway 177.

Appointments are required for preschool and kindergarten screenings.

OAK RIDGE SCHOOLS

266-3232

April 4 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

First Baptist Church

Appointments are required for kindergarten and preschool screenings.

ST. MARY CATHEDRAL SCHOOL

335-3840

K-8 registration underway.

ST. PAUL LUTHERAN SCHOOL

243-5360

K-8 registration underway

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SCHOOL

334-9594

Half-day and full-day registration available

TRINITY LUTHERAN SCHOOL

334-1068

K-8 registration underway

SCOTT COUNTY SCHOOLS

CHAFFEE SCHOOL DISTRICT

887-3244

Open enrollment in early August

KELLY SCHOOL DISTRICT

545-3541

March 19 and 20

Parents should call the school to schedule an appointment.

KELSO C-7 (New Hamburg)

545-3357

Enrollment

April 19 5-6:30 p.m.

Screenings

April 24 8 a.m.-noon

April 25 8 a.m.-noon

ORAN SCHOOL DISTRICT

262-3435

March 20-21

Parents should call the school to schedule an appointment.

SCOTT CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

264-2131

Parents should call the school to schedule an appointment.

BOLLINGER COUNTY SCHOOLS

LEOPOLD SCHOOL DISTRICT

238-2211

April 5 8:30 -11 a.m.

MEADOW HEIGHTSSCHOOL DISTRICT

866-2611

March 27 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

March 28 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.

Parents who have not done so must contact the school to enroll and schedule an appointment for screenings.

WOODLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT (Marble Hill)

238-2822

Parents should call the school to schedule an appointment.

ZALMA SCHOOL DISTRICT

722-3136

April 9 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Parents should contact the school to schedule an appointment for enrollment.

PERRY COUNTY SCHOOLS

PERRYVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT

547-7500, ext. 380

April 30 12-7 p.m.

May 1 12-7 p.m.

Parents should contact the school to schedule an appointment.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SCHOOLS

CAIRO SCHOOL DISTRICT

Emerson 734-1027

Aug. 17 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.

CENTURY UNITSCHOOL DISTRICT 100

634-9038

April 19 8:45 a.m.-2 p.m.

April 20 8:45 a.m.-2 p.m.

Parents should call for appointments for kindergarten preregistration and screening.

On April 19 only, screenings also available for children ages 0-3.

EGYPTIAN CUSD#5

776-5251

No information available.

MERIDIAN SCHOOL DISTRICT

342-6773

Dates have not been set

SHAWNEE CUSD #84

Shawnee South 661-1504

No information available.

SHAWNEE NORTH 565-2211

April 20 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Parents should call the school to schedule an appointment forenrollment.