Let’s talk about The Truth About Teaching Kindergarten.
“Kindergarten. It is the world of nap time, snack time, and play.
Kindergarten teachers are the luckiest teachers in the WORLD. They get to have so much FUN.
They do all kinds of art projects and crafts with school-purchased supplies. They have story time and calendar time. It is the easiest and best job in the world.”
If you are actually a kindergarten teacher, you just shuddered and cringed. We all know this statement is exactly how the world around us views our job. And we know how inaccurate this job description is. May I present to you… The TRUTH About Teaching Kindergarten.
The TRUTH About Teaching Kindergarten
A few years ago, my principal asked me to let the other teachers in our building know how HARD it is to actually TEACH kindergarten. Our staff, at the time, was solid veteran teachers, some of which had taught kindergarten and first grade 25 or more years ago. They simply didn’t know the evolution that occurred in the lower grades over a few decades. Kindergarten was simply NOT the same. If our staff didn’t know how serious the rigor in the kindergarten program was at their own school, how could we expect our parents and other adults in the community to understand?
Here is The TRUTH About Teaching Kindergarten:
- We do not have nap time. We do have snack time, be jealous. But I personally do not have snack time… it is for the students. And we do a whole lot more than just play! If you think you can handle it, come and spend the day with me. Start to finish. Let’s see if you even have time to run to the bathroom. I know I usually do not.
- If it is done well, Kindergarten can look like the easiest grade to teach. The skill behind the master teacher who controls 20 or more 5-year-olds is amazing. It is no small feat. And it is an art form. I can promote each and every activity like we are about to watch Disney on Ice. I can talk up a book like it is an award-winning novel. Remember MOST of these children have never left their parents’ side for the first 5 years. They most likely lack the social skills needed in large group settings and peer situations. If management is not done well, it can {and will} look like a three-ring circus.
- Teaching kindergarten is fun. It is amazing the activities we plan and orchestrate throughout the year. But, all of those activities take time. Lots of time. It also takes lots of energy. LOTS and LOTS of energy. It also takes lots of stuff. Kindergarten teachers are masters at collecting and using “stuff” to make their classroom activities more fun.
- Those art projects take three times longer to prep for little hands than most tests take to grade. Yes, our students complete the art project in around 30 minutes. It took about three hours to trace, prep, and collate all the parts of said project. Was it worth it? YES. That art project stays on the fridge longer than any worksheet. Did the school fund the supplies behind it? 9 times out of 10, the school did not. That teacher went to buy the pipe cleaners, google eyes, and various colors of construction paper.
{Especially white construction paper because the administration doesn’t seem to understand how thin, white copy paper measuring 8 by 10 inches long is completely different than thick, white construction paper that is 9 by 11 inches long. There is a difference.}
- That art project was WAY more than just fun. It is a sneaky way the teachers worked on motor skills, positional words, following directions, spatial reasoning, and making an educational activity meaningful. And that is real learning. Not all the art projects turned out cute. Sometimes the teacher has to step in with glue rescue and scissor patrol. We also try to clean up and repair less-than-desirable creations from time to time.
- We read books and have story time. But these activities are not just “pick a book and read it.” We work to instill a love for books in our students. We use story time to show our little learners how to hold a book, open a book, and turn pages. We model tracking text, sounding out words, understanding words with multiple meanings, and reading fluency. And guess what? We also teach our students to read independently by the time they leave us. At the end of the year, do we still read aloud? YES… all students regardless of their age love being read aloud to.
- Students who start out in Kindergarten usually have no file or paperwork. This is good and bad. We can give students a chance in a regular classroom setting, which we all know EVERY child deserves. Sadly, we are also the first structured program for many who don’t understand that their student may have some hurdles in life to concur. We can sometimes break families’ hearts. It is awful. {I do not take that lightly because each and every soul I teach is uniquely and wonderfully made. I can’t always assess their strengths in measurable terms for promotion, which is sad to me and devastating to parents.} We also have to begin the paperwork process for those fragile flowers the help some of them desperately deserve and need. This typically takes a full school year.
- Calendar is the secret weapon to teach each and every math skill that a 5 and 6-year-old would ever need. The students just don’t know that is what the teachers are actually doing… at least not right away. By the time they figure it out, they simply don’t care because they love the calendar as much as the teacher does.
- It is the best job ever. I wouldn’t trade it for any other job in the world. Just don’t call it easy. Because remember what I said… if it looks easy, it is only because it is being done well.
Kindergarten is a fabulous grade to teach and I would say the most exhausting! Isn’t it amazing that people think it is all play?!?! I moved down to pre-k this year and am blessed with a full time para! Kudos to kindergarten teachers who do most of it on their own!
THANK YOU for this! 🙂 I am about to start my second year teaching kindergarten, and I would love to know more about how you do calendar time. I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m not making the most of it!
Thanks in advance! 🙂 <3 love those kinders!
YES! Search my blog for calendar and I will see if I can find a post on it or write a new one.
Hi, Mary!! Yes!!! All of these points are so true!! Kindergarten is very rewarding, but oh so difficult to prepare and execute to make sure that our little kinders stay motivated and engaged…..WHILE they are learning!! Thanks for the great post!!
Linda’s Learning Loot
—-I’m in Georgia too!! 🙂
What a wonderfully written article! I taught preschool for 15 years and this past year I went to Kindergarten. I absolutely loved it! Unfortunately for me, numbers are down & I am to return to Preschool in the Fall. I am saddened by this but keep optimistic about still having a Kindergarten class next year. Kindergarten was challenging to say the least, but after 15 years, it was a rebirth for me, one that I really needed too. It was nice to feel the passion burn once again.
Well said! I love it and it it the hardest grade to teach.
Well said!! I looked to this article for some inspiration as I am feeling a little burned out after teaching full-day Kindergarten for ten years. It’s not the teaching Kindergarten part, but the fact that my district and principal have overhauled our kindergarten program this year to include more workbooks and less social/emotional development time. My kindergarten team is feeling so upset about it and we just don’t know what to do. We’ve actually been told to save our calendar time for Social Studies, which is at the the very end of the day!! And if we spend too much time while group on the mat before math lessons (you know, to model and make meaningful connections) and not enough time on workbook pages we are chastised as well. They have made schedules for us and have told us we need to stick to them, yet they built in zero transition time. It’s kindergarten!! We all have so much anxiety this year. But this post has still made me feel a bit better.
So interesting. Worksheets are frowned upon. Workbooks are a huge NO!
I loved your article! I am on my 19th year of teaching kinder (32 years in education, overall). I adore my job- it’s my passion. But, every year as they pile more on us, and set expections so high for my littles, my heart hurts knowing that we are getting so far away from what is developmentally appropriate. The learning that is accomplished through “play” is astounding- we are down to 1 fifteen minute recess. Studies show that gross motor improves academic growth- but I’m afraid before too much longer, recess will be a reward. The sand table, water table, and puzzle center, for example, covered farious math skills, spatial reasoning, problem solving. All of our tables were taken, and anything like puzzles are saved for Fun Friday centers. Art projects?? They are referred to as “Love” lessons or “fluff” and we are discouraged from doing them. Sometimes- you have to let your years of experience speak- close your door and do what your 5 year old littles need. My assessment scores are always the highest- first grade teachers love getting my kids, and they are happy! Yes, I do what is expected, but rack my brain finding a way that is as close to developmentally appropriate as I can get. Kindergarten is not for the faint of heart. You have to choose joy, you have to keep your focus on what’s important- the littles, and let go of what you can’t change. Love my littles! Love my job! Here’s to all the kindergarten teachers out there!