Kindergarten FAQ

Help your child get ready for Kindergarten by:

• Taking your child to visit the school grounds
• Walk to the bus stop, or take the route to school several times before school starts
• Borrow books from the library about kindergarten and read them to your child
• Talk with your child about going to kindergarten for the whole day; explain the activities and routines they may encounter

Send your child to school "ready to learn"

• Establish regular sleeping hours/routines
• Allow enough time for morning routines and breakfast
• Dress your child appropriately for indoor and outdoor school activities. ( snow pants, coats, hats, gloves and winter boots are necessary for the winter months, students will continue to have outdoor recess when possible.)

Most children should be self-sufficient with:

• Bathroom: flushing the toilet, hand washing, turning on faucets, using soap and paper towels
• Clothing: putting on coats, buttoning, snapping and zipping (Please practice tying shoes with your child.)
• Blowing noses (tissues) 

In order to register your child for Kindergarten the following forms must be submitted:

• Birth Certificate
• Immunizations
• Physical (Date)
• Proof of residency & license

A full overview of the Kindergarten Registration Process can be found on our website by clicking here. 

Transportation to and from school is offered to all kindergarten students. A transportation application must be submitted in order to reserve a seat on the bus for your child.  Transportation applications will be available in the online student registration packets available each July prior to the start of the school year.

• ALL kindergarten children MUST be met by an adult as they leave the bus. When no adult is present the child will be returned to school.
• Stops are group stops not door to door in most cases.
• At school, children are met at the buses each morning and walk to class together or with a bus buddy (until October)

• Every incoming child will attend a screening prior to the start of the school year.
• The appointment dates are scheduled as part of the Kindergarten Parent Orientation Night.
• Typically the screenings take place in the month of May.
• If your child does not have a screening date scheduled, please call the front office of the school your child will be attending to set one up.

• Check the website in June and July for the Supply Lists and to make sure all of the Registration and Transportation forms are complete.
• Label all clothing, lunch boxes and backpacks etc.
• Backpacks need to be large enough to hold a library book, lunch box, and folders. (For safety reasons we do not encourage backpacks with wheels.)
• Check out your school PTO.  They are a great resource and often they have Kindergarten playdates prior to the start of the school year. 

End the day on a positive note:

• Talk with your child about school each day
• Encourage daily physical activity- indoors and out
• Set aside a quiet place for your child to do homework activities or practice skills
• Be aware of the amount of "screen time" your child has on a daily basis

Reinforce learning throughout the year:

• Check schoolwork every day as you empty your child's backpack
• Participate in any homework activities with your child
• Always praise your child for his or her efforts
• Read to your child daily
• Let your child see you read 
• Give your child practice in dressing, zipping, buttoning, and tying shoes
• Help and encourage your child develop responsibility for clothing and materials
• Allow your child to make independent choices
• Assign your child responsibilities around the house
• Contact your child's teacher if you have questions or concerns
• Join the PTA, attend school events or volunteer when possible 

Learning activities you can do at home

• Play games that encourage your child to recognize letters and numbers in the environment
• Read labels on cans, cereal boxes, signs etc. 
• Play board games, do puzzles and play rhyming games
• Visit the Pembroke Public Library
• Read books and children's magazines together
• Begin a story and ask your child to finish it
• Look for opportunities that fice your child a chance to participate in group activities and peer interaction
• Provide opportunities for your child to share and help others
• Practice coloring, cutting, pasting and other motor skills with your child
• Let your child help set the table, measure ingredients for family meals

All Pembroke Public elementary schools now offer full-day kindergarten. Our district made the decision to offer full-day kindergarten to all students because we believe it is an essential tool for creating a strong foundation for future educational success.

 We do not offer a half-day program. 

Yes! Full-day kindergarten is offered at no cost to families. 

Our kindergarten teachers are eager to help your child have a fun, positive start to school. The day typically starts with a class meeting to launch the day. Students receive instruction and plenty of practice time for foundational skills in reading, writing, language, math, social studies, and science. Specialists provide instruction in fitness and health, developmental music and library skills. There is time for lunch and recess.

The YMCA Before and After School Programs are held in the cafeteria of each of the Pembroke Elementary Schools. Our Before School programs run from 7 a.m. until school begins.  The After School programs run from dismissal until 6:00 p.m. Breakfast and snack are provided at no extra cost. Child care is also available over the vacation weeks and throughout the summer.

For more information please contact Sara Villanueva at svillanueva@oldcolonyymca.org or 508-833-4796.

The before and after school program is run by the Old Colony YMCA and licensed by the Department of Early Education and Care.

• Each child will have a folder that will go to school and come home each day.
• All communication to and from school will go in this folder.
• Snack and lunch money will also be placed in the folders unless an account is in place.
• Teachers and Paraprofessionals do not look in students' backpacks for notes.

Kindergarten students will attend library weekly and may check out a book providing their book was returned.

Volunteers are always welcome in the Library.  

• Each child can have a Lunch/Snack debit account set up through the cafeteria using our online system LunchBucks.
• All students can purchase milk, juice, or a snack at school. A  monthly menu is posted on our website.
• The daily breakfast menu is also posted on the website. 
• Most children should be able to eat, clean up trash and wipe spills independently.
• Applications for free/reduced lunch are from the School Office Pro enrollment packet

Conferences will be held twice during the school year.  The dates are posted to the Official School District Calendar.  

Report cards are given out in December, March, and June. 

• All children need a bus pass on their backpack if they are to take a bus home.
• If you are picking your child up at the end of the day, they will be brought to the cafeteria, where you will sign them out.
• If your child is NOT going to take the bus during the school year, make sure you fill out the form online. 

• If you plan on picking your child up from school, please update Pick Up Patrol.
• If your child will be picked up early, enter it into Pick Up Patrol, you must sign your child out at the main office. 
• If you ask a friend or relative to dismiss your child, they must present a picture ID. Please note who will be picking up in Pick Up Patrol.

The English Language Arts Curriculum follows the Common Core.

Students will use the Treasures Phonics Program which features:

- Letter identification

- Letter sounds

- Short and long vowel sounds

- High-frequency sight words

- Reading and Writing CVC words

- Reading Decodable Books

Students will also use the Treasures Writing Program which features:

- Ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions

Kindergarten teachers work diligently to encourage students' English Language Arts. During the school year, your child will learn to:

• With support, retell familiar stories
• With support, identify characters, setting and major events
• With support, ask and answer questions about details
• Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text
• Recognize common types of text such as a storybook or poem
• Actively engage in group reading activities
• Understand spoken words, syllables, and sounds
• Know and apply grade-level phonics and decoding skills
• Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose written work
• Use appropriate capitalization, punctuation, and spelling in writing
• Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, being read to and by reading
• With guidance, explore word relationships, and multiple-meaning words
• Speak clearly, express thoughts, feelings, and ideas
• Participate in conversations with peer partners

Handwriting Without Tears is part of our ELA Curriculum.  This program offers a multisensory approach to handwriting and teaches students the proper formation of letters and numbers using:

- songs

- wooden pieces

- chalkboards

- whiteboards

- air writing

- paper/pencil task

In addition to the Treasures Phonics, Treasures Writing and Handwriting Without Tears programs, students will also participate in a number of other activities to support their ELA development.  This includes:

-Listening to, answering questions and retelling stories

- Participating in shared reading and writing activities

- Journal Writing

- Noisy Readers 

Math is a central focus of learning district-wide. During your child's kindergarten year, he/she will learn: 

Number Sense:

• One to one correspondence 
• Counting to 100
• Read and Write numbers 1-20
• Counting by 5's and 10's
• Counting back from 10
• Number stories to 10 (+-)
• Comparing Numbers (<,>,=)

Patterns and Relationships

• Identify, create and extend patterns
• Sorting by attributes (color, shape, and size)

Geometry

• Identify Common two and three-dimensional shapes
• Spatial and directional words (inside/outside)
• Symmetry

Measurement

• Calendar Activites
• Measuring length with standard and non-standard units
• Introduce weight and volume
• Half and whole
• Estimation
• Sequencing 

Learning centers are a common instructional routine in both preschool and kindergarten classrooms. They provide the opportunity for children to work independently on several tasks. 

The term “centers” can mean a few different things, but they’re all about the same general concept.

Centers are activities located in specific areas around the classroom. Often, each specific area is also referred to as a center. The time period on the classroom schedule for these activities is also often called centers.

Children work in small groups during center time, and they can also work independently.

Some center activities can be done with the teacher, while others are completed with peers or individually.

Centers can be done at one time during the school day, with a variety of center topics available.  Centers can also be split up into different parts of the day.  For example, literacy centers might be held in the mornings, with art centers after lunch.  The decision is based on teacher preference and class schedule.

Fine motor skills are small movements — such as picking up small objects and holding a spoon — that use the small muscles of the fingers, toes, wrists, lips, and tongue. Gross motor skills are the bigger movements — such as rolling over and sitting — that use the large muscles in the arms, legs, torso, and feet.

Students practice these skills through activities such as:

• Tracing, cutting, and coloring
• Practicing correct grips
• Building hand strength through manipulatives, activities, and centers

Music, Art, Physical Education and Recess are also times when these skills are reinforced. 

Creative exploration is an important part of a child's growth and development.  In kindergarten, your child will attend art classes and will learn to:

• Hold and use drawing, painting tools, and materials
• Cut, fold, bend, tear and glue paper
• Identity colors, shapes, textures and patterns
• Build with found objects
• Discuss and describe the artwork they create
• Develop self-expression and self-awareness
• Explore the powers of observation and imagination 

During your child's kindergarten year, students will learn to:

• Recognize rules for safety (walking home, taking the bus, in a car etc.)
• Identify objects and behaviors that are harmful
• Idetendiy ways to stay clean and healthy (hand washing, etc.)
• Discuss dental health
• Develop a positive self-image
• Express and recognize different emotions and feelings
• Learn about the food groups and identify foods that belong to each group
• Identify major body parts and functions
• Understand the importance of proper sleep, exercise, and nutrition
• Recognize family units, and identify the role a child plays within the family
• Understand the concept of friendship and being a friend

Musical instruction is a regular component of the kindergarten experience.  Children will attend music class and practice the following skills:

• Singing
• Rhyming
• Learning familiar songs
• Develop a sense of rhythm and beat
• Express ideas and emotions through movement
• Play simple rhythm instruments
• Response to the rhythm of the music
• listening skills (listen to live and recorded music) 

Physical activity and movement are critical to the healthy development of all students. 

All students in Pembroke Public Schools attend Physical Education classes.  Kindergarten children will:

• Develop body awareness through simple games
• Explore ways to play, run, kick and throw a ball
• Participate in group activities using acceptable social behavior
• Learn to use gym equipment safely
• Move, dance, run, skip and gallop without bumping into others and/or falling

Our teachers use the Interactive Science Program which includes:

• Physical Science
• Life Science
• Earth Science

Kindergarten teachers encourage their students to explore the world around them.  During the school year, your child will learn to: 

• Make guesses and predict what might happen based on past experiences
• Describe the weather changes from day to day over the seasons
• Understand the life cycle of plants, animals, and insects (e.g., the butterfly)
• Recognize the importance of protecting the environment
• Understand scientific vocabulary for grade level
• Recognizing that people and animals interact with the environment through their senses; sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste

Kindergarten teachers encourage students to explore the world around them. During the school year, your child will learn about:

• Maps and globes
• Family Units
• Be able to identify and name current President
• Recognize and describe the American Flag
• Identify and describe the events or people celebrated during the United States national holidays and why we celebrate them

Students will also study Social Studies, Science, and Health.

Social Studies includes:

• Maps and globes
• Family Units
• Identify and name current President
• American Flag
• Identify and describe the events or people celebrated during the United States national holidays and why we celebrate them

Science includes:

Interactive Science Program which covers:

• Physical Science
• Life Science
• Earth Science

Health includes:

• Dental health
• Our bodies
• 5 Senses
• Personal Hygiene