When one student pushes another in the lunch line, it’s Abaye who pulls the student aside to right the wrong and elicit an apology. She helps keep the students focused during class, sprinkling encouragement to stay focused or keep working on their Play-Doh letters with displays of affection. Gill’s curriculum doesn’t follow a predetermined program: It’s the product of years of iteration, though this year, BUSD is trying out a math curriculum for transitional kindergarteners from San Francisco Unified School District.Ĭherilynn Abaye, an instructional aide who works alongside Gill, is called Ms. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/ CatchLight Transitional kindergarten is an ‘equalizer’ May Lynne Gill poses for a portrait in her classroom at Malcom X Elementary in South Berkeley. BUSD’s TK program also provides instructional aides and additional aides for students with disabilities who need them. While preschool largely centers on play as a way of learning, transitional kindergarten is more structured and more academic, while also introducing routines, like lining up or cleaning up your space. He said it will mean one less transition for his youngest child, and all three of his children can attend the same school next year. (BUSD does not guarantee that children can attend the same elementary school for transitional kindergarten and kindergarten, a point of frustration for some Berkeley parents.) Hunt plans to enroll her in TK because he thinks the program provides a high-quality, age-appropriate education with a credentialed teacher, while preschool teachers are not required to be credentialed. Next year, Hunt’s own daughter will be eligible for transitional kindergarten, thanks to the new birthday cut-off date. Transitional kindergarten is still a positive development in Berkeley, he said, but it will have the biggest impact in parts of the state where that’s not the case. In Berkeley, Hunt believes most families already send their children to preschool. “All of the early intervention that we do is what pays off in the long run,” Hunt said. A 2017 study evaluating the first few years of California’s transitional kindergarten program showed that students had better early literacy and math skills compared with students who’d only gone to preschool, especially at the start of kindergarten. The expansion is part of a statewide effort to invest in early childhood education, which experts say can be crucial to eliminating achievement gaps and producing better outcomes for children once they reach kindergarten. Gill’s classroom celebrates students who have turned 5 years old. Over the next few years, that month will gradually grow to include all 4-year-olds. This year, students turning 5 between Sept.
The birthday range for transitional kindergarten will continue to expand until the 2025-26 school year, when all 4-year-olds, no matter when their birthday falls, will be eligible. 2, who were no longer eligible for traditional kindergarten. Transitional kindergarten was created for those students with birthdays between Sept. 2 beginning in 2012, the birthday deadline was moved up to Sept. Previously, 4-year-olds could enroll in kindergarten as long as they were set to turn 5 by Dec. Transitional kindergarten was introduced in the state in 2012 after the Kindergarten Readiness Act adjusted the birthday cutoff for kindergarten. School is not mandatory in California until a child is 6 years old. It means that there is more access to high-quality education universally than our state has previously been able to offer,” said Alexander Hunt, principal of Malcolm X Elementary. Initially designed for older 4-year-olds on the verge of turning 5, the program, called “ universal TK,” began expanding this year and will eventually accommodate all 4-year-olds.
Malcolm X is one of seven elementary schools in Berkeley Unified School District with a transitional kindergarten program.
0 kommentar(er)
