from prek to kindergarten

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Preschool Teachers Chatboard

from prek to kindergarten

by Pre Teacher

Apr 27, 2012

Just wondering if anyone has switched from Preschool to Kindergarten or who may have taught both grade levels before. Which did you enjoy most? Preschool or Kindergarten and why?

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MsM I love teaching both, and have taught both in a child care center which is also licensed as a "private academic school" through the state department of education in order to offer kindergarten. For me personally, I feel under less pressure when I am teaching pre-k, as I am this school year. For example, one beautiful early spring day several weeks ...See More

Apr 27, 2012

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my thoughts My first job was preschool (special education); I always thought that I would eventually move to K-3 once I felt ready to go. Thus far, I haven't felt the drive to go (but it's come close more than once.) I realize now that with the change in academic trends over the years, I am teaching my older preschoolers pretty much EXACTLY what I remember tea...See More

Apr 28, 2012

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Diane Henderson I have taught both + 1st, 2nd, 3rd,high school and college.

I LOVED both, but obviously there are positives and negatives for each. The big + for Pre-K is less standards with more time. I felt less rushed and could do more fun things. The down side was that I was dealing with a shorter attention span and it took much longer to teach conce...See MoreI have taught both + 1st, 2nd, 3rd,high school and college.

I LOVED both, but obviously there are positives and negatives for each. The big + for Pre-K is less standards with more time. I felt less rushed and could do more fun things. The down side was that I was dealing with a shorter attention span and it took much longer to teach concepts. They were also much more needy (buttoning, zipping, crying, tattling etc.)

The + for K is that they are much more independent, with longer attention spans. The downside: so many standards, so little time, constantly feeling rushed and having to cram in a zillion things in a short amount of time.

Plus many of the standards I felt were not age appropriate for more than half of my little ones. The class size was also much larger and many of them were just not ready for the rigors of K, which was all-day every day.

On 4/27/12, MsM wrote: > I love teaching both, and have taught both in a child care > center which is also licensed as a "private academic school" > through the state department of education in order to offer > kindergarten. For me personally, I feel under less pressure > when I am teaching pre-k, as I am this school year. For > example, one beautiful early spring day several weeks ago, *I* > had spring fever, and didn't want to be cooped up inside. So > we went outside with crayons and pencils and paper and > clipboards and spent the entire morning playing outside. Some > of the children did bark rubbings on the trees, some drew what > they saw outside, some drew whatever they wanted, and some > didn't touch any of the materials--they "just" played. I can > almost guarantee that at that point in the kindergarten school > year I would have been feeling the pressure of the upcoming > standardized testing we do, trying to get assessments done, > doing targeted interventions with the low kids...and would > have stayed inside to do the regular routine. Similarly, when > my kids discovered that the playground surface had eroded in > one area, revealing something hard and smooth and white-ish in > color, and they set to work digging it up with sticks and > brushing the dirt away gently with pine branches as they > discussed what it might be (a rock? a dinosaur bone? > treasure?)...if they had been kindergartners, I probably would > have rushed them inside at the end of the allotted 30 minutes > of outside play, rather than letting them continue to dig > until lunch. > > ...And yes, I know it should not be a problem to follow the > children's lead in kindergarten either, but the expectations > just *feel* different. > > > > On 4/27/12, Pre Teacher wrote: >> Just wondering if anyone has switched from Preschool to >> Kindergarten or who may have taught both grade levels >> before. Which did you enjoy most? Preschool or >> Kindergarten and why?

May 3, 2012

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