Brilliant Idea! by Idah Khan https://padlet.com/i_khan/ideasforkg Ideas to help Kindergarten en-us 2017-09-27 08:29:55 UTC 2017-10-02 11:27:54 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Babyhead.png Looking for ideas i_khan https://padlet.com/i_khan/ideasforkg/wish/191563905 The Situation
Currently, students gets enrolled into K1 on a monthly basis making it hard for the group to ever settle. 
Causing insecurities all around. Making things stressful for staff, students and parents.
At the moment, our student distribution across KG is unbalanced. If we remain this way, by June, it could look like this:
40 ish in K1.
12 ish in K2.
16 ish in K3.
A number of students from K1 gets bumped up to K2 although they are not of the right age and have not experienced a full cycle of the Units of Inquiry.
So how can we solve this People Puzzle?
]]> 2017-09-27 08:32:58 UTC https://padlet.com/i_khan/ideasforkg/wish/191563905 Ruth i_khan https://padlet.com/i_khan/ideasforkg/wish/191620708 In K1 we have 2 grade levels. this is the real issue. We are currently trying to run kindergarten based on 3 grade levels, K1, 2 and 3, when in fact we have 4 grade levels in our kindergarten.  
Numbers:
16 ish in K3
12ish in K2
10 ish in K1 if it was 2 classes as the others are
10ish in K0 if it was 2 classes as the others are.
The problem for us in K1 is not so much children joining during the year, this is usual if you have the settling in group. 
We have a large class full of K1 age  children, and then we have children entering the school through the year who are the grade level younger, so we end up in K1 with 2 large classes containing 2 grade levels by the end of the year. This has been a problem in K1 as we have also only been one home room teacher with 2 classes and 2 grade levels, essentially 4 groups. 
We all agree that moving kids up a grade so they skip a grade level and are a grade ahead through kg and then entering primary caused some issues for both them, the group they moved into, and for staff, so that isnt the best solution.
So one solution is we keep K1 children in their K1 class, all year, and the children entering the school who are a grade level younger go into a seperate settling in class until the following school year when they join K1 proper. This still doesnt answer all the practical problems with numbers in each class. This is because we do not really have enough intake for 2 classes in K1 and 2 classes in K2, but we have too many for one class of each. A suggestion for this is that we have mixed k1/K2 classes, and have either 3 or 4 classes. Then children must only enter K3 when they reach the right age to be in K3 grade, so that they go into school in the right grade level. There could be a rolling programme of 8 units of inquiry, so children dont do the same units again as they are in the group for 2 years, and working across the classes we could split into age groups at times for certain things such as circle times or more focussed activities. This still leaves the issue of the youngest children joining the school during the school year....if they join in november for example, they will spend nearly 3 years in the same class. Do we then have 12 units of inquiry to cover 3 years? Or do we still have a seperate settling in group for the very youngest children that doesnt have units of inquiry and is purely a "playgroup" introduction to school and they join the full programme the school year that they are in K1??? If we follow this suggestion then we would have 3 classes of k1/2 and one class of "K0" or playgroup. Otherwise, we have 4 classes with 3 grade levels, K0/K1/K2. :) :) :) :) simple, right? ;)]]> 2017-09-27 12:22:18 UTC https://padlet.com/i_khan/ideasforkg/wish/191620708 Do you mean K2A 12, K2B 12 then K2= 24? https://padlet.com/i_khan/ideasforkg/wish/192054971 Yes]]> 2017-09-28 13:21:48 UTC https://padlet.com/i_khan/ideasforkg/wish/192054971 Farah https://padlet.com/i_khan/ideasforkg/wish/192189084 I see the challenge of having a very big K1 class. I really like the idea of having K0 or Playgroup.

I think we have to be clear on what this group will be doing when they start, so parents have a clear understanding of what this group will be doing.

(While we are at "what they should be doing" ;)) 
This also means that we need a specific "curriculum" for this group. For example, self help skills such as following routines and putting on clothes/shoes, sensory play/activities (such as art and music) -something really basic for kindergarten preparation.

(While we are at "moving up too soon" ;) )
The issue about moving a grade up too soon has also caused some concerns amongst parents, and I wonder if we could work on presenting a pedagogical reasoning behind moving our children up or staying behind. This will definitely reflect our professional qualities as early childhood educators. 


]]> 2017-09-28 17:21:40 UTC https://padlet.com/i_khan/ideasforkg/wish/192189084 Put the two K2 classes together, and make a new K1 in the pavilion https://padlet.com/i_khan/ideasforkg/wish/192743101 Britta]]> 2017-10-01 10:12:22 UTC https://padlet.com/i_khan/ideasforkg/wish/192743101 Sina https://padlet.com/i_khan/ideasforkg/wish/192930051 I like the idea of K0 or Play group.
and maybe use the afterschool clubroom for a classroom for them.]]> 2017-10-02 11:26:15 UTC https://padlet.com/i_khan/ideasforkg/wish/192930051