EXPLANATION OF KINDERGARTEN
But why is it called kindergarten?
The word kindergarten comes from the German language. Kinder means children and garten means garden. The term dates back to the 19th century. Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852) started the first kindergarten, Garden of Children, in 1840. According to Froebel Web, the word kindergarten was invented by Froebel and symbolized his vision for early childhood education: “Children are like tiny flowers; they are varied and need care, but each is beautiful alone and glorious when seen in the community of peers.”
Before 1840, children under the age of 7 did not attend school yet. “Pioneers In Our Field: Friedrich Froebel - Founder of the First Kindergarten” from Early Childhood Today states it was believed that children under the age of 7 did not have the ability to focus or develop cognitive and emotional skills.
Froebel was an educator who believed in self-activity and hands-on learning for children. He also had a love for nature, science and mathematics. He felt children needed to be nurtured and caringly tended to like plants in a garden. Hence, he founded an early education program for young children, which he called kindergarten. It was a place where children could develop and flourish freely through self- directed play under the guidance, not direction, of the teacher.
Froebel’s kindergarten was filled with objects for children to play with. He developed a set of gifts and occupations. These were designed to help children recognize and appreciate patterns in nature and introduce them to basic concepts of science, geometry and architecture. The occupations provided material such as clay, sand, paper and string to build skills such as sculpting, lacing, weaving and folding, and to stimulate imagination, creativity and ingenuity.
The word kindergarten also translates into garden for children. A piece of land was an important part of the kindergarten, which was a place where children could interact with nature as well as play, plant, nurture, explore, observe and discover.
According to Froebel Web, Froebel's philosophy of education rested on four basic ideas: free self-expression, creativity, social participation and motor expression.
How To Teach Children Writing?
STOP HOLDING CHILDREN'S HANDS TO TEACH THEM HOW TO WRITE
Holding learners hands to teach them Handwriting is a first century teaching strategy which should not be entertained in the 21st Century Classroom.
To teach children writing,
There are certain skills you will first have to develop in the child first.
👉 Develop how to Hold a Writing Material.
👉 Begin with Scribbling
👉 Continue with Strokes, Curves, Dots, Lines, Circles, etc.
THE DAILY TEACHING PLAN/TIME TABLE
Components of the KG Learning Plan/Time Table:
👉 News Time
👉 Weather Report
👉 Class Registration
👉 Indoor Activities
👉 Circle Time
👉 Outdoor Activities
👉 Phonics Time
👉 Story Time
IMPORTANT SKILLS NEEDED BY THE KG FACILITATOR
👉 First and foremost, prospective kindergarten teachers should love children.
👉 Most of their day will be centered on teaching, caring for, and nurturing small children, and as one of the primary figures of authority in these students’ lives, they will also be one of their first role models.
👉 Patience,
👉 creativity, and
👉 excellent communication skills
Finally,
👉 Teaching at the kindergarten level can be both stressful and rewarding.
*What Should I Do When I Go To Class?*
👉 Prepare an Alphabet Frieze
👉 Prepare your Lesson Plan/Notes
👉 Prepare your KG Daily Learning Plan
👉 Set up the following Centres in your Classroom:
a. Reading Centre
b. Home Centre
c. Music Center
d. Shopping Centre
e. Art Centre
👉 Design your Assessments Register
👉 Weather Chart
👉 Hanging Line
👉 Sand Corner
👉 Bags Holder
👉 Registration Chart
Alphabet Frieze
PROFED
(Assessment and Evaluation
of Learning 1)
📌BASIC CONCEPTS
📎Test -an Instrument designed to measure any characteristic, quality, ability, knowledge or skill. It comprised of Items in the area. it is designed to measure.
📎Measurement -a process of quantifying the degree to which someone/something possesses a given trait. ie., quality, characteristic, or feature.
📎Assessment - process of gathering and organizing quantitative or qualitative data into an interpretable form to have a basis for judgment or decision-making, it is a pre-requisite to evaluation. It provides the information which enables evaluation to take place.
📎Evaluation - a process of systematic interpretation, analysis, appraisal or judgment of the worth of organized data as basis for decision-making. It Involves judgment about the desirability of changes in students.
📎Traditional Assessment - it refers to the use of pen-and-paper objective test.
📎Alternative Assessment - It refers to the use of methods other than pen-and-paper objective test which includes performance tests, projects, portfolios, journals, and the likes.
📎Authentic Assessment - It refers to the use of an assessment method that simulate true-to-life situations. This could be objective tests that reflect real-life situations or alternative methods that are parallel to what we experience in real
life.
📌PURPOSES OF CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT
1. Assessment FOR Learning - this Includes three types of assessment done before and during instruction. These are placement, formative and diagnostic.
a. Placement - done prior to instruction
• Its purpose is to assess the needs of the learners to have basis in planning for a relevant instruction.
• Teachers use this assessment to know what their students are bringing into the learning situation and use this as a starting point, for instruction.
• The results of this assessment place students in specific learning groups to facilitate teaching and learning.
b. Formative - done during instruction
• This assessment is where teachers continuously monitor the students' level of attainment of the learning objectives (Stiggins, 2005)
• The results of this assessment are communicated clearty and promptly to the students for them to know their strengths and weaknesses and the progress of their learning.
c. Diagnostic - done during instruction
• This is used to determine students’ recurring or persistent difficulties.
• It searches for the underlying causes of student’s learning problems that do not respond to first aid treatment.
• It helps formulate a plan for detailed remedial instruction.
2. Assessment OF Learning - this is done after instruction. This is usually referred to as the summative assessment.
• it is used to certify what students know and can do and the level of their proficiency or competency.
• Its results reveal whether or not instructions have successfully achieved, the curriculum outcomes.
• The information from assessment of learning is usually expressed as marks or letter grades.
• The results of which are communicated to the students, parents, and other stakeholders for decision making.
•It is also a powerful factor that could pave the way for educational Reforms.
3. Assessment AS learning -this is done for teachers to understand and perform well their role of assessing FOR and OF learning. It requires teachers to undergo
training on how to assess learning and be equipped with the following competencies needed in performing their work as assessors.
📌Standards for Teacher Competence In Educational Assessment of Students
(Developed by the American Federation Teachers National, Council on Measurement In Education, National Education Association)
1. Teachers should be skilled in choosing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions.
2. Teachers should be skilled in developing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions.
3. Teachers should be skilled in administering, scoring and interpreting the results of both externally produced and teacher-produced assessment methods.
4. Teachers should be skilled in using assessment results when making decisions about individual students, planning teaching, developing curriculum, and school improvement.
5. Teachers should be skilled in developing valid pupil grading procedures which use pupil assessments.
6. Teachers should be skilled in communicating assessment results to students, parents, other lay audiences, and other educators.
7. Teachers should be skilled in recognizing unethical, illegal, and otherwise inappropriate assessment methods and uses of assessment information.
ASSESSMENTS IN THE KG!
But, let us take note of this: *"THERE IS NO PAPER AND PENCIL TESTS AT THE KINDERGARTEN LEVEL"* - NaCCA.
Assessments in the Kg should take different and more friendly approach such as:
👉 Interview
👉 Observation
👉 Demonstration
👉 Sorting
👉 Manipulation
👉 Assemblage
👉 Construction
So you see, every Friday or the last day of the Week is an Assessments Day for the KG Facilitator.
Also, all the test items should be from chosen indicators for the week.
Learners performance should be recorded in the Kg Assessments Register...
