Every week I get to spend some time with kindergartners in their classroom. Five and six year olds are full of life and energy and love to tell stories -- that have nothing to do with the current topic. One of the reasons it is so fun to work with them is because progress is readily seen. You can tell a lot about how ready a child is to start writing by how he colors and draws. I'll give you an example of one boy. At the beginning of the year he held a crayon or pencil with his fist and scribbled away. When asked what he had drawn he had an explanation. "That's me and Mom and Dad at the zoo and that's the lion!" He had difficulty tracing a straight line or drawing a circle and without being able to do those basic shapes, it is hard to write letters. So at the beginning we used lots of hand-over-hand as we worked on the letters of his name. Using small bits of chalk or broken crayons got him to hold his pencil correctly. Writing on a chalk board or in boxes gave him some boundaries and extra feedback and in time he was consistently writing his first name.
Two weeks ago I watched him as he drew a picture and knew improvement was being made when the first thing on the paper was a circle and a couple of lines in an attempt to draw a stick figure. By the time he had finished it was covered with scribbles but I had seen signs of progress. This week when he opened his writing folder I didn't have to ask him what he had drawn. It was clearly a snowman: three circles, one on top of the other with a hat on top. There were only a few scribbles on the page. He told me he wanted to draw something about the movie Zootopia and began with a small circle and two lines on top, and a couple of lines going down. It wasn't a recognizable rabbit and his fox was about the same but he was using controlled and small movements. His building had no sharp corners but he was trying to make a rectangle. I am rejoicing to see this boy increase his skills.
The next day I visited a classroom which was rather chaotic at times at the beginning of the year. There is a runner in that classroom so there is a gate at each door and the kids needed multiple reminders to go from one center to another or back to their desk and actually do what they were supposed to be doing. This week when I walked in, everyone was where they were supposed to be and the noise level was appropriate for the activity. When it was time to move from one center to another it was done with minimal reminders. The kids on the computers moved to the library. Those at the library went to the table and began to draw... It was amazing compared to what it was like a month ago. It's great for everyone involved when there are more good days than bad.
