This week, Pre-Kindergarten teachers Mrs. Kimberley Lindsey and Mrs. Sonja Brundage join Mr. Potter to discuss the history of Circle Public School's pre-kindergarten program, its essential learning components, and the overall educational benefits for students enrolled in pre-k.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
e
(00:00):
t
everybody welcome to episode
five of t bird talk join us as
we explore the world of circle
public schools sharing
inspiring stories delving into
the inner workings of our
district. Exploring innovation.
Education and celebrating the
(00:23):
achievements of our students
and educators whether you're
a student or a student of the
school. We're here to share
your insights. Get ready for a
journey into the heart of
circle public schools where
excellence meets innovation.
I'm superintendent Don Potter
and today we're here with some
very special people. Our pre K
(00:44):
teachers a couple of them-
missus Sonya Brundage and
missus Kimberly Lindsey. Welcome
to t bird talk guys hello
hello thank you for having us
today. Absolutely every day is
different we have picture day
today. Oh well good we stayed
(01:05):
busy well very good very good
going to talk about pre K and-
well we're here today we're
and- just a little bit of
history of pre K. in circle and-
six years ago we started pre K
obviously before that we had
pre K. and- we are. Close to a
(01:25):
hundred and twenty five pre K.
students in a short period of
time at pre K. here at circle
so we're- we're very proud of
of the program that- our
teachers including yourselves
have created and so thank you
guys for that. And you know when
we when we go back six years
and we think well you know why
did we even do this and- you
(01:48):
know looking at the research
that we did. We did a lot of
research and we were ready to
learn and their peers who did
not attend they score higher on
reading a mass test throughout
their school career. And as
matter of fact thirty one percent.
(02:08):
Higher on vocab tests and forty
percent on higher on math tests
than those that don't
participate throughout their
high school or throughout their
school career. And so we have
a lot of great families because
they attended pre K. it's
amazing. Better behavior social
(02:29):
emotionally and in school. To
ensure learning and- you know
the biggest stat is those that.
Attended pre K. were more
likely to graduate from high
school compared with sixty
percent of the children who
didn't. So it's a huge program
(02:49):
and it's a huge learning
experience. So we can say how
good it is but when we sit here
and talk to you guys there's a
lot of things that beyond this
research that you see of why
pre K. is important so talk to
me a little bit about what you
think and why pre K. is
important to you and the
students that you see. I think
(03:12):
pre case kind of like our
students. They love school. And
that's why I really enjoyed
teaching pre K. because you can
also see all the growth that
they have in just a small time
they're like little sponges
coming in. You can have them-
love school and just prep them
(03:36):
for the next year going forward
and teach them so much
absolutely and I can attest to
that you know I go into
pre K. and when I do the change
that I see in just a short
period of time from an academic
from organization and those
kind of things are huge so-
(03:57):
Mrs Brundage you want to talk a
little bit about what you think
is so important for pre K. of
course I want to piggyback off
of Kim though- this is for a
lot of our kiddos coming in
and they're not only building
relationships with their peers
(04:19):
but they're building
relationships with grownups
they're learning that school is
a different environment- and
they are sponges so they're
soaking up what it's like to be
in school you know it's
something it academics are huge
but also you know that social
emotional aspect you know how
do I line up how do I sit in
(04:42):
the classroom and how do I
interact with them and so when
they first enter in that
classroom it's incredible how
quickly they catch on. And
that's just a huge piece the
social emotional piece and how
they interact with each other
it's huge yes. And it's fun to
see as well you know at that
age of seeing that seeing those
dynamics come into play and in
(05:03):
kids learning those concepts-
and I'm not sure if we can
talk about that a little bit
pretty straightforward answer
but yeah so- kid is eligible
for our pre K. program if they
are for by August thirty first
of the upcoming school year
(05:26):
absolutely okay so if you if
the school year is started and
they are still three but their
birthday is before the thirty
first they can still come
because I had a few kids turned
for. After we had already
started school last year so if
they're not they're not
eligible for that program
they're eligible so- that's
that's important for the people
(05:46):
listening to know or to be able
to tell somebody that- there's
their students eligible for
pre K. even even that- that
late so that's that's good to
know. So as we move forward what-
what are some essential things
(06:10):
that we can do to help them
understand what they're
learning. Yeah okay so- when it
comes to literacy or reading-
our big things are our letter
people I don't know if you've
ever heard of the letter
people absolutely I know the
letter people right well- the
kiddos love the letter people
so an essential learning that
we do promise is that they will
(06:32):
be able to identify both upper
and lower case letters that
are working on producing those
letter sounds. And so they might
know their twenty six letters
way before the end of the year
because they're still exposed
to those letters all day but
each letter person gets about a
week dedicated to them and then
with that not just being able to
(06:53):
identify the- upper and lower
case letters they are working
on producing those letter
sounds too- so that's another
promise we aim for is that
they'll be able to produce
those letter sounds before
they're even born. And people
might think that's a little
crazy that their four year old
by the time they leave cannot
only identify but produce a
(07:15):
rhyming word. And along with-
all those letters to yeah so it
it they really do pick it up
and it really does help them
when they are in kindergarten.
It's fun to see that too
honestly- yeah- it is is neat
to see when they're when they
recognize that specific letter
(07:37):
that they're going to be
presenting to their kids- or
it's a huge huge thing for them
and in a powerful moment for
their teachers I know it gets
me so excited. Because when
they come in chances are a good
amount they can't tell you all
of the letters but by the end
of the year when you see that
growth if maybe you know one
(07:58):
kiddo only knew a couple
letters. And then at the end of
the year when they're telling
you that they're going to be
able to tell you all of the
letters. Let's dive right into
some social emotional
essential learnings that we can
provide your children coming in-
(08:18):
we are big on we can help them
follow. One to one step
directions given by adult in
adult. And so we will be
teaching them how to manage
their emotions and their
(08:40):
teammates we have a curriculum
that can help them- recognize
and manage their emotions so we
can also teach them about the
emotions and how to manage
those- we can teach them how to
sit patiently on the rug. And
do all of those things so that
(09:04):
they can be able to sit for
long periods of time. Follow
directions being able to sit
for you know an extended period
of time because once they go
into kindergarten I mean
there's a lot that's going on
in kindergarten lamb to you so
sorry kindergarten lamb that's
what I refer to it absolutely
that's- but those kids that
have attended our pre K program
(09:25):
you can hands down tell. That
they they understand that the
kids are going to struggle
because they've been in pre K
for a whole year- and we can
admit that if you want to know
it's not to say that you know a
kindergartner that didn't have
any pre K exposure is going to
(09:47):
struggle correct but you can
telling massive difference
essentially because they were
exposed to how they operate in
a classroom so then that helps
their kindergarten teachers so
they're ready to learn. They're
ready to learn behaviors
they're they're ready to learn
(10:07):
once they're in kindergarten
I know what the expect
expectations are yeah but they
also know how to carry on
conversations with other adults
in the building. So someone
might be asking them a question
and they'll know how to answer
that question because they've
already kind of experienced
that and so even just
conversations with adults and
(10:27):
their peers they're more ready
to learn. They're more
prepared to learn. They come to
kindergarten more prepared to
learn but the other thing I
think is important when you have
those interactions with adults
them being able to advocate for
themselves in ways that maybe
we we we can't do for them and
so having that opportunity to do
(10:47):
that and learning those skills
is so important so thank you
guys for sharing some of the
important things anything else
from an essential learning.
Yeah I think we have a lot of
things that we can do to help
them with those kinds of things
but those are some big ones and
you know we want them to learn
and be able to you know learn
(11:10):
some of the social emotional
behaviors of of how to cope
with emotions and those kind of
things and deal with those in a
in a in a positive way. Well we
even in pre K we even teach and
touch on some math skills. We
introduce two D shapes to them
(11:30):
so they can identify all of
their shapes and then they can
identify all of their numbers
zero to twelve. Yeah and that
also helps them going in-
kindergarten knowing- it's a
huge step you know the- knowing
your numbers and being able to
count and understand what those
numbers mean I think are. Are
huge with the manipulatives that
(11:51):
you guys use and being able to
identify all of the numbers and
so I think it's a good. Of
course we make it fun I know
you know I've all the music and
dancing and stuff yeah I've
seen it it's it's pretty
awesome. So you know I think
we've shared a lot of this but
it is- how are students
(12:13):
benefiting from. Versus those
not enrolled in pre K. If you
look at the numbers they are
confident with their letter
recognition. Very number
identification I mean and again
that's not saying that those
that didn't go to that can't do
(12:35):
that but as a general whole
that's that's important you're
right and I do hear it a lot
from our kindergarten teachers
they're very thankful for that
side of that so but also I mean
I cannot tell you enough how
many times I've had a
kindergarten teacher come in
and ask me questions in the
classroom. You know how to put
(12:56):
their stuff away you know how
to go sit at the circle run how
to line up. How to ask
questions you know raising our
hand I mean that is a huge deal
for your garden teacher
absolutely provides more time
for and then they can kind of
go into kindergarten as a
leader exactly and they really
(13:21):
want to share and but giving
them those skills kind of makes
them be a leader in
kindergarten absolutely- well
thank you guys for joining us
today to talk to us a little
bit about pre K. and I know
(13:41):
from me saying in for the rest
of the district it takes. Number
one to be a pre K. teacher and
a kindergarten I mean you know
the it's a lot of work and- it's
a lot of energy and a lot of
(14:02):
time and a lot of- sweat equity
that goes into that and so
certainly on behalf of all the
educators and community of
circle we appreciate your guys
is that for what you do and
that's why we're so excited to
have you with us today on
(14:23):
what's going on circle public
schools make sure to follow us
on Facebook at circle U. S.
three seven five and visit U.
S. three seven five dot org if
you're a parent or guardian make
sure to continue to check out
information sent to you through
parents square. And if you
have any suggestion for us or-
for an episode. Emails that
(14:44):
media U. S. three seven five
dot org if you're a parent or
guardian thrive in three seven
e
(00:00):
t
everybody welcome to episode
five of t bird talk join us as
we explore the world of circle
public schools sharing
inspiring stories delving into
the inner workings of our
district. Exploring innovation.
Education and celebrating the
(00:23):
achievements of our students
and educators whether you're
a student or a student of the
school. We're here to share
your insights. Get ready for a
journey into the heart of
circle public schools where
excellence meets innovation.
I'm superintendent Don Potter
and today we're here with some
very special people. Our pre K
(00:44):
teachers a couple of them-
missus Sonya Brundage and
missus Kimberly Lindsey. Welcome
to t bird talk guys hello
hello thank you for having us
today. Absolutely every day is
different we have picture day
today. Oh well good we stayed
(01:05):
busy well very good very good
going to talk about pre K and-
well we're here today we're
and- just a little bit of
history of pre K. in circle and-
six years ago we started pre K
obviously before that we had
pre K. and- we are. Close to a
(01:25):
hundred and twenty five pre K.
students in a short period of
time at pre K. here at circle
so we're- we're very proud of
of the program that- our
teachers including yourselves
have created and so thank you
guys for that. And you know when
we when we go back six years
and we think well you know why
did we even do this and- you
(01:48):
know looking at the research
that we did. We did a lot of
research and we were ready to
learn and their peers who did
not attend they score higher on
reading a mass test throughout
their school career. And as
matter of fact thirty one percent.
(02:08):
Higher on vocab tests and forty
percent on higher on math tests
than those that don't
participate throughout their
high school or throughout their
school career. And so we have
a lot of great families because
they attended pre K. it's
amazing. Better behavior social
(02:29):
emotionally and in school. To
ensure learning and- you know
the biggest stat is those that.
Attended pre K. were more
likely to graduate from high
school compared with sixty
percent of the children who
didn't. So it's a huge program
(02:49):
and it's a huge learning
experience. So we can say how
good it is but when we sit here
and talk to you guys there's a
lot of things that beyond this
research that you see of why
pre K. is important so talk to
me a little bit about what you
think and why pre K. is
important to you and the
students that you see. I think
(03:12):
pre case kind of like our
students. They love school. And
that's why I really enjoyed
teaching pre K. because you can
also see all the growth that
they have in just a small time
they're like little sponges
coming in. You can have them-
love school and just prep them
(03:36):
for the next year going forward
and teach them so much
absolutely and I can attest to
that you know I go into
pre K. and when I do the change
that I see in just a short
period of time from an academic
from organization and those
kind of things are huge so-
(03:57):
Mrs Brundage you want to talk a
little bit about what you think
is so important for pre K. of
course I want to piggyback off
of Kim though- this is for a
lot of our kiddos coming in
and they're not only building
relationships with their peers
(04:19):
but they're building
relationships with grownups
they're learning that school is
a different environment- and
they are sponges so they're
soaking up what it's like to be
in school you know it's
something it academics are huge
but also you know that social
emotional aspect you know how
do I line up how do I sit in
(04:42):
the classroom and how do I
interact with them and so when
they first enter in that
classroom it's incredible how
quickly they catch on. And
that's just a huge piece the
social emotional piece and how
they interact with each other
it's huge yes. And it's fun to
see as well you know at that
age of seeing that seeing those
dynamics come into play and in
(05:03):
kids learning those concepts-
and I'm not sure if we can
talk about that a little bit
pretty straightforward answer
but yeah so- kid is eligible
for our pre K. program if they
are for by August thirty first
of the upcoming school year
(05:26):
absolutely okay so if you if
the school year is started and
they are still three but their
birthday is before the thirty
first they can still come
because I had a few kids turned
for. After we had already
started school last year so if
they're not they're not
eligible for that program
they're eligible so- that's
that's important for the people
(05:46):
listening to know or to be able
to tell somebody that- there's
their students eligible for
pre K. even even that- that
late so that's that's good to
know. So as we move forward what-
what are some essential things
(06:10):
that we can do to help them
understand what they're
learning. Yeah okay so- when it
comes to literacy or reading-
our big things are our letter
people I don't know if you've
ever heard of the letter
people absolutely I know the
letter people right well- the
kiddos love the letter people
so an essential learning that
we do promise is that they will
(06:32):
be able to identify both upper
and lower case letters that
are working on producing those
letter sounds. And so they might
know their twenty six letters
way before the end of the year
because they're still exposed
to those letters all day but
each letter person gets about a
week dedicated to them and then
with that not just being able to
(06:53):
identify the- upper and lower
case letters they are working
on producing those letter
sounds too- so that's another
promise we aim for is that
they'll be able to produce
those letter sounds before
they're even born. And people
might think that's a little
crazy that their four year old
by the time they leave cannot
only identify but produce a
(07:15):
rhyming word. And along with-
all those letters to yeah so it
it they really do pick it up
and it really does help them
when they are in kindergarten.
It's fun to see that too
honestly- yeah- it is is neat
to see when they're when they
recognize that specific letter
(07:37):
that they're going to be
presenting to their kids- or
it's a huge huge thing for them
and in a powerful moment for
their teachers I know it gets
me so excited. Because when
they come in chances are a good
amount they can't tell you all
of the letters but by the end
of the year when you see that
growth if maybe you know one
(07:58):
kiddo only knew a couple
letters. And then at the end of
the year when they're telling
you that they're going to be
able to tell you all of the
letters. Let's dive right into
some social emotional
essential learnings that we can
provide your children coming in-
(08:18):
we are big on we can help them
follow. One to one step
directions given by adult in
adult. And so we will be
teaching them how to manage
their emotions and their
(08:40):
teammates we have a curriculum
that can help them- recognize
and manage their emotions so we
can also teach them about the
emotions and how to manage
those- we can teach them how to
sit patiently on the rug. And
do all of those things so that
(09:04):
they can be able to sit for
long periods of time. Follow
directions being able to sit
for you know an extended period
of time because once they go
into kindergarten I mean
there's a lot that's going on
in kindergarten lamb to you so
sorry kindergarten lamb that's
what I refer to it absolutely
that's- but those kids that
have attended our pre K program
(09:25):
you can hands down tell. That
they they understand that the
kids are going to struggle
because they've been in pre K
for a whole year- and we can
admit that if you want to know
it's not to say that you know a
kindergartner that didn't have
any pre K exposure is going to
(09:47):
struggle correct but you can
telling massive difference
essentially because they were
exposed to how they operate in
a classroom so then that helps
their kindergarten teachers so
they're ready to learn. They're
ready to learn behaviors
they're they're ready to learn
(10:07):
once they're in kindergarten
I know what the expect
expectations are yeah but they
also know how to carry on
conversations with other adults
in the building. So someone
might be asking them a question
and they'll know how to answer
that question because they've
already kind of experienced
that and so even just
conversations with adults and
(10:27):
their peers they're more ready
to learn. They're more
prepared to learn. They come to
kindergarten more prepared to
learn but the other thing I
think is important when you have
those interactions with adults
them being able to advocate for
themselves in ways that maybe
we we we can't do for them and
so having that opportunity to do
(10:47):
that and learning those skills
is so important so thank you
guys for sharing some of the
important things anything else
from an essential learning.
Yeah I think we have a lot of
things that we can do to help
them with those kinds of things
but those are some big ones and
you know we want them to learn
and be able to you know learn
(11:10):
some of the social emotional
behaviors of of how to cope
with emotions and those kind of
things and deal with those in a
in a in a positive way. Well we
even in pre K we even teach and
touch on some math skills. We
introduce two D shapes to them
(11:30):
so they can identify all of
their shapes and then they can
identify all of their numbers
zero to twelve. Yeah and that
also helps them going in-
kindergarten knowing- it's a
huge step you know the- knowing
your numbers and being able to
count and understand what those
numbers mean I think are. Are
huge with the manipulatives that
(11:51):
you guys use and being able to
identify all of the numbers and
so I think it's a good. Of
course we make it fun I know
you know I've all the music and
dancing and stuff yeah I've
seen it it's it's pretty
awesome. So you know I think
we've shared a lot of this but
it is- how are students
(12:13):
benefiting from. Versus those
not enrolled in pre K. If you
look at the numbers they are
confident with their letter
recognition. Very number
identification I mean and again
that's not saying that those
that didn't go to that can't do
(12:35):
that but as a general whole
that's that's important you're
right and I do hear it a lot
from our kindergarten teachers
they're very thankful for that
side of that so but also I mean
I cannot tell you enough how
many times I've had a
kindergarten teacher come in
and ask me questions in the
classroom. You know how to put
(12:56):
their stuff away you know how
to go sit at the circle run how
to line up. How to ask
questions you know raising our
hand I mean that is a huge deal
for your garden teacher
absolutely provides more time
for and then they can kind of
go into kindergarten as a
leader exactly and they really
(13:21):
want to share and but giving
them those skills kind of makes
them be a leader in
kindergarten absolutely- well
thank you guys for joining us
today to talk to us a little
bit about pre K. and I know
(13:41):
from me saying in for the rest
of the district it takes. Number
one to be a pre K. teacher and
a kindergarten I mean you know
the it's a lot of work and- it's
a lot of energy and a lot of
(14:02):
time and a lot of- sweat equity
that goes into that and so
certainly on behalf of all the
educators and community of
circle we appreciate your guys
is that for what you do and
that's why we're so excited to
have you with us today on
(14:23):
what's going on circle public
schools make sure to follow us
on Facebook at circle U. S.
three seven five and visit U.
S. three seven five dot org if
you're a parent or guardian make
sure to continue to check out
information sent to you through
parents square. And if you
have any suggestion for us or-
for an episode. Emails that
(14:44):
media U. S. three seven five
dot org if you're a parent or
guardian thrive in three seven
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