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God Made Kindergartners
Whether or not a kindergartner is in school, this year is a time of transition.
As God designed, this transition is a first of many life transitions. Consequently,
the kindergarten year is full of twists and turns through physical, mental,
social, emotional, and spiritual growth.
Physical Growth
Most kindergartners have gained significant control of their bodies. They continue
to be curious, active, and creative. Their maturing muscles allow
them to pursue more sophisticated kinds of exploration and investigation. For
example, most kindergartners enjoy cutting with scissors, drawing with crayons
and markers, and painting with brushes. In addition, they can tie their own
shoestrings, button buttons, and wash their own faces.
By the time most boys and girls enter first grade, they can do the following
physical activities:
| Activities |
Implications for Teaching at Home and Church |
- Skip well; hop in a straight line.
- Display good eye-hand coordination.
- Cut well with scissors.
- Exhibit well-established right-or-left-handedness.
- Begin cutting permanent teeth.
- Girls may display more maturity than boys.
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- Provide outdoor and indoor play spaces that encourage the refinement
of large and small muscles.
- Allow child to use his preferred hand without forcing him to use
the other hand.
- Encourage independence by allowing kindergartners to tie their own
shoes, feed themselves, and button their own buttons.
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Parents and teachers, as you consider kindergartners, note
their weak physical skills. Practice those skills with individual kindergartners.
Note the preferred hand for each child.
Mental Growth
As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:11, kindergartners do not think like adults.
However, their thinking is more organized than before. They continue to think
in literal ways. In addition, their language skills exceed their thinking
skills. They may use the right words as they quote a Bible verse, but most likely
they will not understand the meaning of the verse. They continue to think in
terms of their five senses. Consequently adults enjoy the funny things kindergartners
say when they respond in literal ways in terms of the senses.
Kindergartners continue to view their world from their personal experience.
They are developing the ability to put themselves in another person's position.
Therefore, taking turns communicates better than sharing, though teachers may
begin to interchange the two words with some kindergartners.
While attention span is lengthening, most kindergartners continue to have
short attention spans. They should not be required to do the same thing
for more than five minutes although the range differs from child to child. If
the activity is being enjoyed by the kindergartners, their attention span will
be longer with that activity.
Kindergartners also tend to focus on one part of the story or picture. They
cannot logically combine several parts to make an idea. Consequently, when telling
a story, show a picture before or after the story is told so that the boys and
girls focus on the story. Or use an object before the story to help the boys
and girls relate the story to their lives. Otherwise, they will only hear part
of the story.
Most kindergartners have the following mental skills by the time they go to
the first grade:
| Skills |
Implications for Teaching at Home and Church |
- Begin to print name.
- Know colors and shapes.
- Name most uppercase letters.
- Read a few words.
- Use a 2,000-word vocabulary.
- Say numbers 1–20.
- Know morning from afternoon.
- Hear the beginning sounds of words.
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- Use Bible verses repeatedly in games and songs to help kindergartners
learn the verses.
- Provide Bible-learning activities for kindergartners to develop an
understanding of Bible verses.
- Provide a choice of activities for kindergartners to enhance their
mental skills.
- Provide a variety of blocks and art material to encourage creativity.
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Parents and teachers, as you consider mental growth, listen
to progress in their language development. Provide practice time for a child
who cannot print his name.
Social/Emotional Growth
By kindergarten age most boys and girls are more and more emotionally stable.
They are not as extreme in emotional outbursts as before. They tend to be sensitive
to the emotions and feelings of people around them. They continue to explore
limits, but they are becoming more cooperative than before. Taking turns
is an acceptable way of working with their friends. Basically, kindergartners
are delightful human beings.
By the time a child goes to first grade, she can do the following social and
emotional skills:
| Skills |
Implications for Teaching at Home and Church |
- Work in small groups.
- Comfort upset friends.
- Have best friends but change friends often.
- Like to please adults.
- May be prone to self-criticism and guilt.
- Enjoy group play.
- Play easy games with a friend, following rules.
- May continue to express fears.
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- Take advantage of a child's desire to please adults by guiding the
child with reasonable expectations.
- When kindergartners squabble over something, let them work it out.
Step in only when necessary.
- Continue to provide props for dramatic play, as boys and girls practice
gender roles and future occupational roles.
- Continue to provide the same teachers each session for preschoolers
to have positive relationships with special people at church.
- Continue to provide assistance in dealing with fears.
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Parents and teachers, consider your kindergartners' social
and emotional growth. If you note a problem, contact your doctor for more information.
Spiritual Growth
Spiritual growth makes a transition during the kindergarten year. They continue
to be literal minded and focused on their personal perspectives, but
they can do more Bible activities and understand more about God and His world
than they did in the past.
Their understanding, however, may not be the same as that of adults. Consequently,
teachers and parents need to listen for misconceptions and help the child correct
them.
Kindergartners have a difficult time getting the spiritual meaning from activities
that require combining parts to understand something. For example, kindergartners
will focus on the action in action songs and miss the meaning of the words.
Before introducing the actions, teach the song and talk about the meaning.
Most kindergartners accomplish the following by the time they enter first
grade:
| Skills |
Implications for Teaching at Home and Church |
- Like to tell Bible stories.
- Use the Bible to find Bible phrases/verses.
- Like to know they are doing what the Bible says.
- Sing songs about God and Jesus.
- Help and love others.
- Take care of God's world.
- Continue developing conscience and express guilt.
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- When a child knows the Bible story, let him tell it; then add to
the story.
- Practice being kind with the boys and girls as they learn to take
turns and share with one another.
- Provide meaning opportunities for the boys and girls to take care
of God's world.
- Provide worship and prayer opportunities.
- Actively listen for any misconceptions about God, Jesus, the church,
and the world.
- Guide a child to correct any misconceptions through Bible conversation
and discussion.
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Parents and teachers, as you consider each child, identify
spiritual milestones during this transition year.
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