10 Signs of a Good Kindergarten Classroom

The kindergarten classroom is a place for children to expand their love of learning, their general knowledge, their ability to get along with others and their interest in reaching out to the world. While kindergarten marks an important transition into the primary grades, it is important that children still get to be children. Preparing kindergartners for elementary school does not mean substituting academics for play time. Kindergarten "curriculum" actually includes events such as snack time, recess and individual and group activities, in addition to those activities we think of as traditionally "educational."

Developmentally appropriate kindergarten classrooms encourage the growth of children's self-esteem, cultural identities, independence and individual strengths.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children suggests that parents look for the following characteristics of a good learning environment for kindergartners:

1. Children are playing and working with materials or other children. They are not aimlessly wandering or forced to sit quietly for long periods of time.
2. Children have access to various materials and activities throughout the day, such as block building, pretend play, picture books, paints and other art materials, and table toys such as Legos, pegboards and puzzles. Children are not all doing the same thing at the same time.
3. Teachers work with individual children, small groups and the whole group at different times during the day.
4. The classroom is decorated with children's artwork and their own writing with invented spelling and dictated stories.
5. Children learn numbers and the alphabet in the context of their everyday experiences. Exploring the natural world of plants and animals, cooking, taking attendance and serving a snack are all meaningful activities to children.
6. Children work on projects and have long periods of time (at least one hour) to play and explore. Filling out worksheets should not be their primary activity.
7. Children have an opportunity to play outside every day (weather permitting). This play is never sacrificed for more instructional time.
8. Teachers read books to children throughout the day, not just at group story time.
9. Curriculum is adapted for those who are ahead as well as those who need extra help. Children do not learn the same things at the same time in the same way.
10. Children and their parents look forward to school. Parents feel safe sending their child to kindergarten. Children are happy; they are not crying or regularly sick.

Individual kindergarten classrooms will vary, and curriculum will vary according to the interests and backgrounds of the children. But all developmentally appropriate kindergarten classrooms will have one thing in common: a focus on the development of the child as a whole.

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