The First Few Weeks of Kindergarten: New Materials and New Relationships

The first few weeks of school are so important to build relationships with each other and establish the routines and rules that will help build a safe and happy classroom community! School wide we only have three rules: 1) Be safe. 2) Be respectful. 3) Be responsible. We start out figuring out what these rules look like, sound like, and feel like.

We started out getting to know the areas of our room and how to play with and use the materials in each area safely, respectfully, and responsibly. We learned how to use them gently, take care of them and put them away in their proper place. If they are not safe, respectful and responsible, they are not allowed to use the materials. That is one beauty of play based learning! They want to use the materials so much that they will work very hard to be safe, respectful and responsible in all areas and at all times! Are mistakes made? Of course! That is how we learn! Here are some photos showing how they are exploring the areas and how to use the materials in them!

When the kids came in, they would notice our Mystery Box on the table and would get so excited as to what was inside! This is how I introduce new materials to them.

It always held a new material for us to learn how to use as long as we followed our rules. It has held things such as markers, watercolor paint, permanent markers, scissors, glue sticks, glue sponges, oil pastels, white boards with expo markers, etc. Each time they are so excited to be able to use these new materials independently! I am amazed at how responsible they are with them as they don’t want to lose the privilege of using them! Here are some pictures of them practicing using some of our new materials.

They also have to be safe, respectful and responsible with their new friends. This is part of relationship building. How do kids develops relationships? By playing of course! How else can they truly get to know each other and me? I guide them through what to do when they have social problems with each other and how to be problem solvers in any situation. After a few weeks, most start using the new vocabulary we learn to talk to friends when they are frustrated rather than get angry. We spend a lot of time on this! In our classroom, mistakes are not a bad thing but a tool to help us learn. I am quick to point out my mistakes and think out loud to model for them how I will learn from my mistakes. This makes our room a safe place where we don’t have to feel embarrassed when we do something wrong. We help each other out and become problem solvers when mistakes are made.

Learning cannot take place until relationships are built and they know that in our room, we can take risks, try new things, and not be afraid to fail in front of our peers, but rather look at these times as opportunities to collaborate and problem solve and learn from our mistakes and each other. This is our learning community! Now that it has been built, the rest of our learning can begin!