Kindergarten Child

WHO IS YOUR KINDERGARTEN CHILD?


Kindergarten children have a growing sense of independence. Yet they also may be somewhat anxious as they branch out to new horizons. Five- and six-year-olds can be very enthusiastic about their endeavors. They love new places, new ideas, and new bits of information. Remember that as five-year-old children become six-year-olds, changes will occur rapidly in their growth and development.

 

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

  • Vary greatly in height and weight.
  • Increased motor activity, may appear restless even when seated.
  • Short attention span, may easily be distracted by things in the environment around them.
  • Coordination is not yet fully developed.
  • Large muscles are usually developed, are quite good at adding movements such as clapping, skipping, and hopping while they are talking or singing.
  • Fine motor skills continue to develop; cutting is a skill that needs practice.

 

COGNITIVE/LEARNING SKILLS

  • Learn best through touch, exploration, and movement, through activities that engage the whole child, and through the presentation of concepts one at a time.
  • Display increased ability to sequence things in time, enjoy hearing about the past.
  • Reading skills are emerging.
  • Enjoy boisterous play.
  • Enjoy dress-up, fantasy stories, and puppet plays.
  • Interest expanding beyond themselves and their immediate families.
  • Show-and-tell often a favorite activity.

 

RELATIONSHIPS

  • Typically get along well with all classmates.
  • Begin to understand rules, the concepts of winning/losing and working together.
  • Have difficulty losing, often will walk away from a team game and pout when losing.
  • Often view the teacher as always right.
  • Affirmation of their abilities and dignity as persons vital to their development.
  • Often play best with friends in pairs rather than in larger groups.

 

RELIGIOUS GROWTH

  • Natural sense of wonder and awe fosters a sensitivity to the sacred.
  • Imagine God as a human person; form an image of God from parents, guardians, and other significant people in their lives.
  • Experience God's love through parents or guardians and other family members.
  • Prayer comes naturally, enjoy ceremony and ritual.
  • Comfortable with formal and spontaneous prayer.
  • Interpret Bible stories and other stories literally, cannot derive the symbolic meaning of stories.

 

GROWING AS CATHOLIC CHRISTIANS


The kindergarten year is a wonderful time for teachers and catechists to support families in developing the Catholic identity of their children. It is a time to celebrate simple rituals and the traditions of the Church. Kindergarten is a time to introduce the children to a beginning faith vocabulary and provide a readiness for future catechesis in the faith of the Catholic Church.

Here are a few points to keep in mind:
  • Awareness of the Church limited to experiences at home and in the parish.
  • Most of the children probably were baptized as infants, have likely seen photos or videos of their baptism.
  • Experiences of attending Mass on Sunday will vary--some have attended regularly; others, occasionally; others may never have been to Mass with their families.
  • Some of the children may have been to the First Communion or Confirmation of an older sibling.
  • The children's experiences of parish life will vary and will be defined by their families' participation in parish life.


We asked a group of kindergarteners what they would like a parent to know about them. Here's what they said:
 

I Wish...
  • you would let me go first.
  • you would let us act out the stories we hear.
  • you would let me move around the room.
  • you would read more stories to us.
  • you would know that I do not like to lose a game.
  • you would do a lot of different things.
  • you would smile every day.