WESTLAKE, Ohio – Sending a child off to kindergarten can often be an overwhelming and emotional time for parents/guardians. This time of year begins the planning process for students entering kindergarten in the fall and the Westlake City Schools will host information sessions on Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. Each neighborhood elementary school building (Bassett, Dover, Hilliard and Holly Lane) will house a session designed for parents/guardians to learn more about the school district's kindergarten experience.
Students must be 5 on or before Aug. 1 to be eligible to enter kindergarten.
"Currently, Westlake's standard/core kindergarten program is our half-day kindergarten program; however we also offer a full day, tuition-based option for those families who prefer the full day option and feel their child is ready to handle that length of school day," District Director of Pupil Services Stephanie Morgan said.
During the information sessions, parents/guardians will be given an informational packet outlining some of the ways incoming students will be tested for kindergarten and what parents/guardians can do to prepare their child for school.
"We assess literacy readiness skills, language (expressive and receptive) skills, hearing and any medically related needs at K screening," Morgan said. "The most significant change is that the new name of what was formerly called the 'Ohio Academic Content Standards' are now referred to as the New Learning Standards and these reflect the Common Core standards in English/Language Arts and math that the State of Ohio has adopted to be implemented in the 2013-14 school year."
The screening provides the district staff and parents with a "developmental snapshot" of the student's skill that will assist school staff in preparing for the upcoming school year. The readiness assessment is not an exam that a student fails or passes, it simply provides information. The student's performance is not a determining factor on whether or not he/she is permitted to go to kindergarten.
The district outlined several key concepts in each subject area for students to master. Below is a sample as several more are included within each subject.
Concepts in English/Language Arts include: Identifying own name in print, differentiating between sounds that are the same; and understanding that the alphabet isn't a song but a set of symbols with corresponding sounds used to make words.
Concepts in mathematics include: Form more than one set of objects, with each set containing the same number of objects; read and write numerals for 0 through nine; recognize and say the value of a penny, nickel and dime.
Concepts in science include: Observe and describe seasonal changes in weather; explore and understand that animals and plants cause changes to their surroundings; explore the difference between living (e.g., animals, people) and non-living things (e.g., rock, mineral).
Concepts in social studies include: Understand the difference between yesterday, today and tomorrow; be able to tell things that happened at an earlier time in his/her life; explain ways that each person is unique and ways that they are different from others; use terms related to location, direction and distance (e.g., up/down, over/under, here/there, front/back, behind/in front of).