- \n
- The class is capped at twenty-five kids.<\/li>\n
- Three staff members participate: one primary teacher, one music teacher, and one art teacher.<\/li>\n
- Class runs from 9:30-11:00 a.m. so we do work on an abbreviated schedule.<\/li>\n
- Caregivers do not stay with their child past drop-off.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/resized_setup-650x488.jpg\")
<\/a>Kindergarten Bootcamp Set-Up [Photo courtesy of the author.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Set-Up<\/h3>\n
I use our large meeting room and have two different areas set up: one group area and one station area. On days when I schedule art or music, those are held in our smaller programming room. The entire room is set-up before kids come in. This gives them the chance to practice patience as they can see the station activities when they come in. It’s also how a real classroom is set-up.<\/p>\n
\nSchedule<\/h3>\n
At the beginning of each class, I use our visual schedule to introduce the kids to the day’s activities. Each day has a different theme. The day I took photos, the theme was colors. (The other themes were alphabet, numbers, and shapes.) Here’s a list of each card I had for the visual schedule:<\/p>\n
![\"Six](\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sandwriting-300x185.jpg\")
<\/a>Working on sand writing, tracing around numbers. [Photo courtesy of the author.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\nClasses & Activities<\/p>\n
- \n
- Circle Time: Gathering together to open and close our day.<\/li>\n
- Reading: Each day, we read a book together. Then, we did an extension activity. So, for our numbers day, I read 123 Peas<\/em> by Keith Baker and then had the kids help me use do-a-dot markers to make 100 peas on a chart.<\/li>\n
- Math: Each day, we graphed a different favorite or fact about ourselves.<\/li>\n
- Activity Stations: Five stations, all based on the theme of the day.<\/li>\n
- Music: A twenty minute special class.<\/li>\n
- Art: A twenty minute special class.<\/li>\n
- <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"Four](\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/playdough-300x220.jpg\")
<\/a>Mixing up primary colored playdough balls to create the secondary colors. [Photo courtesy of the author.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>Actions<\/p>\n - \n
- Line Up<\/li>\n
- Clean Up<\/li>\n
- Folders<\/li>\n
- Home<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
For the activity stations, I turned to Pinterest and teacher blogs to help me create those activities. You can see some of the activities on my Preschool Programs Pinterest<\/a> board.<\/p>\n
Many of them were stations that I had used in previous programs as well. The foam puzzle pieces picture above came from some dollar store puzzles I bought for an author study program. I’ve borrowed food from our play station, and LEGOs from the toys.<\/p>\n
From our first year, I did change up about ten of the activities for this next year, based on how well they worked last year. But as for the others, they’re in a Kindergarten Bootcamp box and I can just grab and go with them.<\/p>\n
![\"Kindergarten](\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/artclass_resized-650x488.jpg\")
<\/a>Art projects drying in our main classroom. [Photo courtesy of the author.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\nFeedback<\/h3>\n
Our patrons absolutely loved this program. At the end of our four-day adventure, I made a memory book for each child. I wrote them a good luck letter. And, of course, we had a little “graduation” ceremony.<\/p>\n
100% of surveys returned stated that the patron would attend this program again. Here are some of the comments left at the bottom of our survey:<\/p>\n
This was such a wonderful program! It offered a familiar environment while introducing some basic expectations for the students. My daughter and I loved it and our friends were envious of our amazing library staff and programs! Thank you for always offering timely programs and making it fun all the while.<\/p>\n
This was a fantastic review\/practice as a “soft entry” before entering kindergarten. The class was also fun. I loved how music, art, circle time were all there just like a real classroom!<\/p>\n
I thought it was a wonderful program. He learned to take turns, raise your hand, and the theme of the day was a good idea.<\/p>\n
My daughter really enjoyed this week! Staff did an excellent job! We would love to attend more events like this.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Needless to say, I’m doing this program again in just a few short weeks.<\/p>\n
Has anyone else done a Kindergarten Bootcamp program? Any other thoughts or ideas for those who may be starting their own?<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/resized_setup.jpg\")
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