Transitional Kindergarten (TK)

TKThe Transitional Kindergarten program is an ideal way to start children on the path to success!

TK is a full day program starting at 8:00 and ending at 3:00 with pickup between 3:00-3:15. The main “academic” time is from 8:00-11:00. The day starts with circle time to gather and talk about the day’s events, to become acquainted with the calendar and then a short group lesson. The rest of the morning children rotate through centers. They have four “Must Do’s” to complete each day that consist of math, language art/cooking/fine motor and games/puzzles/blocks. The “Must Do’s” integrate into the current theme and the letter of the alphabet studied.

Each week is integrated and balanced between academics and specialty classes. The children spend time in math, language, science, social studies, art, music, Spanish, social play, P.E., library, technology, fine motor practice, and exploration. The specialty classes offer the children the broad range of experiences and ways of learning. The TK year reflects the child’s growth through exploration and discovery.

While the class and curriculum structure of TK are similar in some ways to that of Kindergarten, and the social and academic skills being taught are complementary, TK differs in a few important ways. First, the children in the two grades are at different levels of social maturity. Second, children in K are expected to have longer attention spans and greater ability to concentrate. Third, TK places more emphasis on one-to-one attention, while group work is more prominent in K. However, a principle common to both grades is that each child will be extended and encouraged academically according to individual needs, abilities and readiness.

Research shows that some children who start Kindergarten at a younger-than-average age can have a more challenging experience and that there is no downside to giving children the extra year to develop and enter Kindergarten fully prepared.