Transition times in school are always tough......going from elementary to middle school........middle school to high school. And teaching these "newbies" is always a challenge. But probably no age group goes through a bigger challenge than the kindergartener. And, teaching kindergarteners, especially at the beginning, holds its own challenges for a variety of reasons.

Probably at no other time in the regular 13 grades of the American school system is there such a difference in students. Kindergarteners can come from 2 or more years of preschool and have the school thing down pat. On the other hand, there is the student that hasn't been cut from Mommy's apron strings yet. There's the young child who can already tie shoes. There's the child who's still in Huggies™ Big Kids pants. Even birthdays can make a big difference in maturity. (Often, students who fall under the state guidelines for age but have a "late" birthday might be held back, or the teacher might suggest after a quarter in school that the child wait until next year). These situations can pose a special challenge for any teacher, but especially a special areas teacher, who will not see them every day. If nothing else, children of this age thrive on consistency and regular routine.

This students may be shy about participating (or overly flamboyant!). One good first day project is to get their mind off of this strange adult in this strange room that's going to take them over. This is where puppets can come in handy! In the minds of many of these kids, you are threatening. Yet, the same adult with a puppet isn't quite so bad! They identify and enjoy the puppet and tend to forget it's attached to an adult. The use of a puppet is great for name games. Start off with talking instead of singing. Several of these students will be uncomfortable with singing. Let the puppet talk to them. If you have enough, give them a puppet to do the talking for them. Again, this imaginary play can be just the ticket for the student's confort level. In his eyes, the puppet's doing the talking for him.

To get their coordination going (and a way to start introducing beat), play the ball name game. Bounce a fairly large ball, while chanting, "My name is Mr (Mrs.)_____________". Have the students echo this back. On the first variation of the game, bounce it to the next child and have her do the same. You will get wild variations of basketball dribbling attempts, ball bouncing off the foot and flying across the room, and some frustrated kids. As long as an individual is determined and as long as you're not really losing the majority of the other kids, let each child try until he or she feels some measure of success. After a couple of days of passing the ball to the neighbor, have each student announce a child's name and bounce it to that child. This is a great way for the kid's to learn each other's names and to check attention spans.

And always have some children's books handy. Most of these students love storytime. This is something they're used to in the classroom. Reading a book to them is a consistent project being carried over from the classroom. Pick stories with sing-song rhythms to them, such as Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom. And, as much as kids this age like things repeated, you can bring this book back again for their alphabet unit and to reinforce beat.

How do you reinforce your class rules with kids this age? Obviously, you can't just read the rules as you would with older students. The retention level isn't there. It's going to take a while for some of these students to grasp the concept of not blurting out, not hitting, not interrupting.......The best way to handle situations like this is to stop and tell them "We do NOT do that in music." Then, let them verbally know where the limits are and what the consequences are. I like to use 1,2,3. Most students can count to three. If you stick to your guns, when you get to 3, they'll know something's going to happen that won't make them happy. Usually, it's a time out or isolation.

We'd like for you to share some of your kindergarten ideas! Please submit them for our lesson plans or contributions section, or for a future article.