Kindergarten Foreshadows Success in Life

Kindergarten sets you up for all that lies ahead in school and in life. It’s where you should:

– Develop the foundational skills for learning;
– Build your social and collaborative skills;
– Learn to take ownership of your actions and learning; and
– Feel good about yourself, building confidence and pride. 

We owe it to our kindergarten students to give them all this and more!

Teaching Generation Alpha

Today’s kindergarten students are part of a generation that was the first to grow up with ready access to their parents’ smartphones and, for some, their own tablet PCs with videos and learning games. They are used to:

– A multimedia world
– Immediacy
– Independence
– Choice and control

It is important to provide a learning environment that reflects their generational uniqueness.

Teaching a Diverse Group of Learners

Today’s kindergarten students represent racial and ethnic diversity, linguistic diversity, and socioeconomic diversity. When it comes to activities and instruction in kindergarten classrooms,“One size does not fit all!”

The Emerging Role of Teachers

While schools have struggled for decades to move away from teacher as disseminator of information, as evidenced by the popularity of phrases such as “From sage on the stage to guide on the side,” now, more than ever, the world of education needs to embrace a new view of the role of teachers in the classroom. Learning in kindergarten will be less about lessons and more about the environment. We learn from being in an immersive environment. People learn languages more easily when they are living in the country where the language is spoken as part of daily life. Children learn from the company they keep. Today’s teacher becomes a “Curator” of a learning environment — building a world of experiences from which children will learn — and a “Facilitator” of learning in that environment, monitoring progress, asking questions, and providing target instruction.

Preparing Kindergarten Students for Their Future

As we look to the future, we know that AI will play a greater role in supporting our lives and work; how do we build the skills to manage AI — to use it well and leverage its capabilities for greater productivity, efficiency, and success? In a world immersed in technology, how do we build in time to stop and reflect offline, and to appreciate all that is around us in the natural world? And though we can’t today even attempt to predict the careers that today’s kindergartners will have, how do we build the skills they will need in order to learn any new skill or concept that lies ahead? That’s what kindergarten needs to provide students: a doorway into their future. Thus, conceiving of kindergarten as the place to prepare for whatever future lies ahead gives birth to the “Future-Powered Kindergarten.”

All of the ABCs in One “Future-Powered Classroom”

While we think of kindergarten as a place where students master their ABCs, it’s also a place where many instructional approaches can be in play, some of which have acronyms and abbreviations, such as MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) and UDL (Universal Design for Learning). The “Future-Powered Kindergarten” provides an environment in which differentiation thrives as an instructional approach. If you employ Science of Reading techniques, this is the place. If you employ phenomena-based learning, this is the place. And on and on. When you create a learning environment in which one size does not fit all, you can utilize any of a number of instructional approaches.

An Overview of the “Future-Powered Kindergarten”


A kindergarten environment should be:

  • – Skill-Centered — Students need to be building a variety of skills, including executive function, academic (particularly language and math skills, and concepts across the content areas), social and emotional learning, and age-appropriate life skills (e.g., tying sneakers, zipping up a jacket, cutting with scissors, etc.). Both teachers and students should be intentional about skill development and monitoring progress.
  • – Language-Rich — Students should be engaged in listening and talking throughout the day, including both formal (guided by, say, discussion protocols for pairs) and informal (conversation when working together on a project or engaging in play) interaction. The room should be filled with letters and words, with students accessing books and engaging in drawing and writing. While teachers will use strategies for addressing Multilingual Learners, the beauty of kindergarten is that all students are building language skills. Labeling furniture and materials around the room will ensure that all students are building their English vocabulary. Using sentence stems for conversation and building vocabulary should be addressed at four levels: operational, social, academic, and domain-specific.
  • – Numeracy-Rich — Similarly, students should be surrounded by numbers, math symbols, graphs, measurement tools, and images, and should engage in mathematical experiences using manipulatives. Conversations and facilitation should reference mathematical concepts, such as greater than and less than, length and width, weight and measurement, etc. It just takes intentionality. For example, in teaching students to write their names, ask them how many letters are in their names, have them count how many times a particular letter shows up in their name or the names of others, have them count up how many of a particular letter show up in all students’ names (making it the most common letter), etc. Although it may seem simplistic, questions and activities like these emphasize how math is the language of the world around us (Chapter 5 in Dr. Sulla’s book It’s Not What You Teach But How).
  • – Play-Infused — Students should engage in play situations both independently and in pairs or small groups. Play allows students to express themselves creatively, put themselves in real-life situations, build social skills, and more. Purposeful, open-ended play strengthens executive function skills as children engage with one another, negotiate challenges, take risks, role-play, use their imagination, and share ideas, all of which have been found to contribute to student learning gains. “Play is fundamentally important for learning 21st century skills, such as problem-solving, collaboration, and creativity, which require the executive functioning skills that are critical for adult success.” (https://www.nysed.gov/sites/default/files/programs/early-learning/value-of-play-birth-through-3rd-grade.pdf)
  • – Experientially-Empowering — Students should actively engage in real-world, hands-on experiences both small (e.g., planting a seed, experiments, cultural celebrations) and large (e.g., planning a habitat for a zoo animal). These experiences provide the opportunity for students to make decisions, decide on when and how they will complete them, and more, thus empowering students to take charge of their own learning.
  • – Technology-Enhanced — Students should use technology to support their learning experiences. A group of kindergarten teachers working with IDE Corp. consultants developed a series of how-to videos on using scissors, using a glue stick, writing the letter B (and all letters), drawing a person, and so forth. Each video was accessed through QR codes, which were on the wall, paired with an image that identified the video. Students used iPads to scan the QR code they needed and watched the teachers’ lessons. This tapped into the Gen Alpha characteristics of technology-savvy, independence, and immediacy.
  • – Socially-Nurturing — Students should learn in a welcoming and affirming environment that prioritizes building relationships with adults and peers. They should develop a strong sense of self and an understanding of how that allows them to relate to others.

At the core of these classroom attributes is a focus on building executive function — foundational learning skills that are created through intentional structures, activities, and teacher facilitation. The latter is key to a successful classroom at any grade level. 

As curators and facilitators of this environment, teachers are intentional in their words and actions, offering students differentiated opportunities to learn, monitoring individual student progress. At IDE, we use the metaphor of “teacher as GPS” — curricular standards provide the destination; the teacher and student co-create a differentiated path to learning; the teacher and student monitor progress and make adjustments to the learning path as needed.

The overall environment itself must be culturally responsive, honoring the importance of each student’s culture and language to ensure that each student feels seen and valued. Learning activities should be designed to address different cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

A Call to Action for “Future-Powered Kindergarten”

IDE Corp. consultants work with schools to design “Future-Powered Classrooms,” starting with the “Future-Powered Kindergarten.” Contact Nicole (Nik) Koch to set up a time to discuss your school or district’s needs and create a path forward to the future for your students: 973-615-3842 or nkoch@idecorp.com