A Kindergarten Banquet will be held at the Senior Center on Thursday May 28, to introduce prospective kindergarteners and their parents to the wonderful world of kindergarten.
The event is sponsored by Orcas Family Connections, formerly the Early Childhood Consortion, and is coordinated by Erin O’Dell, Kindergarten Transition Coordinator.
All children entering any Kindergarten Program or 3rd year Montessori and Salmonberry students entering 1st grade are invited to attend this banquet. A nutritious meal will be served with recipes and a simple kid-friendly cookbook will be handed out to take home.
The first seating will be at 5 p.m., and the second seating is at 6:30 p.m. Free childcare and dinner for siblings will be provided at Kaleidoscope Childcare Center
Following dinner, the children and their parents will visit six tables hosted by local teachers and other experts for fun, educational activities. At each table, the child/parent will complete the planned activity; receive a tip sheet on ways to encourage that particular skill at home and materials to complete the activity. There will be a Writing Table, a Math Table, a Motor Skills Table, a Literacy Table, and a Nutrition Table.
Kindergarten teachers will be available to answer parent’s questions and talk about what kindergarten readiness looks like. The flier “Kindergarten — This Year or Next?” will be given to parents contemplating early entry.
English Language Learning (ELL) teachers and O’Dell will help each Spanish-speaking family with the activity stations.
Other school support organizations will give brief presentations on the Early Childhood Education Assistance Program (ECEAP), Orcas Family Connections and the Readiness to Learn (RTL) family assistance program.
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