1. Kindergarten Early Entrance:
welcoming and
including parent voices
as decision making agents
Nikole T. Logan
MDE
February 13th, 2014

2. Kindergarten Early Entrance
What is the purpose?
Consider ways to implement a more fluid and pleasurable transition for children and families that includes partnerships of stakeholders,
Increase the awareness and value of parent voices in academic decision making,
Encourage opportunities for parents to acquire knowledge of social and academic strengths of their child(ren),
2013 MN Statue

3. Kindergarten Early Entrance
2013 Minnesota Statue
124D.02 School Board Powers; Enrollment
Subdivision 1. Kindergarten instruction
The comprehensive evaluation must use valid and reliable instrumentation, be aligned with state kindergarten expectation, and include a parent report and teacher observations of the child’s knowledge, skills and abilities.

4. Kindergarten Early Entrance What does the research say?
“Given that early social performance and academic achievement are predictors of later school success, ensuring that children get off to a good start in Kindergarten is critical.”
Patton and Wang - Ready for Success: Creating Collaborative and Thoughtful Transitions to Kindergarten
“Experiencing early academic and social success can pave the way for children’s later positive school adjustment.”
Pianta and Kraft-Sayre - Successful Kindergarten Transition: Your guide to connecting children, families, and schools
The transition into Kindergarten is an important time in children’s lives, and it influences their later school careers. Children’s early schooling can be considered a critical period that sets the trajectory for their future school adjustment.

5. Kindergarten Early Entrance What does the research say?
4 Critical Partners that affect a child’s adjustment to Kindergarten:
Teachers (administrators, school representatives, etc.)
Family
Peers
Community
Pianta and Kraft-Sayre - Successful Kindergarten Transition: Your guide to connecting children, families, and schools
All stakeholders in the process. We are focusing on one of those, being family.

6. Kindergarten Early Entrance What does the research say?
Developmental Model of Transition
This model recognizes the relationships among the child, teacher, family, peers, and community across time.
Pianta and Kraft-Sayre - Successful Kindergarten Transition: Your guide to connecting children, families, and schools

7. Kindergarten Early Entrance What does the research say?
Children face enormous discontinuities between preschool and kindergarten as they enter elementary school for the first time. These discontinuities, which also affect families and teachers, underscore the importance of this period.
Pianta and Kraft-Sayre - Successful Kindergarten Transition: Your guide to connecting children, families, and schools

8. Kindergarten Early Entrance
In order for children to feel safe and secure in their environments, they need to be equipped with information. Parents have the same needs.
Adjustment through transition not only impacts the child, but the family as a whole. There are new adjustments to environments, adults, systems, rules, time constraints, etc. Parents and other close family members may also exhibit an amount of anxiety about the adjustment.

9. Kindergarten Entrance Motivations
What are common motivations behind early admittance?
Parents believe the child could use more structure or academic challenge,
The child’s peer group is moving forward,
Siblings are also of school age, and
Cost of childcare.

10. Kindergarten Entrance
How do we support families in the decision making process?
We create opportunities, both social and academic, to scaffold their knowledge about their child.

11. Kindergarten Entrance Parent Voices
Here are 3 different parent voices around early kindergarten entrance. Their experiences and thought process around early entrance is as unique as their child.

12. Kindergarten Entrance A success story

13. Kindergarten Entrance A success story

14. Kindergarten Entrance A success story

15. Kindergarten Entrance A success story
20 years later

16. Kindergarten Entrance A success story
30 years later…

17. References
Patton, C., and Wang, J. (2012). Ready for success: Creating Collaborative and Thoughtful Transitions into Kindergarten. Cambidge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project   Pianta, Robert C., and Kraft-Sayre, Marcia (2003). Successful kindergarten transition: Your guide to connecting children, families, and schools. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing Co.