U-46 early curriculum gets in synch
A group of teachers and administrators has updated the Elgin Area School District U-46 kindergarten curriculum to correspond more closely with what older U-46 students learn.
The effort is part of a larger district movement to standardize U-46 coursework, and ensure that what students learn in one grade follows naturally from what they learned previously.
The U-46 advisory committee was formed after Illinois announced new learning standards for kindergarten students in 2006. The standards detailed for the first time what every child in Illinois should know before graduating to first grade.
For example, according to the standards, an Illinois student should be able to understand that text and pictures have meaning, and identify numbers out of sequence by the time they enter first grade.
The advisory group also updated other aspects of the U-46 kindergarten program, a group of teachers and administrators told the school board last week.
The kindergarten curriculum now is online, eliminating the need for teachers to lug gigantic binders with paper copies of the curriculum back and forth from school.
The committee also initiated a U-46 early-learners blog for teachers to share ideas and questions. The site received 2,000 hits in a single month.
Facility upgrades have given the kindergarten program a boost as well, the group told the school board.
The district's first early learning center, at Illinois Park in Elgin, recently opened a library with 1,500 books.
The district's second early learning center opened this fall in Streamwood. A mix of 426 full-day kindergarten and pre-kindergarten students now attend Woodland Heights, which had been closed since 2004. About half are English language learners.
The early learning centers, funded mostly with state and federal grants, are designed for students likely to struggle academically without an early boost.
"If we don't do it right in kindergarten, no one can do it right after us," said Pat Chamberlain, director of early learners education.