Kindergarten information

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You have many school choices throughout our county including public private and public charter schools.

Please call your local school of choice to determine the next steps required for registration. There are deadlines for transfers in the fall and registration for many schools begin in January. 

If you are interested in private School option

https://www.niche.com/k12/search/best-private-k12-schools/c/sonoma-county-ca

General information:

http://www.scoe.org/pub/htdocs/aboutschools.html

Transitional Kindergarten:

https://www.scoe.org/pub/htdocs/transitional-kindergarten.html

Attendance options: http://www.scoe.org/pub/htdocs/attendanceoptions.html

Faq:

http://www.scoe.org/pub/htdocs/faq-schools.html

Charter Schools:

https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/si/cs/ap1/countyresults.aspx?id=49

Questions to ask when looking at schools

· Can you describe a kindergarten classroom?

· What is your average number of students per class?

· Describe a day in the life of a kindergartener at your school.

· How many classes do you have on campus?

· Is there one teacher? Any aides?

· What happens on the playground?

· How long are lunch and snack times and does it occur? What does recess look like and how long? Who supervises them?

· What is the balance of seat time vs. active time?

· Do children have any free or open playtime?

· What are the key indicators that you believe to be necessary for a child to be ready for kindergarten?

· What is the homework expectation and at what age?

· Do you have opportunities for art and music in Kindergarten?

· What is the discipline policy at your school and how is challenging behavior handled in the classroom?

· Do you go on field trips? How many per year?

· Do you have an afterschool program? Who runs it? Is it impacted?

· Does the school have a counselor? How often?

· When a child is struggling at what point do you intervene and what supports do you provide for children and families?

Kindergarten readiness:

Below is a list of the basic skills that children need to have to be successful in a kindergarten program. Remember that children are 1 of 20-30 students with 1 teacher. Children must be very independent and able to take care of their own needs with little assistance. The academic component is the focus of kindergarten. Social emotional, problem-solving skills, and behavior are necessary prior to academic skills as children will have ample time to continue to practice their abcs and 123s. 

· Getting dressed head to toe buckle, tie, snap, zip, button

· Putting jacket on and off and zipping

· Take shoes and socks on and off independently

· Using the bathroom and wiping and washing hands without reminders

· Keeping track of all personal items 

· Opening all lunchbox items and eating neatly

· Blow and wipe nose independently

· Sitting and paying attention for 30 min

· Make it through the day without a nap

· Keeping hands and feet to themselves

· Separate from parent

· Solve conflicts without aggression

· Listen to and follow directions of adult 

· Use words to get needs met

· Appropriate response to disappointment/correction

· Understand the basics of a story beginning/middle/end

· Concepts of print

· Use scissors correctly and accurately

· Pincer grasp on small pencil

· Count to 20 

· Recognize numbers 1-10

· Basic knowledge of the alphabet

· Write name legibly and recognize

· Follow 3-step directions without reminder

· Strong oral conversation skills 

o Can answer and ask open-ended questions. Who, what, when, where, why, how relevant to the topic at hand