center time

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Home : 2003 : March : 19

center time
By Kelley

HI! this is my second year teaching kindergarten. Last year we taught using a program called SFA, {success for all}, that put a large amount of energy into centers. We had to have 7 center activities everyday and each one
had to include some kind of writing. It could be as simple as a notepad for a pretend grocery list.
The most important thing is teach how to do the centers. It will take about a week of explaining the directions. You might want to start with what's called "forced" centers..that simply means you choose the center each child goes to. Send the kids who can work independently to

more complicated centers and when they get the hang of pair those "trained" students with those who need more attention.
After you have them in the routine change only one or two centers at a time, again sending the independent workers to the new ones first or pairing them. By October you can change to self selected centers. Be sure that you have some kind of kid friendly way of keeping track who has visited each center.
I hope this helps.