Members of the Farmingdale Board of Education and the full day kindergarten committee held their second meeting to discuss the full day program last Wednesday, Jan. 24 at the Howitt Middle School auditorium. During the meeting, parents and those in attendance learned of the various objectives and what a typical day would be like for the children who enroll in the program starting in September.

Committee members placed further emphasis on some of the subjects not discussed at the initial meeting concerning full day kindergarten which was held in November, including physical education and music enrichment periods as well as additional science and social studies objectives.

Throughout the course of the meeting, presentations were given by various members of the kindergarten committee including Anita Solovey, principal of Woodward Parkway, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Robert Schultz, Craig Unkenholz, Karen Foley, Steve Weiss, Diane Crisci, Sandy Mekelburg, Jeff Spiro, Laila Savelis, Maureen McCue, and Marcia Klein. Their presentations focused on advantages of a full day kindergarten program, a typical school day, various enrichment periods, science and social studies objectives, and a balanced literacy program.

The meeting began with a presentation to parents explaining the several advantages of implementing a full day kindergarten program, including meeting the New York State learning standards. With children in their classrooms for an entire day, teachers will be given the opportunity to spend more hands-on time with them and focus on them as individuals. In addition, they will be able to strengthen their language skills, develop a balanced literacy program, social skills, and affirm the importance of play to a children's total development.

The program will also offer more time to foster a smooth transition to first grade, provide for additional enrichment opportunities, explore learning centers, and address the personal, emotional and developmental needs of all students both as a group and individually.

Although the time frames will vary from school to school since the elementary schools in the district have different starting times, Unkenholz explained that the typical day for a full day kindergartner would include a morning arrival with announcements and time for conversing with their teachers, circle time where all children would gather together with their teacher and review the month's calendar, a shared reading time, a snack time which would also provide a time for the children to rest from their activities, a writing workshop, math related activities, an enrichment period, and then lunch. After lunch, children would participate in a center and guided reading, followed by a science or social studies unit before being dismissed for the day.

Kindergartners will participate in two enrichment periods weekly, including science units, health units, play acting, fine motor skills activities and author studies. An example of how teachers would aid students in developing fine motor skills would be to allow them to cut with scissors, teaching them hand/eye coordination, and painting, which would give them the freedom to be expressive and creative.

Physical education would include movement exploration, creative rhythmic games, interpretive dance and small and large muscle group work. Each of the physical education activities are designed to teach children hand/eye coordination, teamwork, cooperation and muscle control.

Music periods will teach children an understanding and appreciation for music, including lessons on tempo, melody, reading rhythm patterns, form dynamics, movement, singing and playing an instrument.

The science objectives for full day kindergartners include observing and recording weather, learning how magnets repel and attract, learning to use their five senses, planting, observing, discussing, recording, and activities such as learning the concept of buoyancy by seeing objects placed in water both sink and float. Weiss, Crisci, and Mekelburg, who presented the science objectives, said that science activities call for hands-on experiences, adding that children learn best when they do things themselves and are having fun while participating in the activities.

Spiro, Savelis and McCue presented the various social studies objectives prepared for full day kindergartners, which include having the children learn about themselves and others and their families and other families. These activities are designed to develop self-esteem in each child and to show them how each person is unique. Under the social studies unit, students will also learn about their school and community, their neighborhood, symbols and citizenship and people making/changing rules and laws.

These objectives will be achieved through children participating in name puzzles, making silhouettes, learning roles of family members, taking a tour of their school and meeting with their principal and assistant principals, learning about recycling and taking community field trips, and learning about community helpers such as firemen. To learn symbols of citizenship, students will learn national holidays and the pledge of allegiance. In addition, they will learn to locate Long Island on maps and globes as well as classroom rules, which will allow students to understand how rules help them function both in school and in their everyday lives.

Activities included in the literacy program vary from children being read to by their teacher, who will explain to them what he or she is reading and how they feel about it, to shared reading time, guided reading and independent reading. Through these activities children will be given an opportunity to both read with the help of their teacher as well as by themselves. They will also participate in word study, learning things such as sounds, letters and rhyming, and will practice various writing exercises with their teacher, in groups and independently.

Marsha Klein, who presented the literacy objectives, reminded those in attendance of something Mrs. Visconti expressed at the November meeting. She said "Visconti emphasized that all curriculums start with what the child already knows and then develop their strengths." Klein further explained that this is the commitment of all the kindergarten teachers, regardless of what objectives they are trying to fulfill. If the children are learning about sounds and letters, teachers have them sound out their name, learn how to spell it, and learn how to write it down on paper. Regardless of the activity, teachers will begin the teaching process with what the children already know.

To ensure the implementation of all their prospective programs, members of the full day kindergarten committee will continue their three year commitment to the program over the next year and a half, evaluating and reassessing how the year is going and what they can change or do differently to make the program more successful.

Members of the Board of Education along with Superintendent of Schools Gerard Dempsey stressed that the district needs to keep an eye on their first grade curriculum to ensure that it is up to par with the newly instated kindergarten program.

Parents at the meeting expressed concern over the fact that there will be only one teacher in a classroom of approximately 20 students, and asked if the district had any intention of hiring assistants or searching for volunteers. At the current time, the board said that they have no intention of hiring additional help as they see no room for such an expenditure in the upcoming budget. Full day kindergarten committee members added that they are confident that one teacher can handle the students themselves, since they do so in the current half day program.

Another concern expressed at the meeting was the fact that kindergarten students will be riding on the same buses as older elementary school children. Assistant Superintendent Barbara Horsley explained while the district will be adding more buses, there will be no separate buses available for kindergartners. She added that all bus drivers are asked in advance to provide kindergartners with preferred seating at the front of the bus, and that this method has proven successful in past years since children in the half day program also rode with older students in the mornings and afternoons.

Some parents voiced worry about where their child would be eating lunch. Depending on the school, kindergartners will be in the cafeteria at the same time as older students. Parents said that they are anxious about their child being intimidated if put in such an environment. Solovey told the parents that in the full day kindergarten committee's experiences of visiting other districts who have already implemented the program, that mixing older students with younger students has proved to be successful. She further explained that the district currently does this with the half day program, where older students act as a "big friend" to a "little friend" kindergartner. The older student would show the kindergartner where to go at lunch time, what they should do, where they should sit and where they should be when they go outdoors to the playgrounds.

In addition, Solovey added that she is 100 percent confident that this program will work and explained to parents that she was amazed at the accomplishment of "big friend/little friend" programs she has witnessed. Board member Jane Rubinstein added that her daughter, who has her own "big friend" at Northside Elementary School, "absolutely loves her big friend" and "comes home ecstatic talking about her." Solovey added that with an older student's presence, particularly during lunch time, the kindergartner will have one more person around to turn to if they need anything.

One parent present at the meeting stated that she is overwhelmed with the curriculum objectives and wonders what she should do to prepare her child for full day kindergarten. Kindergarten committee members attempted to ease her mind by explaining that "everybody must remember that these are 4- and 5-year-old children, and we will meet their needs and meet their levels." They explained that the children will be learning about math, science and social studies, but they will be doing so at a level which a 4- or 5-year-old can handle.

Board member Tina Diamond added that to the parents, the curriculums may sound overwhelming because they are hearing words such as math and science. "We, as adults, have names. Kids have fun," she said, adding that if a child looks at a globe and finds New York, that is considered social studies, but to children it is just fun.

Discussions on full day kindergarten will continue throughout the remainder of the school year, and budget talks are expected to begin in March. Residents will be asked to vote for passing the budget on May 15, which will help pay back the bond debt for classroom construction, equipment and technology necessary for the full day program, as well as for additional classroom teachers, several special subject teachers and transportation costs.