1. What’s it all about?

2. Background In the years since the enactment of No Child Left Behind, kindergarten classrooms have become more academic. The new Common Core curricula has made kindergarten academics extremely rigorous. Younger students, in particular, were struggling academically, behaviorally and socially. Test scores in the later grades showed a gap in achievement for students in this age group. The majority of states in the USA require children to turn 5 before starting kindergarten.

3. The Law Beginning in the 2012/2013 school year, the California Kindergarten Readiness Act (SB 1381) changed the age-eligibility date for entry into kindergarten. Children now must turn 5 by September 1 to be eligible for kindergarten. SB 1381 also requires every school district to provide transitional kindergarten classes for students that were previously eligible for traditional kindergarten. These are students turning 5 between September 2 – December 2.

4. The Program Transitional kindergarten occurs prior to traditional kindergarten. Students completing the program go on to kindergarten the following year. Transitional kindergarten works towards kindergarten standards, but does so in a way that is developmentally appropriate for young learners. Activities and lessons are planned around the CA Preschool Learning Foundations and the Kindergarten Common Core Standards

5. Best Practices for Young Learners Activities/lessons are planned to help students develop language, literacy, math and other core academic concepts. Activities/lessons are also planned to help students develop socially/emotionally. Small group learning, hands-on activities, discovery and exploration are utilized.

6. TK at Germain Charter Academy Germain TK offers the following programs: Little Treasures Language Arts Personalized Oral Language Learning (POLL) Dialogic Reading Handwriting Without Tears Kindergarten Math Their Way HeidiSongs, Dr. Jean and Singlish: using music to teach literacy/math skills

7. Language, phonics, math and other concepts are taught using music and fun, hands-on programs.

8. Transitional kindergarten is more than a typical preschool experience. Students learn to read, write, count, add, subtract and more. They develop oral vocabulary and English language fluency. They learn to socialize and make friends. They grow in their ability to attend to lessons and tasks. They develop confidence in themselves and their skills.

9. Enrollment The Germain Charter Academy TK class is now in our sixth year! We are currently enrolling transitional kindergarten students for the fall. Call our office at 818-341-5821 for information about enrolling your child. Don’t live in our school boundary? Apply for our charter enrollment lottery! We look forward to meeting you!