{"id":10026,"date":"2023-07-27T13:43:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-27T23:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/?p=10026"},"modified":"2025-03-24T13:45:19","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T23:45:19","slug":"2023-kindergarten-summer-start-programs-help-prepare-youngest-learners-for-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ko\/2023-kindergarten-summer-start-programs-help-prepare-youngest-learners-for-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Kindergarten Summer Start programs help prepare youngest learners for school"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Alyssa <\/em>Francesca<\/em> Salcedo<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bThe Kindergarten Summer Start program, now in its third year, was launched by the Hawai\u2018i State Department of Education (HIDOE) to give free specialized support to young learners, and is finding success and support among schools and families. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of three weeks, the program focuses on academic and social readiness, for incoming kindergarten students, especially those with little to no prior preschool experience. The classrooms and activities are meant to simulate kindergarten environments and provide opportunities for keiki to foster a sense of routine, independence, and confidence. Language arts concepts that are typically taught include letters and sight words, while math concepts often involve distinguishing between numbers from 1-10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kalihi Uka Elementary is one of over 80 schools statewide that participate in this program. Eighteen students are enrolled in the program this year and are supported by two kindergarten teachers, one special education teacher, and one educational assistant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program \u201cgreatly benefits the kids because it gives them a taste of what the year is going to be, like the expectations that they\u2019re going to be held to, the different things that they\u2019re going to be doing,\u201d Kalihi Uka Elementary Principal Derek Santos said, adding that it also allows students to foster relationships with their future teachers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The success of the program is further reflected in how kindergarteners flourish in the upcoming school year. At Kalihi Uka, Santos credits the program for noticeable growth and \u201ca smooth, easy transition\u201d for the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Ali\u2018iolani Elementary, teachers Lily Gong and Shanna Nakamura-Heaton work collaboratively in their summer start classroom, which consists of 14 students. During the regular school year, Gong works as a special education teacher for preschoolers, while Nakamura-Heaton is a kindergarten teacher.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their classroom and its routines are modeled after a kindergarten classroom to introduce school through a smaller setting. This also allows young learners to become accustomed to routines and expectations while meeting and making friends with other students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t to say that the kids didn\u2019t experience some challenges at the beginning, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gong notes that \u201csome of the kids had a hard time to separate with their parents in the morning, but now they all come with a smile and ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the programs extend their reach to involve parents in their child\u2019s learning. For example, during the last week of instruction at Ali\u2018iolani, Gong and Nakamura-Heaton hosted a parent-student activity where families worked together to make ice cream. \u201cIt was good for the parents to get to come in,\u201d Nakamura-Heaton said. \u201cThey got to see and model for them how they can practice with their kids at home during the rest of the summer to help them stay prepared.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gong added that the opportunity allowed parents to observe their child doing things independently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grandmother Dorothy Pregil first learned of the program through her granddaughter\u2019s preschool program at Kalihi Uka and said that her granddaughter has gained more confidence through the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a little girl, she\u2019s very intimidated, but she picked English up really fast, so she verbally loves to talk now,\u201d Pregil said, adding that her granddaughter is indeed learning. \u201cThey\u2019re doing the scissors now. \u2026 They\u2019re learning motor skills and different ways of thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of approximately 2,250 students were enrolled in HIDOE\u2019s kindergarten start summer program this past summer. Given the learning gap that many students face stemming from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical that young learners be equipped with the tools and resources to succeed in the classroom and beyond. Easing the transition from home to the classroom for the state\u2019s youngest learners benefits participating students and their peers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information or questions about the kindergarten summer start program, please contact your child\u2019s elementary school. The program\u2019s start and end dates and times may vary by school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Alyssa Francesca Salcedo is a\u00a0summer\u00a0intern with HIDOE’s Communications Branch. She graduated from Waipahu High School with the class of 2023 and is planning to major in journalism at\u00a0the\u00a0University of Hawai\u2018i at M\u0101noa.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alyssa Francesca Salcedo \u200bThe Kindergarten Summer Start program, now in its third year, was launched by the Hawai\u2018i State Department of Education (HIDOE) to give free specialized support to young learners, and is finding success and support among schools and families.  Over the course of three weeks, the program focuses on academic and social readiness, for […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","wp_popup_display_lightbox":0,"wp_popup_suppress":"","wp_popup_trigger":"","wp_popup_trigger_amount":0,"wp_popup_disable_on_mobile":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":21,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"Chanel Honda","author_link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ko\/author\/chanel-hondak12-hi-us\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":21,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":21,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":308,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":21,"category_count":308,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-19 10:59:59","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"post_status","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10026\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/ko\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}