Kindergarten Distance Registration
It is almost time for kindergarten registration. This year probably looks very different than years past. You may even be wondering how to create an inviting virtual kindergarten registration experience! The roundup is always an important time for schools to get numbers for planning, for students to meet their teachers and become comfortable with a new school environment, and for parents to become comfortable with sending their children to the new school experience.
As I have been thinking of what to do for a virtual kindergarten introduction, I have thought this might actually present a great opportunity to reevaluate priorities and find ways to make a streamlined, and, perhaps, less chaotic kindergarten registration experience.
Distance registration for kindergarten can be made simple using a webpage with the following links and experiences:
Tour the School: Visiting the school and the classroom virtually can be a fun experience! Teachers can do walk-through videos of their classrooms, a tour of the school, and even the playground!
Meet the Teachers: Add a short bio for each teacher, and even provide a short video of the teacher in the classroom.
Meet The Staff: Include photos and descriptions of their duties, such as administration, secretaries, librarians, lunch personal, specialists, etc. anyone students will encounter on a daily basis.
Playground: This is a great place to add playground photos, a video of kids at play, and a brief list of recess rules.
Forms: This is a place to put all of those forms that can inundate the kindergarten parent! Setting forms up digitally will offer families an easier process of getting their child enrolled.
Material: A flood of handouts can also be overwhelming. Putting everything online and easy to access will make this material easy to distribute and refer to as needed.
Assessments: Pre-assessments can be easily handled by video chat! Provide on your page an area for parents to sign up for an appointment on a shared google sheet. The teacher can send the zoom or other link, share their screen and assess away. You can do your digital assessing on ESGI (use code KIOSK— and be provided a 60 day trial). I have all of my Pre-screener assessments on ESGI ready for you to use. Or, you can simply share the paper copy scanned to your screen and score on paper as usual. Either way, assessing will be as easy as can be, and you will have that fabulous data to help you with classroom academic and developmental planning.
Activities: You can provide a myriad of activity links for your soon-to-be-kindergartners to explore. Some of my favorites are:
Five-year-olds and their parents are always excited for the onset of kindergarten. By using technology, a distant registration will not replace a face-to-face, but it will be the next best thing. Who knows? Maybe you will love it so much that you will use this method for years to come.
