kindergarten

The number of students heading to college is projected to decline after this fall. The financial impact is putting some Missouri institutions at risk of significant cuts — or closure. Plus: Some kindergarten classes in Kansas are rediscovering what young children can learn through old-fashioned free play.

As kindergarten becomes more academically intense, some schools in Wichita are incorporating self-directed free play — known among educators as purposeful play — into the daily schedule as a way to enhance learning and teach social skills.

Concerned about whether Kansas youngsters get too much screen time, the State Board of Education has created a task force to address cell phones and other devices in classrooms. The group will develop policy recommendations and present them to the board later this year.

A new state report shows a drop in the number of Missouri kindergarteners who received the required immunizations for schools, which include DTAP, Polio, MMR, Hep B and Varicella.

Currently, there is no standard process for assessing deaf children under five. Kids with hearing loss sometimes arrive at kindergarten with “language deprivation,” meaning they don’t know as many words as they should at their age.

The state funding is divided into two pots; more than $55 million is set aside for school districts and charter schools, while about $26 million is available for community-based child care providers. The programs are supposed to prioritize low-income families.

This fall, educators are adjusting their lesson plans to make more time for social and emotional skills, after last year's pandemic-related closures kept many kindergartners at home.

Maria Martinez is a senior at Emporia State University in Kansas. She is currently a student teacher in a kindergarten classroom in the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools.

Maria Martinez, interna en educación se pregunta cómo será enseñar a su clase de kinder por primera vez este año. Así se ha preparado para ellos.

For students who've only ever attended Zoom kindergarten, there was a lot to learn as Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools reopened for in-person classes.

Maria Martinez, interna en educación se pregunta cómo será enseñar a su clase de kinder por primera vez este año. Así se ha preparado para ellos.

Maria Martinez, a student teacher at Mark Twain Elementary, wonders what it’ll be like to teach her kindergarten class in person for the first time all year. Here’s how she prepared for them.