Kindergarten Roundup was held in Mineral County schools last week. This event gives local children who will be starting Kindergarten, and their parents, the opportunity to visit the school and meet their new teacher.

St. Regis Kindergarten teacher, Mallery McEldery said that she’s expecting around ten students in the fall. Currently, the preschoolers attend Kindergarten for half days and then next year they will attend full-time.

Five year old Nichole Shope, Bella Cheesman, and Tucker Desoto said they were excited to start school full-time in the fall, as they gathered around a table to played on ipads.

McEldery talked to the parents and handed out packets of information to help new students get ready for the upcoming year. This included a schedule and a list of school-readiness skills.

The information sheet said that these are things parents can aim for in preparing their children, but not to try and cram in all the lessons at once.

Reading readiness includes remembering pictures from a printed page, being able to repeat a six to eight word sentence, can print some alphabet letters, answer questions about a short story, and can identify their own name.

Children should also know their age and birthday, they need to be able to pay attention and follow simple directions. They should also be able to understand things like size, position, and direction. As well as recognize primary colors, and shapes, count to ten, and write numbers up to five.

With motor skills, students should be able to button clothes, complete simple puzzles, cut and draw simple shapes.

Other skills parents can work on with their children over the summer include social-emotional development. They can teach their kids to express themselves verbally, work with them and so they can be away from their parents for seven hours. Kids should be able to take care of their own toilet needs, they need to recognize authority, work independently and put away their toys.

McElderly said that she’s been teaching for the past five years and enjoys working with this age group, “they’re so excited to learn at this age and it is fun to watch them learn.”

The students will have ipads to work on but time will be limited. McElderly said that it’s good to expose them to technology but they still need to use regular textbooks and teaching tools for their subjects.