They Haven’t Forgotten Everything: Helping Young Children Reconnect With Learning and Routines

The beginning of a new school year can be exciting, but it can also feel like starting over.

Children are learning where to put their belongings, how to move from one activity to another, when to listen, when to talk, how to work with new classmates, and what their teacher expects from them.

At the same time, teachers may be noticing something else:

Some children need a refresher.

Skills that seemed secure before summer may suddenly need another explanation. A classroom routine that feels simple to an adult may take several days, or weeks, for a young child to understand. Even familiar academic concepts may need to be revisited.

That doesn't necessarily mean the learning is gone.

Sometimes Children Need Time to Reconnect

When children return to school, they are adjusting to much more than academics.

A preschooler may be learning how to separate from family and function as part of a classroom community.

A kindergartner may be adjusting to longer periods of structured learning.

A first, second, or third grader may remember an academic skill but need practice before using it confidently again.

And every child enters the classroom with a different summer experience.

This is why the first few weeks shouldn't become a race to see how quickly we can get children "back on track."

Sometimes what looks like forgetting is really a child saying:

"Give me another opportunity to practice this."

Routines Are Learning, Too

We sometimes treat classroom routines as something children should quickly understand so we can move on to the "real" teaching.

But routines are part of the teaching.

Walking into the classroom independently takes practice.

Transitioning from centers to the carpet takes practice.

Getting materials, completing a task, cleaning up, working with others, asking for help, and preparing for the next activity all take practice.

Instead of repeatedly correcting children when a routine isn't working, stop and ask:

Have I actually taught this routine the way I would teach any other skill?

Show it.

Practice it.

Talk about why it matters.

Let children try it.

Notice what isn't working.

Then teach it again.

Refresh Without Making Children Feel Behind

The same approach can be used with academics.

A refresher doesn't have to feel like remediation.

Bring familiar concepts back through games, conversations, movement, books, manipulatives, small-group experiences, and short review activities.

Watch what children do before deciding what they don't know.

Some children will reconnect quickly. Others will need additional practice. That information helps teachers determine what needs to be retaught and what simply needed to be awakened again.

Most importantly, children shouldn't begin a new school year believing they are already behind.

Give the Beginning of the Year Room to Be a Beginning

Whether your class is entering its first, second, or third week of school, you are still building something.

You are building relationships.

You are building routines.

You are learning who your children are.

And children are learning how to be part of this particular classroom community.

There will be plenty of time for new learning.

Right now, there is also value in helping children reconnect with what they know, practice what they have forgotten, and become comfortable with the rhythms of their new classroom.

Sometimes moving forward begins with giving children a little time to remember.

Kids Exec Excellence, Inc.
Supporting Children, Families & Educators