What is Transitional-Kindergarten (TK) and why is it different?

This is a question that many people ask when they hear that we have a Transitional-Kindergarten (TK) class. In the TK class we set our curriculum goals based on both the California Dept. of Education and Early Edge California (formerly Preschool California). Created by the 2010 California law called the Kindergarten Readiness Act, and offered across the state, TK is an exciting educational opportunity to prepare children for kindergarten. TK bridges the path between preschool and kindergarten and gives students the opportunity to build a strong foundation for future school success. It blends social and emotional experience with academic learning, so that students not only learn essential pre-literacy, pre-math, and other cognitive skills, but also develop social and self-regulation skills needed to succeed in school and life.

We also have a partnership with the Lucia Mar School District’s SNIPS program for children with special needs. This relationship is fundamental in helping young children make a successful transition from early care and education settings to kindergarten. In keeping the California Dept. of Education and Early Edge California guidelines in mind, we adopted two programs into our curriculum.

• The first program is Zoo-phonics. This program is used in several kindergarten classes and is also very exciting for the children. We also focus on developing early literacy skills for reading.
• The second program is Everyday Math in TK. This math program uses the calendar, patterning, number recognition, shapes, colors, prediction, simple addition, and subtraction.

Both of these programs were developed based on the TK California Dept. of Education and Early Edge California Guidelines. The use of these programs do come at a price; children enrolled in our TK program have an additional $25.00 TK Curriculum Fee. This separate payment is due by May 1, 2022. When making this payment, please write a separate check payable to AGUMCC and in the memo write “TK Curriculum”.

According to the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) TK programs are critical to children’s long-term success, and experts at NIEER have documented that children who have been enrolled in high-quality TK programs enter kindergarten with better vocabularies and more advanced pre-reading and math skills than children who don’t have access to these programs. Kids enrolled in TK programs aren’t just learning how to recognize letters and numbers; they are also learning critical social skills, problem solving skills, and the importance of working independently in the classroom. Through high-quality TK Programs, they develop the confidence to take on more advanced classroom work. TK Programs are essential in teaching kids the social skills they need for later grades, not just the academic skills. We are blessed that you have chosen AGUMCC for your child’s TK experience and look forward to a wonderful year of learning and developing. Thank you for choosing our program for your child.

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