What Do You Look For in a Kindergarten Enrichment Program?

Over the summer Liz Hill waited patiently to find out if her son, Charlie, would be given a morning or afternoon kindergarten slot at Katonah Elementry School. "I accepted the possibility that Charlie might be placed in the afternoon session," Hill said. 

A few weeks later, Hill, the Katonah mother of three and a middle-school teacher in Harrison, was relieved to find out that her son did get a morning kindergarten session. Then came the next hurdle—what to do about those free afternoons. 

"How can I work with half-day kindergarten?" asked Hill. "Also, winters are long and I have a very active boy who needs a lot of activity and stimulation, which is sometimes hard to give with two other little ones at home."

Hill's solution was kindergarten enrichment, a rite of passage for kids in the Katonah-Lewisboro district belonging to families that believe they either need more than the public schools have to offer or require care beyond a half-day program.

Hill signed up for another year at Katonah PlaySchool, the pre-school Charlie attended that is offering kindergarten enrichment for the first time in nearly a decade. Twice a week after school, Charlie gets driven to PlaySchool and learns to explore the world through a scientific lense and reading techniques.  

For Hill, the need for kindergarten enrichment was three-fold: she wanted him to be academically challenged, have him in school while she worked, and to give him an outlet for his energy. The reasons are varied, but that hasn't stoped three area pre-schools from offering new programs and flexible class structures to accommodate parents.

Patch spoke with Anne Harris of Katonah PlaySchool, who launched her kindergarten enrichment program in response to parents like Hill; Pound Ridge Montessori founder Teresa Whelan, who has always allowed students to remain through kindergarten but sees big fluctations in the number of students each year; and Pee Wee Picassos' Andrea Kreckler, who is teaching her arts program at the Jennie's School for Little Children, about the current state of kindergarten enrichment and what children stand to gain. 

Patch: What concerns have parents expressed about the half-day kindergarten? 

Anne Harris of Katonah PlaySchool: A lot of parents feel they want the mornings. Some parents tell me they want mornings because that’s when they want to exercise. Parents who end up with afternoons feel they can be more relaxed. Maybe they feel a little cheated because neighboring school districts have all-day kindergarten. 

Patch: What do they feel cheated by?

AH: It might be the trickle down of what's expected of children in kindergarten. I know in Somers the children are expected to be reading and if they’re not, they’re put in a special reading recovery program in first grade. One mother asked if we are doing reading.

Patch: How do your programs address the perceived holes in education?

AH: We plan to have children publish their own books because one of the best ways children learn to read is by writing their own matierals. We have an emphasis on science. That can be better in all public schools. They'll be learning to experiment.

Andrea Kreckler of Pee Wee Picassos: With the economy the way it is going, I fear that the arts are going to get cut. If the arts are cut in schools, we feel that programs like Pee Wee Picassos will keep the arts alive. We incorporate puppet shows, poetry, music, art into the curriculum. It is an academic curriculum with a twist of the arts. 

Teresa Whelan of The Pound Ridge Montessori: We don't like to interfere with anything they do in kindergarten because they get bored. We'll bring in geography and ask, Where did you spend your summer vacation, and take it from there. ... The language of geography comes in—what is an island and a lake. 

Patch: Describe your teaching style. 

AK: When I moved to Westchester I met my neighbor, Shari Goldberg, who became my partner. Shari has twins and one struggles with sensory processing disorder. Because of this, she is very sensitive to children’s learning styles. Her passion for adapting programs to the needs of all children is a large contributing factor of our success.

TW: We don't go on a spiral, we go on a horizontal. We follow the child. 

Patch: What do you think about the expectations placed on little children? 

AH: So much more is expected of children at an early age. By the time the children are in third grade you can’t tell the children who are reading at four versus sxi years old. It’s a shame that children and parents have to feel so much pressure.  

Patch: Why did you decide to offer kindergarten enrichment? 

AH: We offered kindergarten enrichment eight or nine years ago and we did it for two years and it just wasn’t successful. We’re trying to offer more opportunuties for the area. We are also offering after-school for school-age children from 3:30 to 6 p.m. We are trying to meet the needs of families in the area.

TW: It's always been done. There is no strict rule. We have to accomodate the parents to the best of our ability. It helps at home. They can fill in the morning. 

Patch: Did you seek out kindergarten enrichment programs for your own children?

AK: For Shari and I, we did our own kindergarten enrichment in my home for our children. We used the same principles we employ in our pre-school arts enrichment program, which are structure and routine in a relaxed setting. 

Patch: What can children gain from enrichment programs?  

AK: We live in a very competitive world where we want our children to have a leg up, but learning can be fun as well as meaningful. By exposing our children to all different learning styles, we give our children the confidence and eagerness to learn. The arts for us are not crafty—they are very personal and subjective. Interpretation brings creativity and confidence. If we all have different learning styles, shouldn’t we interpret life in our own way as well? 

For more information about the programs mentioned above contact Anne Harris at Katonah PlaySchool, 914-232-5903; and Teresa Whelan at Pound Ridge Montessori, 914-763-3125. If you are a school interested in bringing in Pee Wee Picassos, contact Andrea Kreckler at 917-664-9338. Click on a for more local programs.