Kinder Camp readies kids for school

For the second consecutive year in a row, the Plumas Lake Elementary School District is offering a one-week transition program to help children and parents alike make the jump into kindergarten.

Dubbed, "Kinder Camp" the program aims to ensure that each student will be comfortable when they begin their school year later in the month.

"Kinder Camp was designed to help the children transition into the academic world," said Shaun Roderick, early childhood oordinator for Plumas Lake Elementary District.

The program will be held at Cobblestone Elementary the week of June 9. The focus will be a two-hour readiness program designed to help introduce the children to kindergarten's social and emotional skills, classroom expectations and works as a pre-kindergarten assessment. The overall intention is to ensure that children have a chance to get acquainted with beginning kindergarten curriculum, thus putting them on the right foot the first day of school.

For many children just the thought of navigating such a large place such as the schoolyard or cafeteria can be scary. Therefore, even though lunch will not be served during the camp, children are asked to bring with them a light snack or lunch which they will eat in the schools cafeteria in order to familiarize them with the appropriate procedures to use in the cafeteria.

The district believes that while there will be no before- or after-school care available during this week, it will definitely serve to assist those students who have never been in a structured academic environment in the past.

"Our district provides all kindergartners a rigorous and meaningful, standards based kindergarten program from the start of the school year," said Roderick. "This assessment piece will help you as parents identify where you can help your student be more prepared for the start of school."

Kinder Camp is free to all incoming kindergartners and the school encourages all students to participate. For more information on the program, contact Roderick at 634-9723, ext. 209 or sroderic@plusd.org.

Contact Plumas Lake correspondent Michele Perrault at 483-3664 or mperrault@plumaslakelife.com.