By Isabella DeHayes

For five weeks during the summer, Drexel’s School of Education hosts a transitional Pre-K to Kindergarten program at the Samuel Powel School in Philadelphia to help preschoolers transition into the atmosphere of a kindergarten classroom. This year, 37 soon-to-be-kindergarteners got to spend time in real classroom settings getting to know their future classmates, getting familiar with routines, and doing both social-emotional learning and literacy/math review.  

“The main goal of the program is to make sure the children are confident going into kindergarten,” Andrea DiMola, Director of Strategic Partnerships in the College of Arts and Sciences, explains. “Especially in Philadelphia, children are used to smaller classes in daycare or childcare, with ratios being, for example, one to ten. This means that moving into a school that’s K-8 or even K-4 is a big adjustment. We want those children to feel comfortable in that sense.”  

Not only do the kids get to know the classrooms and environment, but they’re also getting familiar with the routine of going to the cafeteria as a class and waiting in line, going down to the gym as a class, etc. Because these things are so different from what they may be used to, the change can be scary, so they want the kids to understand the routines and have that knowledge when it comes time for kindergarten. This will help set them up for success. 

Under the instruction of Drexel student teachers, students arrive at the summer camp at around 8:30 a.m., where they line up as a class before going to the cafeteria for breakfast as a class. After breakfast, they go to their classrooms and put their backpacks away and then run through a morning meeting with their program teachers. During the morning lesson, students go over things like shapes, counting, names, playing a game, or reading a book. Then, they do a short academic lesson, mindful that it is still summertime, alternating between literacy and math, depending on the day.  

After the lesson, they go into center-based play. At this age, social-emotional learning is one of the most important skills for them to practice, which is oftentimes achievable through play. Students enjoy outdoor recess (unless the weather is bad), snack time, lunch and additional playtime. This is all purposely organized to mirror a typical kindergarten day. 

“Our academic focus is reviewing pre-K content, so we’re not teaching kindergarten content, but reviewing things they should already know and building that practice of sitting together and learning the same thing,” DiMola says about academic lessons in the program. “If it’s literacy, we start with a letter,  and a discussion surrounding that better and words where children hear that letter sound.”  

Two classrooms hold about 20 kids each, and Drexel’s teacher education students use this summer program opportunity to develop as teachers and craft their own lessons and activities.  

“Besides academics, we provide full training for the teaching staff on how to approach social-emotional learning before the program starts,” DiMola says. “We make sure the teachers are really explicit with kids about what it looks like, for example to be kind to your friends. What are examples of good sharing? The other thing we work really hard at is making sure kids are trying to resolve things on their own, and recognizing when a teacher needs to get involved.”  

The program aims to build community and connection. Seeing kids make a friend or hug their friend goodbye at the end of the day is such an important element of growth at this age.  

“The teachers created such a community that the kids were excited to be involved in, and it was great to see the teachers had done a great job of that,” DiMola says. “We work closely with the leadership at Powel in particular, and they were spending a lot of time getting to know the students, and getting them comfortable in the space, building that confidence for school.” 

Even though the program is only five weeks, the skills and confidence that the children gain has a long-term effect on them and their development. From learning how to navigate a new school routine, making friends, and developing independence, the program gives the kids the tools they need to approach kindergarten with greater comfortability. At the same time, Drexel’s teacher education students gain valuable hands-on experience working with young learners.