Kindergartners love a challenge! You’ve probably heard me say it before and I’ll continue to stand by it—keeping kindergartners challenged keeps their focus, motivation, and behavior in check.
Readers often ask me how I get my students to sit still, listen, be engaged, stay on task, and try their hardest. There are many, many things I do—with intention—to develop these crucial “soft skills” (all of which are necessary to get to our end goal of academic skills), but the most important element of my teaching is to have high expectations for my students and to help them develop high expectations for themselves.
The typical kindergarten standard is to learn to read and write numbers to 20. My standard, however, is for them to read and write numbers to 100. Every spring, I like to challenge my students to challenge themselves. Can they write to 100? Can they stay focused? Can they persist? Strive for accuracy? Manage impulsivity and not write their numbers backwards? Can they try harder and harder, week after week, until they’re able to do it within the allotted time?
I say yes! Most can! Decades ago (in the early 2000s) when I first started teaching kindergarten and when there were no state or national standards, I figured this was a good goal for this age group. Students have been proving to me since then that not only can they do this but that they love it when I challenge them to try.
Having this knowledge and these number concepts—not to mention the fine motor control—allows room for the summer slide and gives them such a leg up as they enter first grade. Plus, if they can write to 100, you know their ability to count to 100 is super solid.
You can try goal setting with any skill; start with writing numbers to 20 or any other timely skill. Just give your students a challenge and the necessary support; celebrate their successes along the way; and learn the power this has on their motivation, behavior, and achievement.
Video: Challenging Students to Write to 100