Determine how familiar your kindergarten students are with the computer and the Internet. Whereas some students will have computers in their home and use them on a daily basis, others will be totally unfamiliar with computers. To be able to navigate the Internet successfully, kindergarten students should have basic computer skills — knowing how to log on and off the computer, open and close applications and point and select items on the screen. Children must also know how to move the cursor. If your kindergarten students have emerging computer literacy, sign up for time in your school’s computer lab if one is available.
Allow students to use the classroom computer during specific computer center time or free time. Encourage students to sign a schedule for days that they intend to use the computer center to ensure that every student gets a turn. This is especially beneficial if your school does not have a separate computer lab with a computer for each student.
Plan basic games and activities to further familiarize your students with the Internet. One possibility is having students manipulate the cursor in a program that reads them nursery rhymes or stories. That way, they are not doing the primary work on the computer, but they still have to turn the virtual pages or move the mouse around.
Show students an online mapping program. A program such as Google Earth will allow students to look at the geography of their country and the world. They can also hover over a particular area to learn more about it. This exercise will expand their knowledge beyond their present environment.
Create an online blog with teachers from other cities, states or countries. Identify these places on the mapping program so that your students become familiar with different geographical locations.
Trade a piece of your city with the other teachers involved in the project. For instance, you could agree to send leaves from a popular tree in your area to the other participants, especially at different times of the year. This fascinating project will teach kindergarten children about the changing seasons in different parts of the globe.
Print a map of the country and ask students to glue the leaf or other artifact next to its city of origin. Show students how the map you printed matches the map on the computer.
Upload pictures of your map with the pasted artifacts and put them on the blog for all students to see. They will also be able to see how the other participating classrooms took pictures and displayed their leaves.