After kindergarten, children become fully embroiled in the school system. Kindergarten therefore represents the transition between the child’s life with her parents and her school career. It’s in kindergarten that kids learn to behave like students. They learn to pay attention when a teacher is talking and discover that classrooms have certain rules that must be obeyed. In some cases, kids may have certain skills of obedience in place, but others do not, so their behavior must be regulated to enable effective learning.
Much of a child’s day during kindergarten is traditionally spent learning through play. Kids could use building blocks to help learn how to count, for instance, or visit a dress-up cupboard to stimulate their creative processes. Play is vital for kids, since it’s during the activity of play that children develop important skills like problem solving and creative thinking. For example, as "The New York Times" points out, it’s through simple games like “Simon Says” that kids learn to control their basic impulses, a crucial skill later in life.
Upon entering kindergarten, not all kids will have an opportunity to interact often with others of their age. Other children will have experienced more social interaction, but both groups have ample time to develop socially during kindergarten as a result of being part of a class. Some key social lessons can be encouraged at kindergarten level, such as learning to share and play successfully with others.
Kindergarten classes aim to teach kids the basics of some of the key subjects they’ll study throughout their school careers, such as math and writing. For example, during kindergarten kids learn to recognize some shapes and numbers and gain an understanding of the context of words. Research released in 2003 by the Ontario government indicates that the achievements of kindergarten kids are reflected in their later years. For example, the research found that kids who successfully develop an understanding of basic math early in their lives then go on to greater success in the subject in their later school years.