Set up a Kindergarten Classroom

Setting up a safe and playful environment for children ages four to six can be difficult especially if you are a first-time teacher or even coming back from summer again. The trick with setting up the classroom is to make it cute, colorful and efficient while also making it a safe and appealing environment to learn in. Here are some pointers for setting up your classroom.

Steps

  1. Safety first. Kindergarten classrooms foremost have to be a safe place. There are rules, guidelines, and regulations regarding classroom set-ups. These will vary from country to state, to licensing body or accrediting institution. However, some issues to consider are:
    • Students are visible at all times. You must be able to monitor the classroom reasonably well. Students who know they cannot be seen will often misbehave.
    • Students should not have easy access to hazardous items such as paper cutters, kitchen knives, electrical sockets, or medication.
    • Fire exits may not be blocked, and emergency exits clearly marked, and fire drills. Practice "lockdown" as directed. Kindergarten children tend to be very sensitive to these often unannounced, noisy, sometimes scary drills.
    • Make sure materials are appropriate for young students. For example, use non-toxic art materials such as glue sticks, tempera paint, and certified crayons. Materials fine for older students, such as permanent markers should not be used by young children.
  2. Have an area for whiteboard, chalkboard, or SmartBoard. When working with a large group, you are likely to want something to write on or otherwise illustrate a lesson.
    • Many people argue that a chalkboard is the go-to method. While time-tested, chalk dust can trigger asthmatic children.
    • Whiteboards are increasingly more common. Dry erase markers are now typically odorless and have fewer of the issues of chalkboards.
    • SmartBoards are the latest in technology. On it, one can set up multi-media presentations, such as PowerPoint. You can share websites, video, audio, and interactive games. While it takes some training and requires technological support, both teachers and students typically love it.
  3. Have a space for important student information. Kindergartens have a wealth of information that has to be organized: what is for lunch, classroom jobs, where students go upon dismissal and more. Not only does this keep the students organized, but the teacher as well. For a substitute teacher, this information is critical. For example:
    • Post your daily schedule. Having a daily schedule makes sure everyone knows what happens when. Be sure to include things that are not necessarily everyday things, such as assemblies, field trip departure time, and so on.
    • Make lunch and snack choices simple. If you, as a teacher, have to process food orders, have your students take some responsibility. For example, a chart in which a marker (such as a craft stick with his or her name) is placed for the type of lunch, if ordering milk for a snack etc.
    • Classroom jobs: A chart with names and jobs helps to make it clear who feeds the class guinea pig and who is line leader.
    • Dismissal: A chart with names and dismissal information should be easy to find. Usually, there is a list of buses, walkers, and students going to an after-school program and pick-ups. Note that schedules are sometimes very complicated.
    • Calendar: A calendar is helpful for developing a sense of time, and concepts such as weeks and days of the week. It can also help show upcoming or past events, such as holiday breaks, field trips, and birthdays.
    • Consider making a word wall. It's easy; just type up some words, and print them out as largely as possible, and post them on the wall so that the children can easily read them.
  4. Have a large meeting area. Typically, kindergarten children need a large open area to gather for lessons, to play, and sometimes for taking a nap. Many teachers have colorful individual rug tiles, a single low table in the middle, or a large rug that delineates the meeting area.
    • Many teachers like having a "teacher chair" in this area. This is a chair that is adult-sized and acts as a focal point for meeting time. Having an elevated sitting spot allows the teacher to be more easily seen while reading a story book or teaching a lesson. Older teachers, especially try to avoid sitting on the floor (and the subsequent getting up) too often.
      • A soft armchair is a warm, soft, homey touch in what can be a sea of hard, institutional furniture. However, upholstered chairs can be an allergy issue (especially since these chairs tend to be old and thus a bit dusty) for some children.
      • Rocking chairs are an injury hazard, even though rocking is soothing for children. Consider a "glider" chair instead. Be aware that young children do tend to abuse these chairs.
      • Do not use a swivel chair, or one on coasters unless perhaps these functions are disarmed. Young children will spin on them and roll them around for fun and thus become a hazard and at the very least a huge distraction.
  5. Be sure materials adjacent to the meeting area are not overly distracting. The meeting area should be kept free of too many distractions, obstacles, or clutter.
    • Consider fabric coverings over shelving to block the view of students. For some students, seeing toys is a distraction.
    • Be sure there is enough room between other areas and the meeting area. If students are squished against a bookcase, for example, it is an annoyance and distraction. Also, wriggly children will tend to knock things over.
  6. Have a work area. Give assigned seats, and rather than desks, give a homey appeal and give tables. They should be circular or blunt edged rectangular to avoid sharp corners. There should be enough chairs for everyone and a couple extras; metal is preferred rather than wood to avoid multiple replacements,
    • Tables, desks and chairs should fit students properly. Furniture should mostly be child-sized. A good janitor or custodian can adjust some furniture down (such as tables) to fit.
    • Desks or tables? Both have pros and cons.
      • Generally, tables are preferred by early childhood professionals to encourage a sense of community rather than individual territory. Also, young children tend to not be able to manage materials in desks. Of course, sometimes you do not have a choice and make do with what you have.
      • Desks have the advantage of giving an excellent sense of personal space.
      • If a room is especially spacious, a combination of desks and tables allows for versatility. For example, perhaps worksheets are best done at individual desks, but a hands-on science experiment is done at a large table so everyone can see.
    • Give a source of writing equipment; put cups on tables for either markers or pencils, whichever you prefer their using on a particular assignment (pencil is favored for daily work).
  7. A place for children's belongings. Kindergarten students need a clear, simple organization system for belongings. It needs to be adequate to keep personal belongings such as lunchboxes and backpacks and hang up coats, snowsuits, and so on.
    • Inside the classroom or in the hallway? Inside the classroom avoids having students leaving the classroom, where it is harder to monitor them. However, inside the classroom needs more room (which may be in short supply), and tempts children to constantly go to and from cubbies and so on, which may be a distraction.
    • Lockers are generally not good for kindergartners. They tend to try to hide in them or play dangerously with the doors. Cubbies are typically better.
    • Each child should have their own labeled coat-hook in order to avoid confusion. In cold climates, two may be necessary to hang up backpacks, bulky winter coats, and snow pants. #*Have your own space as a teacher. You should have your own desk and computer in the classroom, which you should be sure the children do not have easy access to. While you should not have anything truly dangerous in your work area, you need to have your own space for your work as a teacher. This includes student information, emergency kits, substitute plans, "teacher scissors", and so on.
  8. Carefully consider wall space. Apart from chalkboards and such, kindergarten walls typically are full of both informational displays and student work. But this space typically fills up quite quickly, and what to put up should be considered with great care.
    • Informational displays. This includes things such as alphabets, "Word Walls", classroom rules, classroom jobs, maps, posters, and so on. Be sure the information is useful, makes sense where it is, tidy, and aesthetically pleasing.
    • Student work. Displaying the hard work of the students is a powerful message that their work matters and is valued. Be sure all students have items put on the bulletin board, not just the best or most artistic.
    • Art or other Beautiful Things. Sometimes teachers proudly display something mostly just for beauty, inspiration, or for its own sake.
    • Be careful of cluttered walls. A more detailed explanation is below.
  9. Create a classroom library. Books are a central focus of the classroom. Organization is extremely important, as it needs to be accessible, easy for children to re-shelve, and pertinent to the curriculum.
    • It is usually better to have several smaller shelves or sections than one large "shelf" that tends have books tumbling over.
    • Try organizing around categories so children can narrow down what they want to read: "Animals", "Eric Carle Books", "Sports Books", "Science Books", "Fairy Tales".
    • Have books out that are topics of the curriculum. If you are studying penguins, have books out about Arctic creatures.
    • Audit your books for diversity and inclusion. Are the majority of your main characters male? Are there any books with characters that have handicaps? Are there characters that reflect your minority community? Do you have books that both reflect your community, but also others different than yours?
    • Have a comfortable reading environment. Try to make your library area cozy and inviting to read in. Make sure the lighting is good, that there is space to sit down or lie down comfortably, and there are limited distractions.
    • Make sure that your classroom is restocked with what you will need; such as paper towels, tissues, hand sanitizer, etc. Ask parents for generous donations; many are willing to help out! Some schools, school districts or the parent-teacher organization (PTO/PTA) will furnish such things.
  10. Design your class programs. Some schools have "mystery reader," where a parent comes in and reads to the class, as their son or daughter beaming with joy, or parent helps with choice time, where their child gets to choose whether they'd like to color, play a game, etc. Whichever you choose, you should be able to do it in your perfectly set-up kindergarten classroom.
  11. Avoid common "Rookie Mistakes". When putting together a kindergarten classroom, there are some very common mistakes new teachers make.
    • Do not put up too many things on the walls. A lot of advice is given to put up educational materials: "Word Walls", maps, calendars, birthday charts, inspirational posters, artwork, and on and on. But the danger is that the entire classroom becomes cluttered, distracting, and overwhelming. Try to balance very important materials with what can be put up as needed.
    • Avoid too many bright colors. A common design mistake for early childhood classrooms is to paint walls bright, super-saturated colors. Vivid colors tend to be very over-stimulating and thus possibly quite distracting. It is actually better to go with soft whites or pastels, with some "pops" of color.
    • Do not rely too much on word labels. Typically, kindergarten students now come to school with a basic grasp on simple words. But not all students. You may have a student who does not speak your language, or is autistic, or simply not reading. In any case, young children take longer to process writing than adults, and so such labels are not as efficient.
      • Try using digital photos to label items as well as word labels.
      • Encourage students to help you make labels. It helps with writing skills, classroom cooperation, and fine motor skills.

Tips

  • Look around at the other classrooms in the school to get some ideas of setting it up.
  • You do not have to shop out of your own pocket! Ask for money from your principal or school district, unless you feel like generously shopping yourself. If you are asking for money, though, be sure that you only spend what is necessary and maybe a little bit more.

Warnings

  • Make sure you have the essentials for a Kindergarten class: first aid kit, phone to call the office, nurse or police, an Epi-Pen, a fire extinguisher, and know who is certified in the Heimlich Maneuver and CPR. Know procedures for special needs such as hypoglycemia, diabetes, mainstreamed special ed students in the regular classroom, etc.
  • You should know the procedures and codes for fire and storm alarms (and lock-downs where everyone locks doors and stays clear of them and the windows, as best they can).

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