Four Cs play a powerful role in kindergarten schools

Kathy Gomez, Superintendent of Evergreen School District and longtime YouthTruth partner, recently wrote for District Administration about the ways project-based education helps start young children on the path towards college and career. Read the full post below or on the District Administration website here.

Four Cs play a powerful role in kindergarten schools

by Kathy Gomez

Think back to what made you successful in college and career. In my case, what comes to mind are the ability to think critically, ask deep questions and apply lessons from the classroom to real-world settings.

These are all so-called 21st century skills that are increasingly essential for children to learn—and to use as a means for success in both college and career.

Now, imagine if children could learn these skills as early as kindergarten. While college and career readiness may seem like a far-off proposition for our nation’s 5-year-olds, the education they get now is crucial to their future success.

Researchers point to the 48 percent of disadvantaged children across the United States who enter kindergarten with a learning gap. One in 10 elementary school students who were “far off track” in reading and math in a 2012 study were able to meet on-track college readiness benchmarks by eighth grade.

Deeper understanding

Take one of the schools in my district, Katherine Smith Elementary in a San Jose, California, neighborhood that has dealt with persistent socioeconomic barriers.

We have begun to overcome these obstacles, building partnerships with New Tech Network and the Buck Institute of Education to bolster our teachers’ use of project-based learning.

In the process, it also became a Partnership for 21st Century Learning Exemplar School, leveraging P21’s supports to effectively embed collaboration, creativity, communication and critical thinking (the four C’s) into our kindergartners’ curricula.

As a result of this project-based work, educators have the chance to not only teach kindergartners basic skills in math, reading and science, but to also present the opportunities to apply those skills in real-world settings.

Consider how kindergartners may not just learn about the problem of stray animals, but also to use their logical reasoning skills to collaboratively develop preventative solutions, which they present to their teachers and community leaders.

Consider how kindergartners may not only sound out their letters, but also demonstrate an early interest in reading by creating videos on how they would teach that concept to preschoolers and others in the community.