In most schools, five-year-olds are the little kids, but at Bright Beginnings Early Childhood Center, five-year-olds are like seniors in a high school. No one is older than they are, and they'll soon be moving on to bigger things.
Like kindergarten.
Every one of Barb Cross's five-year-olds is ready for kindergarten. Many of them didn't speak English last August, and now they are chatting away in two languages.
They know numbers, shapes, letters, colors, and how to sit still — well, most of the time. They know words to describe the weather and what a calendar is. They sing, dance, paint, do puzzles, keep time on drums, cymbals, and wood blocks, measure things in jars, ride tricycles and listen to stories.
The children get along with others, and cooperate with their teachers. Well, most of the time.
A year ago, these young scholars had just turned four, and they had yet to learn all these skills. What a difference a year makes.
The children came, they saw, they conquered.
And in a couple of months, Sebastian Torres, Jennifer Ortiz Osario, Urieo Retana, Chirsma Issacs and their friends will say goodbye to their Head Start preschool and head off to the big leagues.
Elementary school, here they come.
For the full story, go to dodgecitydailyglobe.ks.newsmemory.com.
Reach Claire O'Brien at (620) 408-9931 or e-mail her at claire.obrien@dodgeglobe.com.
