By Perry Smith

Morning time with Kindergarteners is nothing less than hectic, and their high energy is the first thing that greets you when you enter the classroom. As a visitor sitting in on Lower School teacher Nicola Byford’s Kindergarten class early this month, I was immediately swarmed by students when I sat down. Within those first few moments, they informed me of all of their birthdays, how many teeth they had lost, and I was asked numerous times if I knew who their Senior buddy was. The chaos caused by my entry was quickly tamed, and the students returned to their routine.

School starts for the Lower School at 8:10 a.m., and Byford’s kindergarteners start their day with a few minutes of free time to mingle with their classmates and play with their table groups. When I arrived, Byford was in a meeting, so Nisha Sanjay, Byford’s Kindergarten assistant teacher, was leading the class. Around 8:20 a.m., free time ends, and the kids clean up their tables before meeting in a group circle on the floor in the front of the room. In this area at the front, each student has a paw print assigned to them on the carpet for circle time. Once the excited kindergarteners are seated at their spots, one student is assigned to be the flag holder for that morning and holds up an American flag for the rest of the class to look at while they recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Kindergarteners are full of energy, so following the Pledge, the students sat back down in a circle, and Sanjay led meditation and breathing exercises with the students to create a calmer class environment. Once this meditation was done, the student who got to hold the American flag chose a greeting for the morning, which was high-fives. The students then stood up and went around the room, high-fiving each other, saying “Good morning!” 

During their morning greeting, Byford arrived in class, and the students were elated to see her. Byford has a kind of calm, yet joyful demeanor towards her students, which even had me excited for her to get to class. The way she goes about teaching her Kindergarteners makes her feel like a friend to the students while also being able to keep control over the class. The first activity Byford started when she got to class was resetting the calendar in the room. She realized she had forgotten to change the calendar that morning from April to May, and instead of letting this interrupt class, she turned it into a fun learning activity for the students. Byford started asking the kids math questions, and when a student would correctly answer, she would take that number off the calendar. The kindergarteners loved this activity, and almost every student was raising their hand, eager to be called on to get a chance to answer a question. 

Once the calendar was reset, Byford announced it was time for the students to practice their Mother’s Day Tea performance, which would take place on Wednesday, May 7. Earlier that morning, multiple students had come up to me, asking if I was going to see them practice, and they were thrilled when they realized I was staying to watch. The kids then lined up at the front of the room to start practicing. One student stepped forward and started saying a part that they had memorized, talking about the best qualities of a mother, and it continued down the line, with each student stepping forward and speaking. I was very impressed with their performance and couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about back when I did the same Mother’s Day Tea performance when I was in Kindergarten. Following these speeches, the students sang three songs: “This Pretty Planet,” “Each of Us is a Flower,” and “A Special Someone.” 

Once the students finished practicing, they went back to their paw prints and listened to Byford’s instructions for their next activity. They were sorted into three groups to start their math rotations. One group was at Byford’s station working on an individual math sheet, the other group was with Sanjay doing math group work, and the last group was working on a math coloring sheet at their desks. During these rotations, I sat with the students working at their desks, and the kids were quick to show me how impressive their coloring and math skills were.

While I was sitting with the students at their table, I asked them a few questions about their school experience. I asked Liam (‘37), what his favorite thing about kindergarten was: “Lunch, because I’m so hungry right now.” I followed up by asking what he looks forward to when he comes to school: “Something other than lunch? I guess math.” I then asked to the other student at his table, Jake (‘37), and his reply was the same: “Eating lunch. I never stop eating.” Since the end of the school year was approaching, I asked if the students were looking forward to their upcoming transition into 1st Grade next year. Holland immediately responded passionately to this question, “Yes!” So I followed up by asking what she was excited about, and she replied, “I don’t know.”

Once the student’s first rotation of their math activity was over, it was time for me to leave. Before leaving, I had a chance to talk with Byford and reflect on how surreal it felt to be a Senior, especially considering I was once a 1st Grader in her class back in 2014. Visiting her class highlighted just how much had changed, yet stayed the same, since I was their age.

All photos by Perry Smith.