Kindergarten Miscellaneous FAQ

How do we form homerooms?

Homerooms should be formed by the start of school and reflect the diversity of the school community. Children should begin the first day of school in their assigned homerooms to the greatest extent possible. Slight adjustments can be made, as needed. Teachers also have the following articulation resources available:

• Learning Progress Forms: HCPSS Pre-K and Howard County early care and education providers complete Learning Progress Forms for the students they are sending to kindergarten. Aligned to Maryland's Early Learning Standards, these forms provide kindergarten teachers with valuable information about the students they will be welcoming to their class. LPFs will be shared via GAFE with kindergarten team leaders.
• All About Me Kindergarten Interview Form: All About Me surveys have two formats: fillable PDFs or Google Form. These may be used to gather information about incoming students.

Teachers will be administering content-based assessments once they have established community in their homerooms and will provide differentiated, responsive instruction based on these and other ongoing, formative assessments.

It is important to remember in these unprecedented times that teams should make the best decisions they can using the information that is available, while maintaining a flexible approach to supporting students and families.

Please note, summer assessments are not required. If teams decide to do assess children, please be aware that teams may not use the Fountas and Pinnell Recording Form for Oral Reading (i.e., benchmark books) to assess reading. Kindergarten students are only administered required assessments during county identified assessment windows. Placement for reading instruction is determined by Being a Reader Letter Recognition and Placement Assessments, which do not occur until Week 5 of the program.

For teachers electing to come in during the summer, the negotiated agreement contains two paid unscheduled days for all 10-month and 11-month teachers to be used for ‘professional time, outside the scheduled duty day, focused on instruction and improving student achievement, and professional activities that improve the learning environment.’  Kindergarten teachers that engage in summer transition activities with children and families (e.g., summer play groups, meet and greets, summer assessments, articulation, etc.) can document hours for these professional activities. In order to count towards documented hours, activities must take place after July 1 for the upcoming school year.

When must homeroom assignments be finalized?

In order to develop classroom community, ease transitions, establish routines, and build relationships with families, homerooms must be formed by the start of school; that is, children should begin the first day of school in their assigned homerooms. Slight adjustments can be made, as needed.

Do children have to be toilet trained in kindergarten?

Every year, a couple of students show up in kindergarten who are not toilet trained. Students are not required to be toilet trained, although the process usually happens rather quickly once they are in a school routine. Kindergarten staff should be the ones to support the process and help the child within the classroom or team area, unless otherwise directed by the health room.

If there are non-toilet-trained students, teachers should ask families of the students to send in wipes. If other students have accidents, those wipes should not be used on them, but rather "disposable washcloths." These washcloths, as well as disposable gloves, are available in the health room for staff use. 

Students should not be sent to the health room for toileting or to change clothes; however, staff members can collaborate with the health room to share resources, tips, etc. with the families.

• Please see Toileting Q&A Links to an external site. for more information.
• A Self-Help Skills memo Links to an external site., including links to resources for toilet training, is distributed to families upon registration for Pre-K and can be modified and shared with kindergarten families, as needed.
• A Potty Training Book List Links to an external site., compiled by the Howard County Library System, can be shared with families.