The daily routine at kindergarten

What will a typical day or week of kindergarten be like for your child? Here’s a look at how your little one will spend each day with his friends and teacher.

In the morning

The day often begins with a short discussion time. For example, on Mondays, the teacher might ask the children to tell everyone what they did over the weekend. This informal chat is usually followed by an activity to get them moving, such as a song or a dance.

Next, it’s often “calendar time”. The students are invited to identify the day of the week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.) and the weather of the day (sunny, cloudy, rainy, etc.) on a board. Using illustrations, the teacher also shows them the activities for the day. The goal is to help the children situate themselves in time.

Throughout the day, the teacher varies the activities requiring concentration, like listening to a story, with more active ones, like a workshop where students manipulate blocks. Each activity lasts an average of 20 to 40 minutes; at this age, the children still have short attention spans. The day also includes periods of free play.

During the morning schedule, a time is set aside in class for a snack. Then it’s recess. In some schools, the kindergartners go outside at the same time as the older students, but play in a small yard set up just for them. In other schools, they may break for recess at a different time from the rest of the school.

Afternoons

At lunchtime, the students are supervised by lunch monitors and daycare workers. Those who go home for lunch must generally do so by their own means. After lunch, there’s usually a short relaxation period of 20 to 30 minutes. Over the course of the year, this period may be replaced by calm activities such as quiet games, massages, and yoga. Then the afternoon continues with activities such as crafts, puzzles and play. At the end of the school day, the children who remain at daycare are left with their monitors, while the others go home.

Very often, the day for kindergarten students ends earlier or starts later than the other students in the school. Children in kindergarten have 23-and-a-half hours of educational services per week, compared to 25 hours for elementary school students.

A week in kindergarten

The students spend most of their class time with their teacher. They occasionally go to the school library to choose books or to the gym for a given activity.

The students are also entitled to 30 minutes each week with a specialist teacher. Each school chooses which specialist will take this period; most often it’s the gym teacher, but sometimes the time is shared with the music teacher.

Field trips may also be organized throughout the year, for example, to a museum, a theatre or a sports centre. Parents are often asked to help with these trips.

Things to keep in mind

• During the day, the teacher will alternate between activities that require more concentration and those that get the children on their feet.
• All kindergartners are permitted half an hour each week with either the physical education teacher or the music teacher.
• Your child’s kindergarten may have a progressive entry system; it’s therefore important to fit it into your work schedule.

Scientific review: Marie-Hélène Dufour, Kindergarten Teacher Research and copywriting:The Naître et grandir team Updated: December 2023

Photo : Nicolas St-Germain