Question of the day for preschoolers: Worksheets | Teachers Pay Teachers

the Ultimate Guide – Primary Delight

A Question of the Day can help build reading and math skills during your morning meeting routine. Keep reading to learn how to use a daily questions with your students.

Question of the Day is one of my favorite kindergarten routines. (But it is great for preschool and preK, too.) My students will love answering the questions and finding out more about their friends. And I will love watching them practice their emerging reading and writing skills without realizing it!

What is the Question of the Day?

In this classroom routine, children respond to a daily written question as they enter the room. With early learners, make your questions follow the same pattern for several days and add picture cues. This makes the questions easier for students to read independently. Use high frequency words that you have recently practiced, including those that are phonetically regular.

You can revisit the responses to the questions during math time to practice data analysis and graphing skills.

Teachers often display the questions in a pocket chart, magnetic white board, or even an oil drip pan. As an alternative, the questions can be written on paper and students can sign their name under their response.

Keep reading to learn the following:

• Why is Question of the Day important in preschool and kindergarten?
• What are some good questions of the day?
• How do you fit Question of the Day in your schedule?

Why is Question of the Day important?

This simple routine helps students with reading, writing and math. Students can build oral language and vocabulary skills with carefully selected questions of the day. They also develop early literacy skills and can practice name writing, if they answer on a sign-in sheet. Finally, revisiting the morning questions during math time allows students to use math vocabulary and analyze data.

Reading

This routine helps students understand concepts of print, such as:

• print contains meaning
• print directionality (left to right)
• print tracking 
• 1:1 correspondence with oral and written words

This routine can also help build early reading skills. Create and select questions that match the current reading needs of your students. Questions can focus on high frequency words or particular spelling patterns. For very beginning readers, a series of questions that follow a pattern will be helpful. Match the word choices to students’ needs helps them become independent in the routine while building literacy skills.

Writing

Daily questions allow students to read high-frequency words in a purposeful way.

To encourage name writing practice, you can have your students sign their name under their response. This provides purposeful name-writing practice every day. Once your students are experts at writing their first names, mix it up by having them sign in with last names or initials. (Some days, you might want to sit near the sign in sheet to prompt for proper letter formation, as an added bonus.)

Signing in under the question of the day provides purposeful name writing practice

Math

Question of the Day can support math in several ways. For instance, your students can count the number of responses and compare which response had the most/least answers. The student helper can write the number on each side of the chart, even adding the < or > symbols.

If you use a pocket chart to display the questions and responses, the students’ names cards can be lined up to create a graph, introducing graphing skills in a concrete and meaningful way. When the cards are lined up, students can easily answer questions like “Which response had more/less?” and “How many more/less?” You can also incorporate other math vocabulary such as “most” or “least.”

The cards in the pocket chart make an easy-to-read graph

What are some good questions of the day?

One of the trickiest parts about the question of the day is coming up with the perfect (or almost perfect) daily question. Here are a few fun question of the day ideas:

• connect to things you are learning about (all about me, seasons, holidays, etc. )
• keep the questions simple and repetitive for younger students
• start with yes/no questions
• eventually, branch out to questions with 2-3 choices (Do you like to swing or run?)
• in kindergarten, your questions might start to follow your phonics progression (CVC words, etc.)

Some sample question patterns include:

• Do you like red? (and other colors)
• Do you have J or j in your name?
• Do you like to play (game/sport)?
• Do you like (food)?
• Can you (hop, jump, ride a bike)?

If coming up with a daily question feels too overwhelming, I created pre-made questions with you in mind! There are a variety of themes (generic questions, holidays, colors, letters, science, and more.) And they are made for a pocket chart, signing in, or just to place on a ring and read aloud daily. (They do take a bit of time to cut out – but it’s a perfect task for a parent volunteer. Once they’re cut out, you can re-use them year after year. )

Want to try some pre-made questions with your class? Get 30 FREE questions about hobbies and activities here.

When Do Students Answer the Question of the Day?

Teachers use these graphing questions at various times during the day. You can use it as a way for your students to check in and do attendance, so it’s one of their morning jobs. (See my post about soft starts to the day to see how I handle morning jobs.) Your students can then discuss the responses during our morning meeting.

Question of the Day can also be a great start to the math lesson. Students can respond to the question earlier in the day or as they transition to math. Or you can simply revisit the responses during math to practice counting, comparing and graphing.

No matter when you choose to incorporate Question of the Day into your daily routines, I think you will find it to be a rich and rewarding activity for students.

Questions of the Day featured in this post:

• The Whole School Year
• CVC Words
• Color Words
• Letter Names
• FREE set: Hobbies

You might also like:

• Displaying and Organizing the Question of the Day
• Creating a Soft Start to the School Day
• 45 Morning Meeting Activities for Kindergarten
• Classroom Routines to Help Fight Morning Chaos
• Using a Question of the Day on Seesaw

100+ Fun Questions of the Day for Students to Use All School Year

Who would win in a battle: a bear with fins or a shark with paws? Nothing quite starts an exciting morning conversation like trying to answer that one!

If you’re a teacher, you can greatly appreciate how a fun question of the day for students can help light up a room full of students, especially when they go back to school.

In this blog post, we’ve compiled more than 100 questions of the day that are perfect conversation starters for elementary school and high school students.

Use this list from the first day of school all school year long and never scramble for morning meeting icebreaker questions again.

Plus, at the end of this page, you can download a free printable PDF of every fun question of the day to keep handy at your desk.

Favorite thing questions

Sharing favorites is a simple way to for getting to your your students, and have your students get to know each other!

They’re especially great for elementary school students.

1. What is your favorite book? Why?
2. What is your favorite movie? Why?
3. What is your favorite subject? Why?
4. What is your favorite flavor of chips? Why?
5. What is your favorite genre of music? Why?
6. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Why?
7. Where is your favorite place in the world? Why?
8. What is your favorite part of where you live? Why?
9. What is your favorite sport to play or watch? Why?
10. What’s your favorite thing to do with friends? Why?
11. What is your favorite game to play with friends? Why?
12. What is your favorite type of weather (or season)? Why?
13. Think about the teacher who has been your favorite so far. Why?
14. What are your family’s favorite pastimes? Which ones are your favorite?
15. What’s your favorite family tradition for a holiday or other special occasion? Why?

Morning questions for students

Start your morning with stimulating questions that get students talking!

1. What would you want your superpower to be? How would you use it?
2. What rule do you think everyone in the world should have to obey? Why?
3. What special skills do you have? How could you teach them to other people?
4. What are three things that kids can do to help make the world a better place?
5. If you made up a new board game, what would it be like? How would people play it?
6. What three words best describe your personality? Why did you pick each of these words?
7. When you feel angry or upset, what do you do to help yourself feel better? Does it always help?
8. What does joy feel like? How would you describe joy to someone who has never experienced it?
9. If you decided to write a book, what would it be about? How would you make it interesting to readers?
10. What do you wish your friends would say to you so that you would know for sure that they really like you?
11. What items that are in your room at home could you use to build a fort? Describe how you’d put it together.
12. What is something that you thought you could not do then found out that you really could do it? How did you feel when that happened?

Would you rather questions for kids

Sometimes the best way to get kids to answer questions is to ask them to choose between two things. To get them thinking, follow-up by asking them to explain their choice.

1. Would you rather eat a banana or a carrot? Why?
2. Would you rather be a unicorn or a dinosaur? Why?
3. Would you rather have a cat or a fish as a pet? Why?
4. Would you rather travel by train or by airplane? Why?
5. Would you rather play at a park or in your yard? Why?
6. Would you rather ride a bicycle or go roller skating? Why?
7. Would you rather eat rotten eggs or drink sour milk? Why?
8. Would you rather wear a t-shirt or a button-down shirt? Why?
9. Would you rather visit every country or fly to outerspace? Why?
10. Would you rather go to the doctor’s or the dentist’s office? Why?
11. Would you rather eat pizza or scrambled eggs for breakfast? Why?
12. Would you rather live in a tree house or an underground cave? Why?
13. Would you rather to take a trip to the mountains or to the beach? Why?
14. Would you rather grow wings to fly or gills to breathe underwater? Why?
15. Would you rather clean your room or wash the dishes after dinner? Why?
16. Would you rather have superhuman speed or superhuman strength? Why?
17. Would you rather sleep late every day or get up early every morning? Why?
18. Would you rather have vegetables or flowers growing out of your head? Why?
19. Would you rather snore while you’re awake or dream while you’re awake? Why?
20. Would you rather take an afternoon nap or spend all afternoon playing outside? Why?
21. Would you rather have to dye your hair ten different colors or go completely bald? Why?
22. Would you rather create a new popular toy, video game or popular television show? Why?
23. Would you rather never have to do chores or never have to go to school for the rest of your life? Why?
24. Would you rather be best friends with your favorite YouTuber or best friends with your favorite singer? Why?
25. Would you rather be forced to say everything that was on your mind or to never speak unless someone spoke to you?

Questions about students’ school days

Do you ever get discouraged or frustrated when students give one-word answers like “good” or yup”?

Open-ended questions of the day like the ones below are a fun way to help kids — especially middle school and high school students — go deeper.

Try them out! Students do get excited about what they’re learning. Sometimes you just need to reframe the questions to get more detailed answers.

1. Do you prefer in-person learning or remote learning? Why?
2. What would your campaign motto be if you ran for class president?
3. If you were in charge of the school schedule, what would you change?
4. Which part of the school day is your favorite? Why do you like it so much?
5. What’s the most interesting thing you learned in school today (or this week)? Why?
6. Have you ever witnessed bullying in school? What happened? How did it make you feel?
7. What is the best part about working on group projects at school? Why do you enjoy this?
8. Do you think the school day should be longer or shorter than it is, or is it just right? Why?
9. What three things would you change if you were in charge of improving your school? Why?
10. If you were a teacher, and the kids in your class would not listen to you, what would you do?
11. What is the most difficult part of working with a group or team at school? How do you cope?
12. What subject in school do you like the least? What is it about that subject that you don’t like?
13. If you could choose the uniforms that students wear at your school, what would they look like?
14. If you could start a club at school, what would the theme be? Describe what club members would do.
15. If you were in charge of the lunch menu in the school cafeteria, what would you add or remove? Why?
16. What have you learned in school that your parents didn’t already know? How could you explain it to them?

Social-emotional learning questions for students

Sprinkle these questions throughout your year to promote a healthy social-emotional learning environment.

1. What would your perfect after-school playdate be like?
2. What is the nicest thing a classmate has said to you? How did you respond?
3. Who is your best friend? What is it about that person that you like the most?
4. What would be your ideal birthday celebration? Describe what it would be like.
5. Have you ever felt left out by your siblings or the kids at school? What was that like?
6. If a new student joined your class, what could you do or say to help them feel welcome?
7. If someone wants to become your friend, what would be the best way for that person to let you know?
8. If you could spend a day with a character from a book, TV show or movie, who would you choose? Why?
9. Which one of your friends do your parents like the best? What is it about that friend that your parents like?
10. What are the best places for kids your age to make friends other than school? Why are these good options?
11. Have you ever made a special effort to include a classmate with your group of friends? How would you go about doing this?

Questions to ask kids about their family

In a diverse classroom, the concept of “family” carries many connotations, both positive and negative.

So, it’s important to be mindful of your unique group of students before posing a class-wide question that you know might cause discomfort.

1. What is something that makes your family special?
2. What is one “family rule” that you would change if you could?
3. What are some important ways kids can show respect to their elders?
4. If you could choose where your family lived next, what would it be like?
5. Describe spending a perfect day with your family. What would happen?
6. Which of your family members do you want to be like when you grow up?
7. In three words, how do you think your neighbors would describe your family?
8. What can you do to set a good example for younger members of your family?
9. If you could only use three words to describe your family, what words would you pick?
10. In what ways do your parents or other older family members help you to be successful in school?
11. Which family member(s) are you the most like? In what ways are you similar to that relative?
12. How do you show your parents or other grow-ups who take care of you that you appreciate them?
13. What are the most important things adult family members can do to make sure that kids know they are loved?
14. What’s a family rule at your home that everyone has to follow? Do you agree or disagree that it should be a rule? Why or why not?
15. What is a rule that one of your friends has to follow at home that is not a rule in your house? Why do you think their family has that rule?

More fun question of the day for kids inspiration

1. What is the best gift you have ever given?
2. What is the hardest thing about being a kid?
3. When was a time that you felt lucky or blessed?
4. When you you think a person becomes an adult?
5. What five words do you think most describe you?
6. If you knew you could not fail, what would you do?
7. What would you do if you could become invisible for one day?
8. What is something you would like to grow up to be famous for?
9. If you could give one gift to every child in the world, what would it be?
10. Are you a good friend? What makes a good friend? Why do you think so?
11. If you could live in any decade, which decade would you choose to live in?
12. What is the one rule you would make if the whole wide world had live by it?
13. What’s one invention you would come up with to make everyone’s life easier?
14. If you could change the ending of a book, series or movie, how would you change it?
15. If you lost one of your five senses, what do you think would be the hardest thing about it?
16. If you were stuck on a deserted island, what are three things you would want to have with you?
17. If you could meet someone from the past and share a meal with them, who would you choose?
18. How would the world be different if we could understand animals (or they could speak our language)?
19. What do you think will be the most useful when you are an adult based on what you’ve learned so far in life?
20. If you could travel back in time one to five years and visit the younger “you”, what advice would you give yourself?

Keep the list of questions at your desk!

Download the free question of the day for students PDF in one click.

Bonus: randomly generated questions of the day for students

If you go through all of the questions above or simply want to find more, there are some awesome question-of-the-day resources at your fingertips.

To give you an idea of the types of questions you can find using these online tools, we’ve added a list below!

ESL conversation starters

• How do you like to spend your free time?
• What kind of video game system do you have?
• Do you play, or want to learn how to play, any instruments?

Pre-made question wheel

• What are you most afraid of and why?
• Are books a waste of time? Why or why not?
• If you had a time machine, would you go to the past or the future? Why?

Would you rather question generator

• Would you rather wear no underwear or no socks for a year?
• Would you rather have neighbors who were noisy or neighbors who were nosy?
• Would you rather be a multi-millionaire in 1900 or a middle-class person today?

Additional resources for going back to school and beyond

If you loved the questions above to get to know your students better (and to help your students get to know you), you’ll love our other blog posts like brain breaks for kids, icebreaker questions for kids and writing prompts for kids.

You can also check out Prodigy Education’s Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT) page for more freebies and printables like activity calendars, lesson plan templates and more!

Have you tried Prodigy Math or Prodigy English?

They’re fun and engaging game-based learning platforms that help your students love learning! Plus they’re standards-aligned, adaptive and do all the grading for you.

See how it works

Question of the Day: What distance learning will bring schoolchildren to?

Komsomolskaya Pravda

SocietySociety: QUESTION OF THE DAY

16 October 2020 1:02

Some schoolchildren – due to the pandemic – are again being transferred to study “at home”

Question of the day: What will distance learning bring schoolchildren to? : Ekaterina MARTINOVICH

Elena SYRKINA, Chairman of the Council of Parents of the Chelyabinsk Region:

– Everything will end with an even greater stratification of society. Wealthy families will be able to buy a computer for their child and hire a tutor. And the poor will receive assignments from the teacher by “pigeon mail” and complete them to the best of their ability. Parents who are tired after work will yell at their children more often.

Anna, ninth grade student:

– Remote work is not about studying! Impossible to digest properly. Some teachers are not ready for remote work, they just give the material, you understand it yourself, they do not explain it. Technical problems again. In general, the school is better. And more interesting!

Katya LEL, singer:

– This is just the destruction of the education system. Nothing can replace a child’s communication at school with teachers and peers. A child can only receive living explanations from teachers at school.

Vyacheslav NIKONOV, Head of the State Duma Committee on Education and Science:

– Distance learning will bring to . .. ordinary education. As soon as we deal with the pandemic, everyone will return to their desks. I am now forced to transfer my faculty of public administration of Moscow State University to a distance learning and I really miss the students. But health comes first. What is happening now in our education is not the future, it is a forced necessity.

Edgard ZAPASHNY, general director of the Great Moscow State Circus:

– My two daughters (1st and 3rd grade) told me that they don’t like studying at home. They like to collect a portfolio, talk with classmates, teachers.

Valery TRAPEZNIKOV, ex-deputy of the State Duma, turner with 59 years of experience:

– We risk becoming dumb and brutalized. People must communicate with each other, otherwise a disaster. How to remotely train a doctor? Will he also treat remotely without seeing the patient?

Anastasia MELNIKOVA, actress, member of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg:

– My cub is now locked up at home and deprived of much, but if she does not understand something, she can always rewind the tape and listen again. But it is important to transfer only theoretical classes to distance learning: as for practice, this scares me very much.

READ ALSO

4 questions about our children’s studies at the new remote school

Starting next week, unscheduled vacations for Moscow schoolchildren are ending, but not all students will be able to return to their desks due to the ongoing pandemic. Only children from 1st to 5th grade will be engaged in classes according to the usual scheme (details)

Age category of the site 18+

The online publication (website) is registered by Roskomnadzor, certificate El No. FS77-80505 dated March 15, 2021.

I.O. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF THE SITE – KANSKY VICTOR FYODOROVICH.

THE AUTHOR OF THE MODERN VERSION OF THE EDITION IS SUNGORKIN VLADIMIR NIKOLAEVICH.

Messages and comments from site readers are posted without
preliminary editing. The editors reserve
the right to remove them from the site or edit them if the specified
messages and comments are an abuse of freedom
mass media or violation of other requirements of the law.

JSC “Publishing House “Komsomolskaya Pravda”. TIN: 7714037217 PSRN: 1027739295781
127015, Moscow, Novodmitrovskaya d. 2B, Tel. +7 (495) 777-02-82.

Exclusive rights to materials posted on the website
www.kp.ru, in accordance with the legislation of the Russian
Federation for the Protection of the Results of Intellectual Activity
belong to JSC Publishing House Komsomolskaya Pravda, and do not
be used by others in any way
form without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Acquisition of copyright and contact with the editors: [email protected]

Frequently asked questions – MADOU kindergarten No. 3 “Topolek”

Frequently asked questions of parents of preschoolers

Question 1. What program is educational activity children in preschool?

answer: 1 The kindergarten works according to the main educational program of preschool education, the program was developed in accordance with the federal state educational standard for preschool education, based on the exemplary general education program for preschool education “From Birth to School” ed. NOT. Veraksy, T.S. Komarova, M.A. Vasilyeva).
The program is a regulatory document that regulates the organization of the educational process, taking into account its specifics, educational, methodological, personnel and material and technical equipment, and the characteristics of the region. The program ensures the development of the personality of preschool children in various activities, taking into account their age, individual psychological and physiological characteristics. You can get acquainted with all the programs that are being implemented on the website of the institution in the “Education” section.

Question 2. How to prepare a child for kindergarten?

answer: 2 For each parent, it is his child who is the best, the smartest, but now he is sent to kindergarten. Naturally, mom and dad have the first experiences associated with the garden. Usually, the period of adaptation of children to the conditions of the preschool educational institution does not exceed two months. But in order for it to pass without unnecessary shocks, we must try to get rid of traumatic factors as much as possible. Try to bring the child’s home regime closer to the kindergarten regime, instill self-care skills (use the toilet, handkerchief, wash their hands with soap and wash, dress, eat). If you have any questions, please contact our teachers for advice.

Question 3. You can stay away for 3 days without a certificate. What does it mean? 3 consecutive days in a month? Or at least every week for 3 days?

answer: 3 In accordance with the sanitary and epidemiological rules and regulations “After a disease, as well as an absence of more than 3 days (excluding weekends and holidays), children are admitted to preschool organizations only if they have a certificate from the district pediatrician indicating the diagnosis, the duration of the disease, the treatment performed, information about the absence of contact with infectious patients, as well as recommendations on the individual regimen of the convalescent child for the first 10-14 days.

Question 4. Can children bring their own toys to kindergarten?

answer: 4 Children are allowed to bring their own toys with them (if they can be treated with disinfectants), but in this situation, parents should understand that there are many children in the group at the same time who may also want to play with this toy. If the toy is expensive, then it is worth considering that the teacher, assistant teacher and kindergarten administration are not financially responsible for children’s toys brought from home.

Question 5 Should my child be vaccinated against influenza, Corvi?

answer : 5 The argument for vaccination is the risk of exposure to the influenza virus on the child’s immune system and the subsequent aggravation of chronic complications and diseases. The general principle of vaccination is that parts of an antibody of a certain virus are introduced into the body, as a result, the body begins to produce specific antibodies that circulate through the circulatory system, thereby protecting the baby from this virus. There is a chance that a child who has been vaccinated will be able to get any flu, but the disease will be much easier, and the recovery process will be much faster.

Thus, doctors recommend getting vaccinated every autumn, because every year the virus mutates and last year’s vaccination will be an easy barrier to new strains of the virus. It must be remembered that the development of immunity as a result of vaccination will take about a couple of weeks, that is, in the midst of an epidemic, you should not be vaccinated.

Question 6 How long does it take for a child to adapt to kindergarten?

answer: 6 The time for a child to adapt to kindergarten largely depends on the child himself. In addition, the period of adaptation can be influenced by educators, children in the group, and the parents of the child themselves. If all conditions and factors are favorable, then usually complete adaptation occurs in 2-3 months.

Question 7 Can my child be picked up from kindergarten by his minor brother (15 years old)?

answer: 7 No, a minor child cannot be responsible for the life and health of another child.

Questions from parents of prospective first graders

At what age can a child be brought to school?

If on September 1 of the current year your child is at least six and a half years old, and preferably seven. It is at this age that the hand is almost completely formed, which is important for writing. In addition, at six and a half to seven years old, children develop the conceptual apparatus necessary for memorizing and understanding the rules.

What should you pay attention to when preparing your child for school?

First of all, on the ability of the future student to communicate with peers, he will not only have to study in a team, but also interact with it. A child in the family should have his own small responsibilities. This forms a sense of responsibility to society – family, class. In addition, the future first-grader must master self-care skills: wash, change and put on shoes without outside help, keep their belongings in order.

Should a prospective first grader be able to read by the time they enter school?

Of course not! In preparing for school, more important than the skill of reading is teaching the child to understand the text read, to analyze, and to answer questions about the text. Read together good kind fairy tales, stories about nature and animals. Play with words: name words starting with a certain letter or those in which it occurs, make words from given letters, divide words into syllables or sounds.

Is there homework in Grade 1?

No homework in 1st grade. However, if you want to develop high-quality writing, reading, and counting skills in your child, then do not refuse the training exercises that the teacher can offer – no one has yet been able to learn how to swim in the bath.

What are the criteria for grades in Grade 1?

First grade uses a gradeless learning system that was designed to reduce the amount of stress a child has. Evaluation still exists, but it is self-evaluation. Did I complete the task? What needs to be done to solve it correctly? The child learns to evaluate himself and others. The system of “rulers and traffic lights” as if compares the child with himself. Yesterday he could not do the task like this, but today it is already better. Advice to parents of first graders: do not get hung up on the scoring system.

For parents about internal regulations

Kindergarten works according to a strictly defined schedule from 7.30 to 17.30, Saturday, Sunday. On holidays established by the Government of the Russian Federation, the kindergarten does not work. On a holiday day, in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the working day is reduced by 1 hour.

In our kindergarten there are no restrictions on the time of admission of the child, but please remember that morning exercises, breakfast and other activities start from 08. 00, and 09.00 – classes. Most of the active educational activity falls on the first half of the day. You can find out the details of regime moments from your teacher and in the information corners.

Don’t forget to call the teacher or head of the kindergarten if your child is ill or you cannot bring him/her for any reason. You are required to call once, and the teacher is forced to make several calls, distracted from the children, in order to find out why the children were not brought.

Rules of conduct for parents in kindergarten

* Do not scare your child with kindergarten when he does not obey you. Kindergarten is not a correctional institution, but a house of kindness, care and love.

* Be polite. When you arrive in the morning, greet the kindergarten staff, especially the teachers, because every day they replace your child’s mom and dad.

* Actively participate in kindergarten life, creating an emotionally favorable environment in the group, developing environment in the group and on the site of the kindergarten (buildings, flower beds, sandboxes – in summer, slides and ice figures, snow removal – in winter), because educators are fragile women and all this is beyond their power .

* Pay attention to the information, , which is in the reception of your group. In it you will find a lot of useful things for yourself in raising children, as well as information about your child’s life in a group: the content of the program that the group works on, daily routine, class schedule, announcements, menus.

* Ask teachers more often about the successes and failures of your child , and not just about those who offended him or what he ate today.

* Try to know by face and by name all the specialists working with your child, in order to contact them with any problems you have in raising and educating your child, in order to teach the child to etiquette from an early age, discussing with him his life in kindergarten.