Kids First in Goshen County
4/21/15
Those in attendance:
 Cheryl Stoeger & Triana Burrill (Valley Christian School), Linda Cockett & Twila Smith (Even
Start), Cheryl Lapp & Wylie Martinez (First Steps Christian Preschool), and Molly Moorehouse
(Wee Pals)
 GCSD: Cory Gilchriest, Beth Gordon, & Kerry Bullington
Last meeting follow up:
 If we change nothing, nothing will change.
 GCSD has set up a web page for the preschools. This can be accessed through
www.goshen1.org.
 You can access it in two ways:
o 1. Go to the District Offices drop down box and select Pre-school
Click on Preschool
2.
Go to the “Quick Links” on the left side of the screen and click on Pre-school
Click on
Pre-school
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This web page will have a widget for each of the preschools in the county with your contact
information on your widget.
At the present time on the right side of our web page I have the following:
o Meeting Minutes:
 All meeting minutes for the year will be placed here.
o Dates to Remember
 General Reminders for everyone
o Tip of the Week:
 I will add information about child development, kindergarten readiness, health
information, or any other helpful tips.
o We do have a little room for one more widget, so more to come on that one.
Kerry is able to edit as we need to. So if information needs to be updated or changed,
please let her know.
A big thanks goes out to Anna in the Tech office for getting this up and running.
Kindergarten Expectations:
 We took a look at the “Top Ten Essentials” for literacy and Math, and feel like these would be a
great starting point for the preschools. Please remember these objectives are what would be
expected of kindergarteners at the end of their kindergarten year. We need to make sure we
are doing what is developmentally appropriate for preschoolers. If you need help to dial it
down a bit, please let Kerry know.
o Kerry handed out the following:
 Sight words from the Top Ten Essentials for Literacy
 2D & 3D shapes which could be taught in preschool
 All agree using the Fundation chant chart and writing format would be beneficial in preschool.
o Training on this has been requested by the preschools. Kerry will follow up with Mrs.
Halvorson to see if we can come up with a date in August to train preschool staff
 How to properly do the Chant Chart
 How to do the writing format
 How to tap out syllables. (clapping, or using fingers)
o Preschools also thought classroom observations would also be beneficial, so preschool
are using these formats the same way the teachers are. Kerry will follow up with Mr.
Gilchriest and Mrs. Halvorson to see if we can schedule these at the beginning of the
school year.
 Kerry will be working on pre-writing skills with the Occupational Therapists, and will bring this
to the Fundations training in August.
 Molly would like to work on or see a scope and sequence of expectation. Mr. Gilchriest
reported that this is spelled out for Fundations in the instructor material.
Field Trips to Lincoln:
 Kerry would like to thank everyone for their participation. We do understand the difficulty with
transportation and appreciate your commitment for this activity.
 What did you like?
o All the children enjoyed the playground! It was a huge hit.
o It was great to meet the teachers and see the classrooms.
 What would you like to see changed:
o Would it be possible to see the rest of the building and have a longer time for the field
trip?
o Have more consistency it the activities. One preschool what split into two different
groups one got a snack and one did not. Opps!
o Preschool wanted to know if there was a possibility to do activities which would be
different than what the children do in preschool. Let’s table this until next January or
February, we can then brainstorm ideas and come up with some solutions to make it
better.
Transition Meetings:
 Kerry discussed the May 11th date for transition meetings. We discuss having all the preschool
teachers in one group. Everyone had concerns about confidentiality and would rather have a
schedule for each preschool. Kerry will follow up with Mrs. Halvorson and get back to the
preschools with a schedule. Participation in this meeting is voluntary, so Kerry will give each
preschool a call to see if they want to participate.
Training Opportunities:
 Valley Christian teachers have requested a training on the Dial-4 screening tool. Kerry will
complete this training on April 28th at 12:00. Cheryl Stoeger invited other preschools to join the
training at Valley Christian, thank you Valley Christian! Kerry is more than willing to schedule a
time with anyone if they cannot attend next week. STAR hours have been approved.
 Wyoming Early Learning Guidelines/Foundations for children birth to five, though the
University of Wyoming. For more information please contact Kerry.
Summer Idea:
 Kerry will work on a packet of summer idea/activities which parents can use with their children.
Looking Forward
 Developing a Goshen County Kindergarten Transition Plan
 Wait Lists – would it be possible to have one waitlist to share from? Sound like a great
discussion topic.
 Kerry will be attending a meeting in May with other Preschool Liaisons in the State.
Follow up:
 Kerry will follow up with Mrs. Halvorson on a possible training date in August.
 Kerry will follow up with Mrs. Halvorson and Mr. Gilchriest on possible classroom observations
for Fundations and math.
 Pre-writing skills will be ready by our August training.
 Lincoln field trip brainstorming – January or February meeting
 Preschools take a look at the preschool webpage and your widget, if changes need to be
made contact Kerry.
 Kerry will be calling all preschool next week to see if they want to participate in the transition
Meeting on May 11th and schedule those meeting.
Next Meeting:
 August – Date & Time to be announced
Kids First
In
Goshen County
Coming together is a beginning,
Keeping together is progress,
Working together is success!
Henry Ford