Plugged-In Kindergarten Teacher

There are three instructors in the sunny, pleasant kindergarten at Paine Elementary School in Yorba Linda.

One is teacher Michelle Prentice-Smith. Another is her aide, Betty Trachsel. And the third is a small computer in a corner of the room.

On Monday, the 29 kindergarten children were using the computer to learn how to type their names. “The children love it,” Prentice-Smith told a class visitor.

“These children have grown up with television, so they certainly have no fear of machines.

“And computers are friendly teachers. They don’t make a face or give bad body language if a child makes a mistake, but they do give instant gratification if the child performs correctly.”

The kindergarten classroom is arranged so that the computer is separated by shelves and other furniture from the rest of the room.

“This is what we call a work space,” said Principal Audell Jackson. “This way some students can work at the computer without distracting the others.”

While individual students went to the computer work station Monday morning, the rest of the children in the class sat at their little desks and colored drawings of an animated computer screen. “The drawings also were printed by the computer,” Prentice-Smith said.

Teacher aide Trachsel sat beside the computer in the work station area. “It’s my turn,” said a blue-eyed little girl.

Trachsel guided the little girl’s fingers to the computer keyboard. “Type your name and then press the return key,” Trachsel said .

The little girl looked at the keyboard. She quickly found, and typed, the letters for her first name: M - e-g-a-n . As she started to type her last name, Trachsel said: “You have to use the space bar first.” Megan thus discovered that in typing words, a blank, or space, must go between each word. She hit the space bar and then typed out her last name: C - o - o-k .

Following instructions, she then hit the key with a star on it: the return, or activator, key. Magical things began happening on the screen, and the 5-year-old’s blue eyes twinkled with delight.

In glowing colors, the computer screen started spelling out Megan Cook , and as a soft, carnival-like musical jingle played, the name Megan Cook moved up and down the screen. No Broadway star on opening night could have more enjoyed seeing her name in lights.

“I like the different colors,” said Megan, with a shy smile, as her name continued to move up, down, backwards, forwards and sideways on the computer screen.

Prentice-Smith, who was watching from a distance, confided to a visitor: “The children think it’s great to see their names. This not only teaches them how to spell, but it also increases their self-esteem. Their names are right up there in lights!”

Michael Kennedy, 5, watched his classmates work on the computer and summed up why he liked the machine: “You can put something in it,” he said. “And you push some buttons.”

Kevin Stigerts (“I’m 5 1/2 and soon will be 6”) looked at the computer with a bright smile. “You can still work on it while you’re watching it make things,” he exclaimed. “The fun part is where it goes all over the place.”

Tiny Melissa Vincent, 4 1/2, shyly explained why she liked the computer: “ ‘Cause it does funny things.”

Bryon Brooks, 4 1/2, was mystified when he started typing his name. The letter b kept sputtering and repeating: b-b-b-b . “Why did it do that?” asked Bryon. “Because you had your finger on the key too long,” Trachsel said. Bryon smiled at her and giggled loudly at his mistake.

Yorba Linda School District Supt. Mary Ellen Blanton, who was visiting the kindergarten session, said all classes in all schools in the district now offer computer training. “Our district was the only one in Orange County that got a districtwide grant from the state’s new technology-incentive program,” she said. “Our grant was $36,000, and for a district like ours, with only four schools, that helps a lot.”

Computer-Literacy Standard

Blanton said that since the district starts children off at the kindergarten level with computers, they are very experienced by the time they reach the sixth grade. “Our sixth-grade students will be able to pass the computer-literacy requirement that is required for high school students,” she said. “They’ll get that out of the way before they go into high school.”

Blanton said that computers don’t supplant the three Rs but are merely useful teaching aids. “In no way does our use of computers downplay the need to read,” she said.

And in Paine School’s kindergarten, for all its students’ fascination with the computer, the magic of books was nonetheless evident.

After a recess, the children sat in a semicircle and Prentice-Smith began to read a story. Dreamy smiles formed on row after row of little faces.

Using their own minds to imagine scenes and images, the children were learning that computer screens or TV screens aren’t necessary to enjoy a good story.

Blanton said in summary: “We think reading and use of computers can be complementary.”