Readiness, Instruction, and Learning to be a Kindergartner

As children enter school they learn to take on the role of student. This qualitative study describes how the children in one classroom learned what it meant to be a kindergartner in the context of a community meaning of readiness for school. Analysis of classroom observations and parent, teacher, and student interviews indicate that this school community held a coherent meaning of readiness. This meaning provided the framework for instructional activities and served to help parents understand their children as students. Finally, it helped to frame students' interpretations of their first public school experience through their involvement in classroom tasks.