If you’re a few weeks into the school year and suddenly Googling kindergarten classroom management strategies because everything that seemed to be working during the first week isn’t working quite as well anymore, you’re not alone.
Maybe the routines you practiced are starting to get sloppy. Your students are talking more, calling out, or testing limits. Cleanup is taking forever, the line you practiced approximately 4,000 times is falling apart, and you’re repeating directions you swear these same students were following just fine last week.
It’s really easy to reach this point in the school year and start questioning your entire classroom management plan. Do you need a new behavior system? Stronger consequences? More rewards? Were you not strict enough at the beginning of the year?
Before you throw out everything you’ve been doing and start over, there’s something important to remember: your students are getting more comfortable.
In this episode of The Kindergarten Toolbox Podcast, we’re talking about why kindergarten behavior can suddenly feel harder a few weeks into the school year and what you can do when it feels like the classroom management strategies that were working suddenly aren’t.
Think about what the first few days of kindergarten feel like for your students. Many of them are walking into a brand-new school experience. They don’t know you yet, they don’t know their classmates, and they aren’t quite sure what’s going to happen next.
They’re taking it all in.
Fast forward a few weeks and things are very different. They know you. They’ve made friends. They know where the bathroom is and what happens after lunch. They’re getting comfortable in the classroom, and you’re starting to see more of their actual personalities.
That’s a good thing, but sometimes getting comfortable also comes with more talking, more testing limits, and a little more curiosity about what might happen if they don’t follow a direction right away. They’re real five- and six-year-olds, after all.
The fact that kindergarten behavior feels harder now than it did during the first week doesn’t automatically mean your classroom management system has failed. Instead, your students may be showing you which routines, procedures, and expectations still need more support and practice.
When several behavior problems start happening at once, it’s easy to lump everything together and think, My class is completely out of control.
The problem is that “my class is out of control” doesn’t give you anywhere to start.
Instead of changing your entire classroom management plan, get really specific about what is actually making your day harder.
Maybe coming back from lunch is a disaster, but the rest of the day is going pretty well. Maybe your students can line up, but walking quietly through the hallway is another story. Maybe morning carpet time is fine, but by the afternoon everyone is talking over you. Or maybe centers are running smoothly until it’s time to clean up.
Once you can change “my class never listens” into something specific like “my students are calling out during whole-group lessons,” the problem becomes much more manageable. Now you have a behavior you can actually address.
When it feels like there are seven different things going wrong in your classroom, you don’t have to fix all seven at the same time.
Start with one.
Ask yourself which kindergarten behavior is making your day feel the hardest right now. If that one thing improved, which would make the biggest difference in how your classroom runs?
Then go back and explicitly reteach that expectation.
Yes, even if you already taught it. Yes, even if you practiced it five times. Kindergarten routines aren’t something we teach in August and then check off our list for the rest of the year. Five- and six-year-olds need practice, reminders, and opportunities to revisit expectations when things start to slip.
If lining up is falling apart, practice lining up again. If students are calling out, review and practice what they should do when they have something to say. If cleanup is taking forever, walk through exactly what cleanup should look like.
Reteaching a kindergarten routine doesn’t mean you taught it incorrectly the first time. It means you’re teaching kindergarten.
When classroom behavior starts getting harder, it’s incredibly easy to spend the entire day noticing everything that’s going wrong.
Stop talking. Get back in line. Sit down. That’s not how we use the markers. And, because it’s kindergarten, please stop licking that. š
When all of our attention goes toward the behavior we don’t want, though, we can miss opportunities to reinforce the behavior we actually want to see more often.
Once you’ve chosen the one behavior you’re working on, start looking for students who are meeting that expectation.
If you’re working on walking quietly in the hallway and your students do it, tell them. If you’re practicing raising hands instead of calling out and students remember, notice it. If cleanup was a mess yesterday but everyone puts away their supplies and gets to the carpet today, celebrate that improvement.
Focusing on positive behavior doesn’t mean ignoring behavior problems. It means making sure your students get plenty of attention for doing exactly what you’ve asked them to do, too.
When classroom management feels hard, adding more systems isn’t always the answer.
You don’t necessarily need to start passing out tickets, create a classroom economy, add another consequence, or make an individual behavior chart for every student. Complicated behavior systems are difficult to use consistently, especially when you’re already managing everything else happening in a kindergarten classroom.
Instead, try this:
Pick one behavior, reteach it, and reinforce it consistently.
Keeping your focus narrow gives your students a clear expectation and gives you a manageable place to start. As that behavior improves, you can move on to the next thing your class needs.
Consistency is a huge part of successful kindergarten classroom management. Your students need to learn that expectations don’t change from one day to the next and that when you say something matters, you’re going to keep reinforcing it.
If you want an easy way to reinforce the one behavior your class is working on, I’ve created a free Build-a-Reward Monster that you can use with your kindergarten students.
Your class works together to earn pieces of the monster when they’re meeting the expectation you’ve chosen. Because students can actually see the monster coming together, their progress toward the reward is concrete and easy for five- and six-year-olds to understand.
Choose one behavior your class needs to work on, print and prep your monster, and pick a simple reward your students actually care about. The reward doesn’t have to cost anything. Extra recess, a dance party, extra drawing time, a classroom game, or another special experience can be incredibly motivating for kindergarten students.
Then start looking for the behavior you want to reinforce.
You don’t need to overhaul your entire kindergarten classroom management system. You just need somewhere to start.
If your students seemed to have everything figured out during those first few days of school and now you’re wondering where that class went, don’t immediately assume you need to start over.
Your students are more comfortable now. You’re learning more about them, and they’re showing you which classroom expectations still need some practice.
Make the problem smaller. Choose the behavior that’s having the biggest impact on your day, reteach the expectation, look for your students doing it correctly, and reinforce it consistently.
Kindergarten classroom management doesn’t have to be perfect to get better. Sometimes the simplest place to start is with just one thing.
Want an easy way to put this week’s strategy into practice? Grab the free Build-a-Reward Monster and use it to reinforce one behavior your kindergarten class is working on.
Your students can watch the monster come together piece by piece as they work toward a simple whole-class reward. It’s visual, easy for kindergarteners to understand, and gives you a simple behavior tool you can start using without creating an entirely new classroom management system.
Want more ideas for using whole-class rewards without buying candy, tiny toys, or another bin of prizes? Listen to Episode 33 for simple classroom reward ideas and more about using Build-a-Reward as a visual kindergarten behavior system.
If lining up happens to be the ONE routine making your day harder right now, go back and listen to Episode 22. I’m sharing the simple change I made to our kindergarten line that made a huge difference in my classroom.
Teaching Exceptional Kinders Links and Resources:
The Kindergarten Writing Toolbox
The Kindergarten Management Toolbox
Follow me on Instagram @teachingexceptionalkinders
More about The Kindergarten Toolbox Podcast
Welcome to The Kindergarten Toolbox Podcast, your go-to guide for creating calmer classrooms and more confident writers in the wonderfully unique world of kindergarten.
Iām Amy Murray ā former kindergarten teacher, Type C āorganized-in-pilesā human, and vanilla-latte enthusiast. After years of helping teachers streamline their classroom routines with tips and tools that actually make sense for 5- and 6-year-olds, I created this podcast to support you with the practical strategies youāve been craving.
Each episode is short, actionable, and designed to help you:
ā simplify classroom management
ā reduce behavior chaos with systems that stick
ā teach writing in a way that meets beginning writers where they are
ā build routines that make your day flow
ā use visuals, tools, and expectations that really work in K
Whether youāre a brand-new kindergarten teacher or a seasoned pro looking for clarity and calm, youāll find step-by-step support to help you feel more confident and in control.
Because kindergarten isnāt just the new first grade, itās a world all its own, and you deserve tools that actually work.
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Hereās to calmer days and more confident writers!
