While kindergarten is meant to be a gentle, low-stress introduction to formal schooling, it’s a critically important milestone for little learners, who are developing at an astounding pace.

Parents visiting their children’s kindergarten class for the first time may think they’ve arrived at the wrong room, especially if they expect it to resemble the kindergarten they attended as ...

In the not-too-distant past, the kindergarten classrooms at Pleasant Grove Elementary in Heflin, Ala., looked much the same as classrooms for older children. Desks were arranged in rows. Children ...