It’s September 1 and with the beginning of a new school year a common dilemma confronts many parents of Kindergarten students. Is my child ready? A child may be five years old by the legal cut-off date for school entrance, but is starting Kindergarten now the right decision for every child who meets the age requirement?

Parents shouldn’t make decisions for children based on personal greed, vicariously living their child’s life, or on adult peer pressure. Desiring the brightest child in the class, longing for the best athlete in the class, or pushing a child solely to “keep up with the Jones” does no child any good. When considering what’s best for a child, parents should remember three guiding principles to help ensure their child’s success:

1. Know the child, not just what the child knows: Recognize and understand natural developmental behaviors in a variety of situations.

2. Know the program: Beyond the specific academic demands, know what behaviors will be expected of the children in the program as well as what the program offers in terms of play time, social-emotional development, parent involvement, and more.

3. Know that every child is in a constant process of growth and development: Respect and cherish each stage of a child’s development, and be informed about developmentally appropriate expectations for the individual child.

Children should not have to bounce around from program to program to find the right fit. There already exists a growing epidemic of preschool expulsion, in large part due to a disconnect between developmental behavior, expectations, and proper supports in the classroom. Parents and teachers can and should be working together to understand the individual child, and to provide the best possible Kindergarten experience for every child.

Kindergarten Program Overview

The purpose of the overview is to give you a general understanding of the major curricular areas and to give insight into the general instructional focus at the kindergarten level. We strive to help students make connections across curricular areas to provide experiences that stimulate learning in all developmental areas- physical, social, emotional and intellectual- through an integrated approach to learning. We hope you find this overview helpful. Please contact the teacher or administration if you have any questions.

Language Arts & Reading:

The art of reading, writing, listening and speaking are fundamental to all learning and are integrated throughout the curriculum. The curriculum entails a variety of programs, materials, and activities to help build a solid foundation in literacy.

Letters and Sounds: Develop fluency in letter and sound recognition.
– Identify all 26 upper and lowercase letters
– Relate letter to their sounds.
– Identify the beginning sound when given a word.

Phonemic Awareness: Ability to isolate, segment, blend and manipulate sounds in words.
– Rhyme orally
– Clap 1,2 and 3 syllable words
– Understand that words are made up of sounds
– Blend phonemes (sounds) into spoken words. Ex: (b) (a) (t)= bat
– Segment phonemes (sounds) into spoken words. Ex: bat= (b) (a) (t)

Reading: Learning beginning reading skills for enjoyment and information.
– Track print from left to right
– Understand that words convey meaning
– Recognize a word and understood that words are made up of sounds
– Introduce high frequency and sight words.

– Participate in a variety of reading formats such as read aloud, guided reading, and:
1. — independent reading,
2. — shared reading,
3. — choral reading.

– Introduce reading and comprehension strategies.

Writing: Begin the writing process for a variety of authentic purposes.
– Prints first and last name.
– Records thoughts and ideas by drawing and phonetic based writing.
– Expand written vocabulary.

Listening and Speaking: Listen and express thoughts and ideas in an appropriate, meaningful manner.

Mathematics:
The primary goal of the mathematics program is developing an individual’s ability to creatively explore, reason, analyze, and solve a wide range of problems. This requires instruction where a variety of mathematical methods are emphasized to provide a foundation for future math success.

Numbers and Numeration:
– Counting by 1’s to 100 and coating forwards by 2’s, 5’s, and 10’s
– Counting 20 or more objects
– Counting backwards by 1’s
– Estimate number of objects
– Develop an understanding of place value
– Compare and order whole numbers up to 20
– Print numerals 0-20
– Identify numerals 0-50
– Ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and last)
– Name Collections (a name collection for the number 5 may included, 2+3, 4+1, 5 tally
marks, a nickel, 5 apples)

Operations and Computation:
Use manipulatives, number lines, and mental math to solve simple addition and subtraction problems.

– Identify addition and subtraction problems
Data Collection and Interpretation:
– Collect and organize information by using tally marks and graphs
– Use graphs to answer simple questions

Measurement and Reference Frames:
– Use nonstandard tools and standard measuring tool
– Identify pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and dollar bills
– Begin to measure time, volume, length, weight, and temperature

Geometry:
Identify and describe plane and solid figures including circles, triangles, squares, rectangles, spheres, and cubes
– Identify shapes having line symmetry

Patterns, Functions, and Algebra:
– Identify and produce 4 patterns (AB, ABB. AAB, ABC)
– Read and write number sentences using the symbols +,-, and =

Science:
The science curriculum is hands-on, open-ended and sequential process of investigating the biological and physical world.

Physical Science: Hot and Cold
– Introduce various kinds of thermometers
– Use a thermometer as an accurate method of measuring temperature
– Explore what cause the temperature of a thermometer to change
– Become aware of three different ranges of temperature: hot, cold and tepid (warm)
– Compare ranges of temperature

Life Science:
– Explore various life cycles
– Discover the conditions necessary for growth and development
– Explore the world of several types of animal
– Recognize the five sense and their function
– Explore each sense in great depth to better learn their role
– Become aware of everyone’s unique physical characteristics in relation to the five senses
– Develop the realization that the five senses help individuals learn about the world around them

Social Studies:
The social studies curriculum is designed to develop a child’s awareness of their place and relationship to the world around him/her. Children explore their sense of self and how they can relate to people and places in their life.

Culture: Families and Friends
– Groups and leaders
– Roles of people at home and school
– Rules at home and school

Geography and Economics: A Big Wide World
– Seasons
– People, places and jobs
– Celebrations and traditions

History: Long Ago and Today
– Calendar Concepts
– Transportation
– Change over time
– Historical figures

Citizenship: Our Country, It’s a Great Place
– Leaders and Heroes
– National Symbols

Our goal is to create a unique partnership of students, staff, families and community, is to ensure each student develops the capacity to thrive as a successful contributing citizen by providing exemplary educational experiences in a safe, caring and responsive learning environment.

NOTE: We only enroll 8 students in the class.