Kindergarten Curriculum
ELA
Children receive instruction in reading, sight words, phonics, grammar, handwriting, and writing. They are given daily reading and writing practice, including time to explore books on their own and develop a love of reading. Several works of literature are incorporated into the program and used to extend the students’ knowledge of vocabulary, story elements, and language. A class favorite is Jan Brett’s “The Mitten”. Students love to retell the story using our class mitten and animals! Benchmark assessments are done at the beginning and mid-quarter to determine any individual student needs.
Math
This curriculum focuses on mastery of numbers through 100. Children learn counting, 1 to 1 correspondence, base 10 system concepts, addition and subtraction concepts, geometry, and measurement. Students always explore new concepts with manipulatives and hands on activities. Benchmark assessments are done at the beginning and mid-quarter to determine any individual student needs.
Social Studies
The curriculum focuses on community. Children delve into questions like “How do people best cooperate?” and “How is culture shared?”. This curriculum provides many opportunities for children to make connections to self and analyze how they can contribute to their home and classroom communities and beyond. We also take some time to learn about many of the different holidays that we observe, like Veterans Day, Groundhog Day, and Memorial Day.
Science
Kindergarten participates in several thematic science units, including oceans, life cycles (apples, pumpkins, insects), 5 senses, animals in winter, dental health, weather, plants, rainbows, and nutrition. Children develop a basic understanding of the scientific method, and conduct experiments with every unit as a class, group, or individual. Children learn to ask questions and use resources to explore the world around them. We love to complete STEM activities to build our problem solving and collaborative learning skills. We have a monthly “STEM day” that focuses on these skills, in addition to incorporating them into our everyday learning. A highlight of the year is always our life cycle unit, when we get to have real caterpillars, ladybugs, and tadpoles to observe!
Religion
This curriculum takes them through key Bible stories in the Old Testament, such as creation, Noah’s ark, and the journey of the Israelites. It moves on to the New Testament with a focus on Jesus’s life from birth to ascension. Children experience these Bible stories in many ways, including puppets, crafts, and dramatic play. The children memorize Scripture verses with motions and songs as a class.