KINDERGARTEN CURRICULUM

Five and Six Year Olds: Socially, Intellectually, Emotionally

Kindergarteners play in groups and develop frienships with children of either gender. They communicate their feelings easily and "tattle" frequently. At times, their social behavior becomes aggressive both verbally and physically, though generally their social interaction and cooperation will be good because they seek adult approval.

Reading and writing begins formally. Directions are more explicit and children learn to follow them as they work with the teacher and in small groups. Spatial awareness increases, and these children demonstrate the capacity to wait, understanding the notion that you sometimes defer an act in order to do something else. Kindergarteners speak in full sentences, and their active imaginations lead to artistic and written creations.

Even as kindergarteners begin to develop self-confidence and independence, they rely heavily on adult and peer appproval, and they are sensitive to the feelings of ohers.

compare and order numbers
identify place value to 100
identify ordinal position to tenth
identify a sorting rule
identify and extend patterns
solve routine and non-routine problems
master all basic addition facts and most of the basic subtraction facts
add and subtract two-digit numbers without regrouping
use comparison symbols picture and name fraction
identify a fractional part of a set
measure using inches, feet, and centimeters
compare volume, mass, and area
tell time to the half hour
order events by time
count pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters
identify and draw polygons
identify geometric solids
tally
identify events as certain, likely, or impossible
skip count by 1's, 2's, 5's, 10's
create, read, and write observations from real graphs, pictographs, bar graphs

Phonetic Awareness
Phonetic Blending
Decoding
Word-attack skills
Spelling
Vocabulary
Comprehension skills
Listening and speaking skills and strategies
Writing
Grammar

The teacher will read a variety of books. Using literature across the curriculum provides endless opportunities for children to learn. Both descriptive language and a range of illustrations are two ways for children to grasp abstract concepts and turn them into concrete ones. Books that bring multicultural perspectives to the classroom will also be read.

A small sampling of books is as follows:

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain
It Looked Like Spilt Milk
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
It's Hard to Be Five
Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type
Chrysanthemum
Anabelle Swift Kindergartener
I Have a Friend
When I Feel Angry
The Very Busy Spider

Books chosen are used in a variety of methods. Books will also be read for the shear pleasure of hearing a story, as well as gaining comprehension.

Learning to work together

Considering the rights of others
Participating in centers
Using literature to examine behavior and consequences

Community

Investigating the school and neighborhood, including transportation, buildings and human activities
Acquiring information through a variety of methods including field trips

Reaching out to times past

Compare to children in literature about the past
Developing historical empathy by comparing and contrasting

Block Printing: traditional method

Students will learn about the following topics and investigate through labs:

Trees
Animals
Paper and Wood

VII. French
VIII. Music and Music Appreciation
IX. Art and Art Appreciation
X. Physical Education

Physical Fitness Development
Aerobic Training
Strength Development
Circuit training
Sports and Games

Flag Football
Volleyball
Basketball
Hockey
Ultimate Frisbee
Softball
Sportsmanship: Team Effort and Fair Play
Olympic Games Week

Sportsmanship: Team Effort and Fair Play
Olympic Games Week

Project Wisdom