Kindergarten Curriculum
EARLY CHILDHOOD DIVISION CURRICULA2002 - 2003KINDERGARTENTeachers: Amy Carpenter and Maureen Tumenas Our Kindergarten program is based on teaching the whole child: social, emotional, and intellectual. We give each child many opportunities to succeed socially and academically that in turn build self-confidence and self-esteem. Together with the children we work very hard throughout the year to help them develop a sense of respect for one another and their environment. We encourage them to use words, and to cooperate together to solve problems and settle disputes. Kindergarten is structured and organized in a way that allows the children to contribute to and participate in creating a learning environment where they feel comfortable, safe, and happy. We want each child to feel that he or she is an important and special member of the group. Kindergarten is usually the child's first "academic" year. We study many interesting subjects. Our goal is to build an excitement for and love of learning. Again, by offering a variety of activities at various levels, we try to ensure a high success rate. We want children to feel good about taking chances, trying new things, and learning from their mistakes. Our program focuses on the child taking an active role in his/her learning. We try to provide as many hands-on and "real" lessons as possible.
Language Arts: The language arts include reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Practice with each of these processes contributes to the child's whole language development, and they are each given a place in the language arts program. For example:
Our program builds on what the children already know about language in order to ensure success and to develop confidence in them as learners. Throughout the year we introduce or reinforce the letters and the sounds of the alphabet. Songs and poems, as well as phonics workbooks and small teacher-directed groups, help to make this interesting and valuable for the group. We strive to accommodate individual learning styles and promote each child's unique language development by exposing him or her to the variety of approaches and strategies which people use to read and write. We want to convey to children the joy and excitement which literacy brings.
A WRD ABT NVTID SPLG (A Word About Invented Spelling) We encourage children to write independently and approximate spelling as best they can. As young children "invent" the spelling of the words they wish to write, their inventions or approximations are not in standard spelling; rather, they use systems of their own, and they "write what they hear. Through these trials and errors, children's efforts are directed toward learning the details and concepts of print. By inventing how they think words are written, they actively pull together much of their knowledge about language and its mechanics. As we study their invented spellings, we find important information to support our evaluation of each child's progress in developing language concepts. Each child proceeds individually through this gradual process.
Mathematics: The Kindergarten math curriculum is designed to have children appreciate the usefulness of mathematical ideas and skills in everyday life and to help them develop individual strategies for solving problems. We emphasize counting and numeration, not only because children are naturally curious and motivated in these areas, but also because they form the basis for much mathematical understanding. So-called "pre-number" math experiences also contribute to a broad base of understanding. These include patterning, sorting and classifying, comparing and logical thinking, and are significant features in our program. Graphing is a skill practiced throughout the curriculum. Young children especially need to manipulate objects physically as they practice math concepts. In the beginning, each child freely explores all the materials available in the program to determine each material's unique possibilities and limitations, to discover and explore pattern, special relationships, balance, and classification spontaneously. Materials will then be used selectively for learning and practicing math concepts. Among the materials frequently used are pattern blocks, unifix cubes, geoboards, jewels, various kinds of counters, Cuisenaire rods, links and collections.
Science and Social Studies: The children study a variety of different topics in the science and social studies programs. These are selected according to the contributions they make to children's understanding of themselves and their environment. We select topics which inspire an excitement about learning new things and an appreciation of nature. Throughout our studies, we emphasize not only content learning, but also the ideas of organizing and discovering new information. We want the children to feel empowered to ask questions and to look for answers using a variety of resources. We use field trips and area resources to enrich learning experiences and to put them into real life context. Caterpillars and butterflies, pumpkins and bats, the solar system, the ocean, and the African rain forest are some of the topics we will explore this year.
Handwriting: We will introduce the formation of lower case letters as well as the correct way to hold a writing instrument. We will provide activities to help the children use their gross and fine motor muscles. During our handwriting time, children practice the letters in a number of different ways. We learn the sound that a particular letter makes during this time as well.
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