In Kindergarten, we strive to enrich children through a variety of activities that are developmentally appropriate for young learners. We use a combination of hands-on, paper and pencil, direct instruction, small group and large group techniques in an attempt to teach children in a way that is most engaging for them.
Language Arts
A large portion of our day is dedicated to teaching students to read. This includes the pre-reading skills of identifying and making rhyming words, dividing words into syllables, pulling out the initial sounds of words, identifying the letters and the sounds that they make, and speaking in complete sentences. We then move to teaching students reading skills of, tracking print left to right and top to bottom, reading basic sight words, and sounding out words. In addition to students reading, we also share in a large range of read a-loud(s) including big books, trade books, fiction and non-fiction, poems, and chapter books. Through these books we work on story structure and listening comprehension skills. We also incorporate many science and social studies skills.
Math
We also focus a great deal on math skills. Students are given instruction that includes games, songs, and hands-on activities and are then given opportunities to work individually to reinforce the skills. Math skills include recognizing numbers, patterning, comparing numbers and sets, comparing objects, identifying coins and their values, telling time to the hour and half hour, basic addition and subtraction, and understanding a calendar.