Curriculum Highlights: Kindergarten
Language Arts
- Letter recognition (lower & upper case)
- Consonant sounds (digraphs and blends)
- Vowel sounds (short and long)
- Word analysis skills
- Nouns, verbs, pronouns
- Scrambled sentences
- Logical reasoning
- Listening skills
- Dictation
- Pre-decodable and decodable books
- Handwriting
- Junior Great Books
Mathematics
- Numbers, counting and classifying
- Basic geometry
- Measurement
- Estimating and comparing
- Operations
- Patterns
- Functions
- Addition/subtraction facts to 24
- Coins; adding coins
- Clocks; telling time to the hour and half-hour
- Calendars; days, weeks, months, year
- Logic/problem solving
Social Studies
- Self and others
- Family/extended families
- Community helpers
- Pilgrims and Native Americans
- Holidays in our country and other lands
- Rules, laws, introduction to government
- Appreciating others; tolerance of differences
- Developing a sense of culture and differences among people
- Learning to celebrate contributions made by individuals
Science
- Safety
- The five senses
- Living and non-living
- Plants (variety, parts, life cycle)
- Animals (variety, needs, adaptations, habitats, life cycle)
- Food chains
- Water and air
- Magnets
- Rocks
- Frequent hands-on activities/labs
Geography
- Basic map skills and directions
- Location concepts
- Routes and addresses
- Map symbols, keys
- The globe
- Land forms/bodies of water
- Cardinal directions
- Introduction to the United States
Physical Education
- Daily P.E. class
- Fitness and conditioning
- Body control: agility, flexibility, endurance, balance, gross motor coordination, hand-eye coordination, spatial skills
- Movement skills, including dance
- Manipulative activities
- Game skills
- Good health habits: hygiene, diet, safety
- Respect, cooperation, confidence
Visual Arts
- Art class twice weekly
- Exploration of various media, materials, and techniques
- Lines, colors (primary, secondary), patterns
- Drawing and coloring: pencil, eraser, markers, oils, pastels, crayons
- Painting: tempura, watercolors
- Sculpture: playdoh, plasticene, air-drying clay
- Collage: paper, glue, scissors
- Self expression, respect, confidence
- Annual, school-wide art contest
Performing Arts
Music
- Listening to music, differentiating musical sounds
- Rhythm
- Choral speech
- Choral singing
- Foundations of musical literacy
- Basic interpretation
- Instruments: tambourines, triangles, drums, etc.
- Performance: music program twice each year
Drama
- Attendance at dramatic productions
- Speaking role in class play
- Develop acting skills
- Use of costumes and props
- Ensemble/solo singing, choreography
- Public speaking, confidence
Modern/Classical Languages
French
- Listening/comprehension skills
- Pronunciation skills
- Greetings, simple expressions, simple directions
- Alphabet
- Numbers 1 – 30
- Colors
- Animals
- Family members
- Body parts
- Weather/seasons
- Holidays
- Clothing
- French culture
Library
- Respect for and care of books
- Library organization
- Story time/read-alouds
- Fiction and non-fiction
- Genres
- Role of illustrator/author
- Oral book reporting
- Selecting/checking out books
- Book fair
Technology
- Web-connected Star Boards in each classroom
- Rolling laptop cart for classroom computer use
- Basic familiarity with computers
Field Trips
Several field trips per year; recent examples include:
- Petco
- The Puppet Company Playhouse
- Lisner Auditorium
- Hirshorn Sculpture Museum
- National Building Museum
- Natural History Museum
- Burke Lake Park
