Kindergarten

grapheme (or written representation). In the second half of the year, students focus on the physical aspects of writing and letter formation using the Handwriting Without Tears program. Students work on implementing proper writing habits such as pencil/crayon grip, top-to-bottom habits, capital letter formation, and body awareness. Number sense and recognizing math in the world around us are skills that students practice throughout the school day in daily activities, such as recognizing shapes and patterns in our environment, identifying the numbers on the calendar, counting out our snacks, and sorting classroom materials. During their weekly visit to the library, students develop their comprehension and early literacy skills through stories, songs, flannel-boards, and crafts. Each week students participate in creative drama, French or Spanish, library, music, physical education, religion, and science. Students also engage in read alouds, conversation, and activities that aim to increase awareness and grow in their basic understanding of identity and diversity, as well as beginning to develop a shared language when discussing similarities and differences. Students engage in outdoor play every day, and our learn-to-swim program is held weekly at our Athletics and Wellness Center. In Junior Kindergarten, swim instructors expand on safety and survival skills in the pool to include basic propulsion through the water. In the afternoons, students will have the opportunity to participate in a range of activities, including sports, dance, arts & crafts, drama, legos, etc.

The Kindergarten program develops a child’s sense of confidence as an active learner and member of the school community. Each child learns to assume responsibility, master skills, and solve problems. The classroom environment stimulates students’ natural sense of wonder and curiosity through opportunities for fun, friendship, vigorous activity, adventure, and quiet reflection. A rich and varied curriculum—including language arts, mathematics, and social studies—supports and promotes students’ intellectual development. Students also participate in weekly classes in art, creative drama, French or Spanish, library, music, physical education, Positively Me!, religion, and science.

Language Arts

Each child builds her early literacy skills in an environment rich with opportunities for direct instruction, individual practice, and exposure to a diversity of texts from authors such as Ezra Jack Keats and Grace Lin. Students participate daily in lessons from Wilson’s Fundations program for instruction in phonics, as well as read 1:1 with their teacher each week so every child can be met right where she is in her reading journey. Students also listen to stories and learn poems to strengthen their ability to empathize, to express their feelings, and to use their imaginations. Students regularly sing and rhyme to hone their word patterning skills. By the end of Kindergarten, children are exposed to blending, segmenting, and manipulating sounds, as well as tapping out and spelling three-sound short vowel words.

Students start the year in writer’s workshop by learning that when they write, they are telling a story. They then learn to draw pictures and label their pictures using inventive spelling. This leads to a study of sentence writing with the understanding that a sentence is a complete thought. In Kindergarten, that thought grows from a couple of words on a page to sentences that include details and extenders such as ‘because.’ Students learn proper uppercase and lowercase letters and punctuation. Throughout the course of the year, students also participate in shared letter writing in which the teacher models these sentence structures and introduces new vocabulary. In addition, students practice D’Nealian handwriting.

Mathematics

Using Singapore Math strategies, students develop mathematical understanding in stages, beginning with the concrete (using hands-on manipulatives), then moving to the pictorial (solving problems with pictures), and finally working into a greater understanding of the abstract (the most efficient “traditional” methods of using symbols). Through this process, students learn a variety of strategies to deepen their understanding of numbers. They build number sense through part-part-whole thinking and begin to understand place value. They also begin basic computation skills in addition and subtraction, as well as learn concepts in time, measurement, and money. The math program is supplemented with Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics.

Social Studies

The Kindergarten social studies program focuses on the child as an individual, her family, and her class at school. At the beginning of the year, students celebrate their individual “personality boxes” by sharing with their peers what makes them unique. The goal of this unit is for students to continue to grow their sense of self, as well as continue to develop a shared language when discussing similarities and differences. Lessons are supplemented