EARLY CHILDHOOD

EARLY CHILDHOOD: Beginners & Kindergarten

INTRODUCTION

Learning begins in moments of connection, whether connecting with a friend, a material, an idea or a subject. At Country School, we value time spent on ensuring that children feel connected. We take time to get to know each other and to establish routines and rhythms. Every child is known, seen, heard and valued. When children feel that connection, they feel safe to take risks and navigate into spaces in which they feel less certain.

Children in the Early Childhood Program are viewed as competent, capable and creative contributors and seen as active participants in the learning process. Our curriculum is deliberately designed to stretch each student and offer children opportunities to innovate,

create and play together within a community of learners. When children are encouraged to explore possibilities in one discipline, such a mindset finds its way into other moments—in

language arts, math, science and music.

Connecting ideas, possibilities, thoughts and understanding; connecting people, experiences, hopes and dreams—that is what we do in the Early Childhood Program each and every day. This intentional foundation cultivates the dispositions of a future Country School graduate—a creative, curious, resilient risk-taker who is ready to embrace the engaging and challenging curriculum ahead.

Beginners

Language Arts

The Beginners’ Language Arts curriculum supports the development of emerging literacy skills, particularly oral language. Literacy develops in young children when they have opportunities to communicate and become engaged members of a classroom. Beginners experience language through authentic and meaningful interactions designed to accommodate varying developmental levels. Students experience a print-rich environment that cultivates interest in language and words. With teacher modeling through charts, stories, songs, poetry and messages, students are supported and encouraged to dictate stories as well as to form, draw, copy and trace letters of the alphabet. They learn to be part of a respectful audience by listening to their peers share personal items, anecdotes and stories. Oral language is further developed when students generate thoughtful questions and answers related to literature and suggested topics. To build the underpinnings of beginning reading skills, children develop an ear for discriminating sounds through rhyme and alliteration, and by exploring letter sounds and symbols through games and direct instruction. Children also listen to a daily interactive read-aloud, which supports vocabulary development and comprehension skills.

Social Studies

Social studies in the Beginners’ classroom is designed to foster an inclusive learning community where children develop a sense of self and an awareness of others. Teachers facilitate this growth through read-aloud, discussions and collaborative projects. The children explore the workings of their school environment to gain an understanding of their place in the broader campus community.

Mathematics

The Beginners mathematics curriculum draws upon the child’s natural curiosity about the world. Teachers design lessons for children to explore mathematical concepts and skills through relevant and meaningful activities. Using hands-on manipulatives, games and real-life experiences, children are introduced to and explore the concepts of numeracy, geometry, measurement and algebraic thinking. Problem-solving and reasoning skills are developed through questions intended to spark conversation among the children.

Science

Children are born scientists, driven by their curiosity to explore and discover. They learn through direct experiences in which they can form ideas, test them, see the results, revise their ideas and try again. In the Exploratory Lab, children interact with blocks, ramps, sand, water and wind. They are encouraged to experiment, notice cause and effect, and problem solve. In this way, a foundational understanding of the concepts of force, motion and gravity evolves. Children are introduced to various substances. They observe, question, hypothesize and learn to classify materials by state of matter: solid, liquid or gas. An understanding of the natural world is formed with direct observation and hands-on experiences. Children observing mealworms and caterpillars over time are introduced to the concept of metamorphosis. By interacting and caring for the variety of animals and plants in our building, children begin to understand the needs of living things.

World Languages

Beginners are introduced to Spanish words and phrases in meaningful and contextual ways through interactive and joyful lessons that include songs, books, games, role-play and conversation.

Kindergarten

Language Arts

Kindergarten Language Arts fosters a love of literature and supports children as they grow more confident as readers, writers, speakers and listeners. Our curriculum is designed in a systematic and sequential way to develop the foundational skills essential for the child to become an independent reader. Starting in Kindergarten, we use a Balanced Reading Approach focusing on read-aloud, shared reading, word work, guided reading, shared writing, and writing workshop.

The interactive read-aloud by the teacher exposes children to rich vocabulary, sophisticated sentence structure and an appreciation for engaging literature. During this time, Kindergarteners hear how a fluent and expressive reader sounds, and develop their phonological awareness skills by listening to books and poems read with rhymes and predictable patterns. Additionally, they develop listening and comprehension skills by listening to the teacher think out loud and connect to previous knowledge while reading aloud to the class. The read-aloud also provides opportunities for the students to continue to enhance their oral language skills as they share their own thoughts and predictions, and make connections to the books.

Shared reading provides the teacher and students the opportunity to read together chorally. In Kindergarten, the teacher first reads the text aloud to model pacing, fluency and inflection. On the second reading, the students add their voices. Examples of shared reading in Kindergarten occur daily through the collective reading of the morning meeting message and working poems. The teacher uses a pointer to model voice print match. Over the course of the year, the teacher hands the pointer over to a child during the second reading. Additionally these mini lessons offer the teacher time to focus on the repetition and reinforcement of phonics rules, point out high-frequency sight words, and model reading for meaning and information.

During our small skills-based groups, Kindergarteners engage in word work and guided reading. Word work lessons focus on developing phonemic awareness skills—specifically, identifying rhymes and syllables, and blending and segmenting sounds in words. Additionally, children are explicitly taught the relationship between sounds and letters, and are introduced to high-frequency words through interactive games. Guided reading helps Kindergarteners develop their phonics skills by providing instruction and repeated practice in reading books at their independent level. Children also increase their reading accuracy and fluency, and develop their reading comprehension strategies by focusing on beginning story elements during their guided reading groups. Each child’s reading progress is carefully monitored both informally and formally through benchmark assessments throughout the year.

In the print-rich environment of our classrooms, opportunities for writing abound. Self-expression through writing is nurtured and encouraged as all students learn to use writing as an effective and creative form of communication. Teachers use shared writing to model an experienced writer’s thought process. During writing workshop, teachers focus on developing skills such as left to right orientation, capital and lowercase letters, spacing between words, and ending punctuation. Children use their developing phonics skills to identify beginning and ending sounds in words, and represent those sounds in their independent writing. Mini lessons also focus on the concepts of a story’s beginning, middle and end, adding details and using sentence starters to “hook” their readers.

Social Studies

The social studies curriculum focuses on developing a sense of community and an appreciation of the natural world. Children take advantage of the school’s surrounding fields, woods and streams to

develop the concept of stewardship. The curriculum is designed to create a community where kindness, respect and empathy are fostered. Children begin to develop a deeper understanding of self. Each child is a valued and contributing member of a group learning to solve problems, collaborate, cooperate and take responsibility.

Mathematics

The Bridges in Mathematics program begins in Kindergarten. The curriculum builds a strong mathematical foundation while instilling an attitude that math is exciting, relevant, challenging and accessible. Through direct lessons, openended exploration and engaging games, students spend time representing and comparing whole numbers, describing shapes and space, joining and separating objects to understand addition and subtraction, and describing and analyzing attributes of the shapes they see in their daily lives. With the use of manipulatives and games, children are invested and develop a positive, confident attitude toward learning mathematical concepts. Problems & Investigations: Each day, the children are presented with a novel, complex problem and are encouraged to find their own strategy to solve it. Strategies and solutions are shared in a whole or small group setting, encouraging all students to develop flexible and efficient ways of solving problems. Work Places: Several times a week, students visit math stations that offer engaging, hands-on, developmentally appropriate and differentiated games that reinforce key math skills. Number Corner: Each day, students participate in a rich, mathematically advanced discussion through a variety of quick-paced activities. Activities involving calendar prediction, patterning, number lines and monthly collections are a springboard for advanced mathematical concepts and higher level thinking.

Science

The Kindergarten curriculum approaches science through direct experiences in which they form ideas, test them, see the results, revise their ideas and try again. In the Exploratory Lab, children continue to work with blocks, ramps, sand, water and wind to deepen their understanding of force, motion, speed, momentum and gravity. They are encouraged to design their own experiments, hypothesize, problem solve and analyze their results. With a variety of animals in our building and our 75-acre campus to explore with woods and a vernal pond, opportunities to interact with nature abound. Children learn about protecting habitat, and respect for our environment. In Kindergarten, the children learn about classification through interaction with vertebrates such as mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians and with invertebrates—specifically insects and crabs. An understanding and appreciation for the natural world is formed through meaningful and relevant hands-on experiences.

World Languages

Kindergarten Spanish classes are designed to engage the child’s multiple intelligences—visual, musical, spatial, kinesthetic and interpersonal. Through songs, books, poems, puzzles, dance, games and artistic media, students learn to structure and communicate words and phrases in Spanish. The following topics are introduced: everyday greetings, colors, numbers, body parts, animals and clothing.

EARLY CHILDHOOD CO-CURRICULAR:

Creative Arts

Overview

The creative arts program at Country School supports children’s inherent curiosity and need to express themselves and their imaginations. Supporting the school’s mission to educate the whole child, the arts integrate naturally with the classroom experience. The program is infused with opportunities for students to engage in the arts within a context that promotes multiculturalism and a strong connection to the natural world.

Beginning in our earliest grades, the creative arts curriculum offers diverse programming that encourages selfdiscovery and appeals to a wide range of learning styles. Throughout the creative arts program at Country School, students actively participate in a rich and varied curriculum that is not only developmentally appropriate in design but also deeply engaging and inspiring.

Beginners

Visual Arts

The Beginners art program promotes exploration and discovery through the use of various media such as clay, wire, string and paint as well as natural objects and recycled materials. Art is integrated into all curricular areas and value is placed on the process of the child’s experience. In the classroom, children have opportunities to rediscover familiar materials as they encounter them in new contexts and in concert with their peers. The voice of the child, their questions, collaborations and ideas lead these material explorations.

Music and Movement

Early Childhood music and movement builds upon each child’s natural music ability. Beginners play with words, sounds and different ways to move. Song games with a part for each child give the students practice in basic rhythm skills and ear training. Children sing, chant, play games, dance, and move to classical and folk music.

Dramatics

Dramatics begins in the Early Childhood Program with a variety of activities that encourage self-expression, character observation and improvisation. Puppet shows, theatrical adaptations of favorite stories and other age-appropriate, group-based activities that respond to the classroom moment help students to make deep connections to curriculum and to their personal learning.

Kindergarten

Visual Arts

In Kindergarten art, children experience the creative process through the use of recycled and found materials with an emphasis on problem solving, resourcefulness and sustainability. Concepts of color, space, line, texture and design are taught in a manner that encourages individual thinking and freedom of expression. Children work on their own and in small groups, and the artistic experience takes advantage of the wide array of unique workspace environments and opportunities available on the campus.

Music and Movement

Kindergarteners bring their creative, playful spirits to the music curriculum and are ready for more sophisticated song games. Their creative ideas come to play in reenacting a piece of literature or in different ways to move to a piece of music. By the end of the Kindergarten year, students can identify the eighth, quarter and half notes as they match their step to the drum.

Dramatics

Dramatics begins in the Early Childhood Program with a variety of activities that encourage self-expression, character observation and improvisation. Puppet shows, theatrical adaptations of favorite stories and other age-appropriate, group-based activities that respond to the classroom moment help students to make deep connections to curriculum and to their personal learning.

Physical Education

Beginners

In a nurturing, positive environment, Beginners receive guidance in developing a basic understanding of gross movement concepts and manipulative skills. The program emphasizes the acquisition of gross-motor skills and basic body management skills. Strength building, balance, coordination, teamwork, jumping, hopping and skipping are emphasized throughout the year.

Kindergarten

In Kindergarten, children continue to develop their gross- and fine-motor skills for physical activity such as catching and throwing a ball, performing locomotor movements, and navigating obstacle courses, while building upper body strength. Group games are introduced as children participate in running games while learning to change directions, share equipment, take turns and demonstrate good sportsmanship.