Kindergarten Curriculum at a Glance
We believe as Kindergarten Teachers, we are ambassadors to Lake Como. Therefore, we encourage parent involvement in and out of the classroom.
Our Kindergarten Program is fun and exciting, but also academic. We stress phonemic awareness and many of our students are reading by the end of the year. Also, our students engage in a year long writing process beginning with teacher modeling and ending with independent student writing.
We integrate reading, writing, math, science and social studies into thematic units based on our reading program. As Early Childhood Teachers, we feel Kindergarten is a building block to future education. If children are engaged and stimulated, they will be excited about learning.
Reading
The student…
- recognizes letters of the alphabet
- associates sounds with letters of the alphabet
- understands basic phonological/phonetic principles (ex., knows rhyming words, knows words that have the same initial and final sounds and blends individual sounds into words
- understands how print is organized and read (ex., locating print on a page, matching print to speech, knowing parts of a book, reading from top-to-bottom and left-to-right and sweeping back to left for the next line
- uses a variety of sources to build vocabulary (ex., word walls, other people and life experiences)
- develops vocabulary by discussing characters and events from a story
- uses strategies to comprehend text (ex., retelling, discussing, asking questions, using illustrations and sequences of events)
- knows the main idea or essential message from a read-aloud story or informational piece
- selects materials to read for pleasure
Mathematics
Number Sense
The student…
- counts, reads and writes numerals to 10 or more and counts backwards from 10 to 1
- knows that cardinal numbers indicate quantity and ordinal numbers indicate position
- uses language such as before or after to describe relative position in a sequence of whole numbers
- compares 2 or more sets (up to 10) and identifies which set is equal to, more than or less than.
- uses concrete materials to represent whole number and fractional parts of a whole (ex., one-half and one-fourth)
- counts orally by 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s using concrete materials, pictures and hundred chart to show the concept of numbers
- demonstrates and describes the effect of putting together and taking apart sets of objects
- creates, acts out with objects, and solves number problems
- estimates the number in a set and verifies by counting
- builds models to show that numbers are odd or even
Measurement
The student...
- measures and communicates length, distance and weight of objects using nonstandard, concrete materials
- describes the concepts of time, temperature and capacity
- uses direct and indirect comparison to sort and order objects
- uses uniform, nonstandard units to estimate and verify by measuring length and width of common classroom objects
- knows and compares the value of a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter
- knows measurement tools and uses them for length, weight, capacity and time
Geometry
The student…
- knows and sorts 2-dimensional shapes (ex., circles, squares and triangles) and 3-dimensional objects (ex., cubes and cones)
- recognizes and creates symmetrical figures
- knows the attributes of circles, squares, triangles and rectangles
Algebraic Thinking
The student…
- identifies simple patterns of sounds, physical movement and concrete objects
- classifies and sorts objects by color, shape, size, kind and which do not belong in a group
- predicts, extends and creates patterns
- knows that symbols can be used to represent missing or unknown quantities (ex., fill in the missing number in 5, 6, _ , 8)
Data Analysis and Probability
The student…
- knows how to display answers to simple questions involving two categories or choices using concrete materials or pictures on a graph or chart
- interprets data in pictorial or concrete materials (ex., pictures on a graph or chart)
- interprets data in pictorial or concrete graphs
- uses concrete materials, pictures or graphs to show range and mode
- knows if a given event is more likely, equally likely, or less likely to occur
Ideas for helping your child at home
Language Arts
- Make flash cards for upper and lower case letters and practice them daily OUT OF ORDER.
- Take your child to the library to get a library card and choose books.
- Talk, sing, listen and read to your child every day.
- Put letters in a bag and have your child reach for a letter and say the sound. Have him/her reach in for another letter. If your child does not know a sound, say the sound and put it back in the bag. Count how many sounds they can do in a minute.
- Write a note each day to put in your child’s lunch box or on your child’s pillow.
- Read a nursery rhyme. Reread leaving out the last word of every other line of the rhyme for your child to say.
Mathematics
- Allow your child to help you sort the groceries before putting them away (canned goods, boxes or items that need refrigeration).
- Have a bag of various objects. Have your child sort by size, then shape, color, texture, etc.
- Practice counting orally to 100 by 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s using a hundred chart.