Kindergarten

Curriculum At A Glance

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)
  • 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, 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
  • demonstrates phonemic awareness

Writing Development

The student...

  • writes a story that makes sense
  • stays on topic
  • demonstrates phonemic awareness
  • uses sight words
  • writes from left to right
  • leaves space between words

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

Measurements

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
  • 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 & 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.