Kindergarten offers children their first opportunity to socialize with a group of other kids. Kids learn to interact respectfully and to share.
Teachers encourage kindergarten students to be curious and make discoveries. They support their learning by providing hands-on activities. They also teach children to organize information and solve problems.
Language Arts
A key foundation in language arts is developing phonological awareness, which enables students to recognize the alphabet and letter sounds. Kindergarten students also take part in prewriting activities, forming letters and words on their own.
By the end of kindergarten, children should be able to print their names and some simple vocabulary words. They will learn that written language is read from left to right and that punctuation marks are used to separate sentences or parts of a sentence.
Reading and writing help develop imagination and creativity in children. Reading stories with diverse characters and perspectives can help foster empathy and emotional intelligence. Writing allows children to communicate their ideas and emotions in a safe environment. This helps them become more aware of their own emotions and experiences.
Math
As your child moves into kindergarten, they will develop their early math skills through counting, basic shapes and patterns. These skills are the stepping stones for more advanced concepts in later grades.
Children learn that each object counted has a number corresponding to it in the counting sequence (one-to-one correspondence). They also start adding and subtracting within 10. This is an important foundation for more complex addition and subtraction in later years.
Students use geometric vocabulary to identify and classify 2-D plane shapes (squares, circles, rectangles, triangles) and 3-D solid shapes (cubes, cylinders, and spheres). They also explore patterning by finding and creating patterns during fun activities like nature walks. They also begin understanding how to represent data through simple graphing. This will help them later make informed decisions about their world.
Science
Children learn science through exploration, play and hands-on activities. This is the ideal way for young children to gain experiences with science concepts.
A successful science curriculum for kindergarten should be based on the premise that young children have a natural propensity and capacity to observe, explore and discover and that this discovery is the foundation for constructing knowledge.
The teacher should also have a deep understanding of the important underlying science concepts she is using as her focus for the children. This is often called pedagogical science knowledge.
The most important areas of science in kindergarten are life sciences (everything relating to living things) and Earth sciences (the study of everything that is on the planet, including rocks and weather). In addition, kindergarten students learn about how living things grow, change, and have certain needs.
Social Studies
Kindergarten is a social time as children build classroom community and learn to follow school rules. Children often start their day with a class meeting or circle time where they share class news about the calendar and weather, or any other topics of interest.
In addition, kindergarten students will learn that a community is made up of people who work together to meet their basic needs. They will also explore the major holidays celebrated by different cultures, and how those traditions may differ from their own.
Challenging social studies instruction is important for young children because it supports their ability to identify real world problems and participate in creating a democratic society. This requires educators to design learning experiences that are holistic, value-based, and challenging.
Physical Education
In a day when kids often spend too much time at computers and in front of screens, physical education is important for developing healthy lifestyle habits. The benefits of regular exercise are many, including increased attention spans and better classroom behavior.
Children can develop a positive body image and learn how to manage stress in PE classes. They can also build skills to stay active throughout the rest of their lives.
In NY State, students with disabilities are required to have a minimum of 30 minutes of PE class each school week. This is not recess or before- or after-school sports; it’s a formal class with a structured curriculum based on learning standards. Children will participate in a wide range of activities, from jumping to throwing to catching, while also developing motor skills and spatial awareness.