Kindergarten is the first formal year of schooling for most kids. Its curriculum varies widely across the country.
Parents can expect kindergartners to learn the alphabet and a handful of high-frequency words (also known as sight words). They also work on basic math skills. Education experts say even everyday activities can be major learning opportunities for kindergarten-age kids.
Language
In kindergarten, children learn the names of letters and their sounds. They also begin to put letters together to form simple words and sentences.
Creating and acting out stories, dancing and making music help kids explore their imaginations. In a high-quality classroom, students might also create artwork in many forms and learn about different cultures through world language study.
Keep a box at home filled with creative waste materials like paper plates, wool pieces, old magazines and coloured licky sticky paper for kids to use at any time. This encourages imaginative play, which is so important for learning.
Math
Children need to develop a positive view of math and learn that it’s a valuable part of their world. They also need to learn how to solve problems.
Math learning in kindergarten includes counting, recognizing and writing numbers, and understanding number families (i.e., 3-4; 5-7; 9-11). Kids also become familiar with 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional shapes.
Teachers of young children should understand how mathematical concepts are developed and learned. They should have the opportunity to share their content expertise and pedagogy with colleagues across schools. In addition, they need to have time and resources to engage in meaningful, engaging math learning experiences.
Science
Science learning in kindergarten helps kids build on their natural curiosity. Young children are natural scientists who love to test out ideas, experiment, and learn by doing.
Kids learn to observe using all five of their senses as they use simple experiments such as watching snow melt or exploring why some objects float while others sink.
Kids practice communicating their discoveries to one another and their teacher through drawing pictures and speaking about what they’ve learned. This lays the foundation for higher level concepts they’ll be introduced to in later grades.
Social Studies
Social studies includes a number of different subjects, ranging from geography to history and anthropology to civics. These subjects share a common focus on human relationships, which is why the field of social studies encompasses a wide range of subject areas.
Kindergarten students begin learning about how their world works. They’ll find out about famous people from their nation’s past, including stories of courage and heroism. They’ll also learn about national holidays.
The Time4Learning curriculum provides a comprehensive social studies learning experience for students at every grade level. Students will develop their analytical skills as they explore topics such as:
Art
Kindergarten students are adventurous and intuitive, which makes them a great group to try new art projects. They learn how to use the different media in art and they begin to see that artists observe, imagine and think.
They also become familiar with famous artists. For example, kids can make a painting inspired by Monet’s water lilies, or create patterned piggies.
This crumpled paper art project helps develop fine motor skills, but it’s also a fun sensory-feedback activity that can calm an unruly classroom. Similarly, this leaf print painting allows children to work with the different colors in a painting without requiring much skill.
Music
Kindergarteners enjoy songs that ask them to sing along, use familiar words and melodies, and use rhythms. They may also enjoy nursery rhymes and fingerplays.
Music learning helps kids develop spatial-temporal skills, which are important in math and other subjects, writes Denise Fawcett Facey. Children develop these skills by listening to music, playing instruments and composing their own songs.
Try this fun clapping game to get students moving and have them guessing the rhythm of a song. It’s a great way to burn off some extra energy! It can be played with any number of participants.
Physical Education
In addition to cognitive learning, children learn about the world around them through physical activity. Getting students up and moving throughout the day allows them to release energy that would otherwise be contained inside their bodies. It also helps them to have a healthier mindset about their bodies and be more open to trying new things.
High quality physical education programs contribute to the development of physically literate individuals who have the knowledge and skills to enjoy a lifetime of physical activity. Students who have access to a high-quality physical education program in grades PreK-5 will have an increased sense of self-efficacy, social competence, and personal responsibility for physical health.