Kindergarten Curriculum Overview

Language Arts: Kindergarten students will receive instruction in reading, writing, and listening, speaking, & viewing. By the end of Kindergarten, students to:will be able Demonstrate developing understanding of concepts of print, such as how to hold books, how to track print, and how to distinguish words from pictures and letters from words • Identify previously taught high frequency words quickly and reread grade level text with appropriate expression • Identify some basic sight words • Write letters of the alphabet and begin to represent words with letters • Recognize sentences and begin to understand that sentences begin with capital letters and end with some type of punctuation • Sustain their attention for an age-appropriate length of time while reading or listening to books • Retell or reenact stories using more complex vocabulary and longer sentences • Identify and produce rhyming words • Identify, blend, and segment sound parts in words

Mathematics: Kindergarten students will be actively engaged in developing mathematical understandings in real and relevant contexts. By the end of Kindergarten, students will be able to: • Understand small numbers, quantities, and simple shapes experienced everyday • Count, compare, describe, and sort objects • Develop a sense of properties and patterns • Connect numerals to the quantities they represent • Model (act out or use objects) problem solving involving simple addition and subtraction situations • Recognize and name basic geometric shapes and spatial relationships • Compare objects in terms of their measurements • Identify coins by name and value, and make fair trades with pennies, nickels, and dimes • Follow a daily schedule to help develop the concept of time • Collect data and make picture graphs

Science: Kindergarten students will use inquiry to focus on questions about the world around them, including questions related to earth science, physical science, and life science. By the end of Kindergarten, students will be able to: • Describe different types of motion and the effects of gravity on objects • Identify parts of things such as tools or toys • Describe, compare, and sort items according to physical attributes such as number, shape, texture, size, weight, color, and motion • Use their senses of sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound to sort physical objects into groups • Use their senses to make observations about the physical world around them • Demonstrate awareness of similarities and differences of physical attributes of the world around them, including awareness of similarities and differences between living and nonliving things, between animals and plants, and between parents and offspring.

Social Studies: Kindergarten students will begin to explore the foundations of history, geography, government, and economics. By the end of Kindergarten, students will be able to : • Identify, describe, and explain major national holidays • Identify and explain the meaning of important national symbols • Use words and phrases related to chronology and time correctly to explain how things change • Describe American culture through diverse community and family celebrations and customs • Identify and explain very basic characteristics of maps and globes, and state where they live by street, city, county, state, nation, and continent • Explain the creation and importance of rules, as well as the qualities of honesty, patriotism, loyalty, courtesy, respect, truth, pride, self-control, moderation, and accomplishment • Describe types of work that people do to earn income • Explain the concept of exchanging money for goods and services.