Kindergarten is the bridge between Gillispie’s early childhood and elementary school programs. While nurturing each child’s individuality, teachers help build a loving community of friends and learners. Gillispie’s kindergarten program takes advantage of the intellectual leap that begins during this year. While play continues to be important, children are encouraged to use higher-order thinking skills, discuss current events, and explore the scientific method. Along with music and P.E., art becomes a specialty class in kindergarten. Learning is enhanced with weekly use of laptop computers. After studying the La Jolla community, an in-depth look at the Australian continent opens the geographical world to these young students.
Key programs and texts: Handwriting Without Tears; Everyday Math; Steck-Vaughn “Pair-It” Reading; Continent of geographic study – Australia; Second Step
Kindergarten Curriculum Benchmarks
By the end of Kindergarten, your child will be able to–
Language Arts
- Read words with consonant-vowel-consonant pattern and a selection of sight words.
- Read books for enjoyment, both fiction and non-fiction.
- Identify where the story takes place and who the characters are.
- Recognize real and make-believe in stories.
- Recall a story plot and sequence.
- Participate in class and small group discussion.
- Speak in front of the class; listen to classmates speak.
- Write legible upper and lowercase letters independently.
- Write words based on how they sound, along with several sight words.
- Write simple sentences.
Revise writing to improve word choice.
Mathematics
- Count, use and write numbers from 0 – 20.
- Compare numbers using “more than” “less than.”
- Name days, weeks, months on calendar.
- Solve addition and subtraction equations up to 10.
- Order quantities from least to most and most to least.
- Measure objects in several ways.
- Estimate numbers of objects.
- Recognize, sort, and classify objects and shapes.
- Recognize, create, and extend patterns.
- Build structures using geometric shapes.
- Read, create, and interpret graphs.
- Identify coins.
- Tell time to the hour.
Social Studies
- Define the characteristics of a community: classroom, school, neighborhood, city.
- Discuss unique aspects of geography in La Jolla.
- Identify water versus landforms on globes and maps.
- Locate Australia and America on map and globe.
- Describe unique aspects of Australian geography, including plants and animals.
- Compare and contrast a community in Australia with our community (La Jolla).
- Describe unique aspects of Australia’s plants and animals.
- Locate and name oceans surrounding Australia.
- Identify past and present on a historical timeline.
- Compare and contrast the experiences of native Australians and native Americans.
- Describe several of the ways native Americans/Indians of earlier times lived .
- Locate on a map the location of nearby Indian lands of past and present.
- Locate and name oceans surrounding Australia.
- Identify past and present on a historical timeline.
- Identify important holidays and people in America’s history; sing patriotic songs; recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
Grade Level Programs
The children will have many opportunities to develop their fine motor skills necessary for handwriting. They will be taught the correct way to grip a pencil, as well as correct formation of upper and lower case letters. We use the Handwriting Without Tears method, which will be used through first grade. When helping your child write his/her name, please be sure it is started with an upper case letter and the rest of the letters are lower case.
Problem-solving skills will be taught in conjunction with the basic work with numbers. Children will learn many strategies to solve problems. Manipulatives and games are a key part of the program. Everyday Math from the University of Chicago is the basis for our program; combined with other sources such as Marcy Cook, the children learn that math is all around us.
Literacy
The processes of reading and writing go hand-in-hand, and many of the activities in Kindergarten address both of these skills. Through alphabet games, poetry, read-aloud, word-building activities, morning message, journaling, and more, the children gain the foundations necessary to see themselves as beginning readers and writers. As the school year progresses, they will become more comfortable with decoding and sounding out words, as well as recognizing key sight words. Throughout the year, we will continuously address both the phonetic nature of words as well as the deeper comprehension of text. Children will be continuously assessed and activities will be planned based on their individual development and needs.
Children will gain reading practice in multiple settings throughout the day, including independent reading time, guided reading groups, shared read-alouds, and one-on-one reading with a teacher. We use a variety of texts, including phonetic readers, Sight Word books, and trade books. We also utilize the Pair-It book series, which provides the opportunity to explore both fiction and non-fiction texts. This series is used through the second grade at Gillispie.
