Kindergarten Program
What will my child actually be doing in Kindergarten?
Work that most people associate with the year after this one. A few examples from what we teach and track:
- Reading. Full readers, front to back, rather than word lists.
- Writing. Sentences written between the lines, every letter in both cases with correct form.
- Numbers. Counting to one hundred and writing to one hundred.
Each of these is checked off for your child individually, not for the class as a whole.
Should my child do Pre-K before Kindergarten?
With us, yes. Our Kindergarten starts from where our Pre-K finishes, and our Pre-K takes children further than most programs do by that age.
A child arriving without that groundwork is not in trouble, but they will spend time catching up that the other children are spending moving forward. If your child is coming to us at five, talk to us first and we will look at where they actually are rather than what their age says they should be.
How does Kindergarten build writing and communication?
Writing starts with the hand and ends with the sentence. Children form every letter, big and small, in the correct way, then write their name inside the lines, then write full sentences inside them.
Talking gets the same deliberate attention. Children learn to answer and acknowledge what is said to them, hold a conversation on a range of topics, and get the vocabulary of time straight: the days of the week, and what today, tomorrow and yesterday actually mean.
Does science continue in Kindergarten?
The same ten subjects come round again: the five senses, water, color, crystals, plants, animals, magnets, wind, suction and light.
Repeating them is the point. A five-year-old meeting crystals for the second time is not sitting through the same lesson. They remember what happened last year, they can say what they expect this time, and they can talk about why it did or did not go that way. Moving from watching to predicting is the whole difference, and it is much easier to do with a subject they have already met.
Is there gymnastics?
Yes, and it is taught and tracked like any other subject. By the end of the year our Kindergarteners walk the high balance beam with correct form, walk it backwards, and do a cartwheel, a bridge, a donkey kick and the crab walk.
Outside there is more of it: jumping rope, crossing the monkey bars, climbing the rock wall, dribbling a ball twenty times. Physical confidence at this age is not separate from academic confidence. A child who has learned that their body does what they ask of it approaches a hard page the same way.
What will my child be able to do by the end of Kindergarten?
- Read full readers on their own
- Sound out words they have never seen
- Write sentences in the lines, in correct form
- Count and write numbers to one hundred
- Finish a hundred-piece puzzle
- Jump rope, cross the monkey bars, climb the rock wall
We track every child against an ability checklist and go through it with you at regular intervals. Ask for a copy whenever you want one.
What do children take with them beyond the academics?
The habit of being able to do things themselves. By this year the abilities we track at home include making their bed, setting the table, washing dishes, measuring with a measuring cup, helping make dinner, getting their own breakfast, and holding down one regular job at home every day.
None of that is on a kindergarten curriculum anywhere. We track it because a child who is genuinely capable is a child who expects to be, and that expectation is the thing they take to first grade and everywhere after it.