Kindergarteners develop a strong foundation of phonemic awareness skills. This includes rhyming, syllables, putting sounds together and pulling them apart. Children use their understanding of letters, sounds, phonemic awareness, and concept of print to become emergent readers and writers. In Math, Kindergartners use a hands on approach to develop number sense. Children represent numbers by building, writing and recognizing numbers up to 20. Kindergarten students are introduced to many science and social studies topics. Science curriculum is designed to lay a foundation by introducing the basic scientific processes: observing, comparing, classifying, measuring, and communicating. Social studies curriculum is designed to help children gain an increased awareness of themselves and the world around them.
Literacy
Learning new language skills is a hallmark of kindergarten. Your child will practice sorting words, rhyming words, matching words with beginning and ending sounds, and blending sounds into words. Practice with these types of activities is a powerful step toward learning to read and spell correctly. Your child will also begin to write and be encouraged to use a combination of drawing
and writing letters to share information, ideas and feelings. Your child will be read to and have daily opportunities to talk about literature; growing his/her vocabulary and developing comprehension skills. At OLG, we work with some of the best programs available for children’s education, which include Wonders Reading Program (focusing on decoding, comprehension, grammar, etc) Heggerty Phonological & Phonemic Awareness, Engaging Readers, among others.
Math: Math in Focus
When it comes to math, there is an exciting world to discover for children in Kindergarten at OLG. Our curriculum is based in the Math in Focus model, a rigorous, yet approachable, multi-sensory math program that can help foster a deep understanding of math concepts and that can teach students to think more flexibly and creatively about the math problems they encounter. A mastery math program, Math in Focus combines a conceptual focus on math instruction with hands-on learning and manipulative work to help students build stronger math knowledge, skills and problem solving ability. With daily math warm ups and chats, ur students will learn:
- Counting and Cardinality
- Algebraic Thinking
- Numbers and Operations in Base Ten
- Measurement and Data
- Geometry
- Mathematical thinking
What is a “mastery program”? A mastery approach means that students learn one topic of math at a time, delving into it (and its related sub-topics) over many lessons, only moving onto another topic once the student has reached a certain level of understanding and skill proficiency (mastery).
Science
Science in in Kindergarten encourages students to learn through their natural environment. Young children are curious learners and enjoy observing the natural parts of the world surrounding them. This includes discussing weather during meeting time, animals and their habitats, life cycles of insects, shadows, and the movement of wind. At OLG, our science curriculum is based in FOSS (Full Option Science System), a research-based science curriculum for grades K-8 developed at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley. FOSS has evolved from a philosophy of teaching and learning that has guided the development of successful active-learning science curricula for more than 40 years. This program bridges research and practice by providing tools and strategies to engage students and teachers in enduring experiences that lead to deeper understanding of the natural and designed worlds.
Our students learn about natural science (making purposeful observations of the natural world using the appropriate senses), physical science (exploring force and motion, how shape, size and weight can affect motion, etc.), life science ( identifying and comparing living and nonliving things), earth science (identifying materials that are needed to grow plants), and so much more. We also have monthly STEM projects and utilize the Wonders Extension activities, designed for grades K through 5, and which helps spark students’ curiosity and empower them to ask more questions, think more critically, and generate innovative ideas. Our young kindergarteners get to already explore solutions to basic everyday challenges through inquiry-based, hands-on investigations of real-world phenomena.
Social Studies
Developing a positive, enthusiastic awareness and attitude toward family, school and the community is a focus of social studies. Activities, games and role playing promote the development of self-esteem, self-confidence, and personal responsibility. Through daily routines, children develop qualities of patience, respect, fairness, kindness, courtesy, and helpfulness. At OLG, we use the Wonders Social Studies programs, designed to draw children into different learning experiences that help them understand the world around them.
Religion
The focus of Kindergarten’s religion program is to develop awareness of God and His love in the lives of the children. The Finding God program, from Loyola Press, provides us with all the tools to engage the whole child—mind, heart, and soul—uniquely guiding children to engage with Scripture, practice prayer and reflection, and to find God and His love in all things.
