Curriculum

Is your child ready for Kindergarten?

Many parents of children who are approaching Kindergarten age wonder if their children are ready for school. Being legallyold enough to start school and being ready are two different concepts. Readiness for Kindergarten depends more ondevelopment than age, and there is a very wide range of abilities among children of Kindergarten age. Readiness for Kindergarten is defined by the total picture of a child’s intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development.

At St. Patrick’s, we do our utmost to ensure that our programs are flexible and adaptable to each child’s needs. Kindergarten can therefore provide valuable structured learning experiences, even for those less developmentally mature.

To be ready for learning, here are some areas to think about:

Ready to learn

· Gets 9 – 10 hours of sleep at night (bedtime by 8:00 pm)

· Eats a healthy breakfast and nutritious snacks

· Enjoys being read to daily by parents, caregivers, or family members

· Recognizes own name

· Use crayons, pencils, paper, glue and scissors

· Likes singing

· Has sufficient verbal skills to communicate with adults and peers

· Asks questions and is willing to explore new ideas

· Takes part in daily physical activity (walks, playground, tag, playing ball, riding bikes)

Socialization

· Plays cooperatively, takes turns and shares

· Names feelings (eg. happy, sad, mad)

· Has experience playing with others of the same age (playdates, teams)

· Waits for turn and listens to others

· Understands and follows simple directions

Independence

· Uses the washroom including washing and drying hands

· Hangs up coat, puts on and takes off shoes

· Opens food containers and eats independently

· Cleans up after themselves and is responsible for own materials

· Zips/unzips backpack and carries own things (jackets, backpacks)

· Able to separate from parents comfortably for the duration of school

If you have a concern regarding your child’s readiness for Kindergarten please feel free to come and talk with our administrative team or the kindergarten teachers.

Your child is a competent, capable individual with strengths and talents. You are your child’s first and best teacher. As you help your child with challenges at school, celebrate his/her effort, progress and abilities. We look forward to working with families to support the learning of all students.

The Kindergarten Curriculum

The Importance of Play

The Kindergarten classroom is an active environment in which children learn with their bodies, minds and hearts. The program is designed to meet the needs of young children who learn in a variety of ways and at different rates – each child is unique! Play is essential to children’s healthy development and learning. Play enables children to develop a greater understanding of their environment and to make sense of the world.

Children learn through a variety of play-based activities including:

· Physical movement, music and the arts

· Hands-on activities

· Making choices

· Thinking and talking about their learning

· Exploring, creating and playing with materials and each other

· Developing literacy and mathematics skills throughout the day

· Experimenting with print

· Investigating curiosities and wonders

Through these activities children will learn to:

· Accept responsibility for their actions

· Cooperate with others

· Accept and respect others

· Gain self-confidence in certain skills and move on to more challenging skills after experiencing successes

· Develop both fine and gross motor skills by improving coordination and strengthening muscles.

· Discover about himself/herself and the world around him/her.

· Demonstrate acceptable social expectations by learning to share, take turns and to follow rules and directions.

· Use/ Experiment with language and communication skills using different media.

· Problem solve and experiment with solutions.

How Children Learn

· Learn through their senses: smell, taste, touch, sight and hearing.

· Move from concrete to semi concrete to semi abstract to abstract.

· Move from familiar to unfamiliar.

· Move from simple to complex.

· Learn from role models – adults, peer, siblings, etc.

Learning Outcomes of the Kindergarten Program

These are some of the goals of the Kindergarten Program (note: this is not the entire list):

  • Demonstrate being a good listener for a sustained period

  • Demonstrate being a good speaker (including sustaining conversation on a familiar topic)

  • Use oral language to explain, inquire, and compare

  • Engage in reading or reading-like behaviour

  • Identify most of the letters of the alphabet and their sounds, and a few high-frequency words

  • Create simple messages using a combination of pictures, symbols, letters, and words to convey meaning

  • Relate, represent and describe numbers 1 to 10, concretely and pictorially

  • Demonstrate an understanding of repeating patterns

  • Identify similarities and differences among families

  • Develop their emotional health (e.g., making friends, building independence, recognizing things they are good at)

For the entire list, visit: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum

RELIGION

Religious education is an important part of our Kindergarten program. The basic objectives are:

· To lead a child towards discovery of himself/herself and deepen his/her sense of wonder.

· To lead a child to an awakening of a sense of God.

· To help the child progress towards a positive relationship with others which give meaning to his/her life.

· To strive to promote love and community for all people.

· To explore with the child various aspects of nature in order to discover it as a sign of God the Father and Creator.

· To create a growing awareness of God’s call to share His love.

For more information please see our Kindergarten Handbook!