The big ideas in kindergarten include: representing and comparing whole numbers, initially with sets of objects; understanding and applying addition and subtraction; and describing shapes and space. More time in kindergarten is devoted to numbers than to other topics. 

In Kindergarten, students embark on their journey of developing foundational reading, writing, speaking, and language skills. The focus is on building the basics of literacy through engaging, hands-on activities. In reading, students learn to recognize letters, sounds, and high-frequency words, which sets the stage for early reading. They practice listening to stories, identifying characters, settings, and major events, and begin to make predictions about what will happen next. By the end of the year, they start to understand how words form sentences and how pictures and text work together to tell a story.

Writing in Kindergarten is all about expression and creativity. Students learn to draw, dictate, and write simple words and sentences. They practice writing their own names, labeling pictures, and forming letters correctly. They begin to write simple stories using pictures and a few words, focusing on left-to-right directionality and spacing between words.