Expanded Day Alternative

Read more about our new Expanded Day Kindergarten class that's starting in 2007 - 2008.

 

class scene

class scene

Kindergarten Classes

There is a big difference between four-year-olds and five-year-olds. Children entering kindergarten exhibit great advances in small and large muscle skills. They are also more independent, self confident, and better able to work cooperatively with their peers. Their attention spans increase and their reasoning and problem solving skills are supported by gains in memory, language, and knowledge of the world. Our kindergarten curriculum is designed to maximize this growth.

We work to develop the following cognitive skills in each child:

We also work on the closely related skills of critical thinking, planning, and thinking ahead. These skills are best developed using manipulatives, and this process is often referred to as “play.” Figuring how to make your block building taller than you made it yesterday requires planning. Learning the rules for a board game involves an understanding of the purpose of the game. Discovering how to turn a ball of play dough into a cylinder involves problem solving. Answering the question which will hold more water the tall bottle or the fat bottle is best found by experimenting and observing outcomes. Understanding what a group of letters says is decoding.

We strive to build community in the kindergarten. The day has a built-in structure that gives children the opportunity to work as part of the whole group, part of a small group, and also individually. They have many opportunities during the day to make choices: what centers to go to, when to do a project, and with whom to have snack. When children make their own choices they are more invested in their learning.

Our kindergarten program offers instruction in:

Language and literacy development is important in kindergarten. Nutfield uses the Building Blocks curriculum to foster reading skills. The teachers build on the children’s knowledge of oral language. They start the year with familiar nursery rhymes and chants. These oral traditions help children develop phonological awareness, which consists of

This awareness is an important indicator of a child’s potential for success in learning to read. Having a storyteller come to the classes twice a year reinforces the value of oral language.

Another important indicator of a child’s success in learning to read is the child’s experience in the world and with books and print in general. What a child brings to a text, whether oral or written, influences the understanding they will take away from it. Field trips to the farm, the Audubon, an art museum, the planetarium, and to Odiorne Point Science Center provide the children with many interesting experiences that contribute to their success in reading.

Math and science skills are introduced during group time and reinforced with projects. Daily group activities include:

Children also have the opportunity to participate in experiments, predict outcomes, and record what actually happens. These experiments may be teacher or child generated.

An important part of the teacher’s role is evaluating the growth of each individual child. When parents come in to co-op they often may see the aide sitting in circle or at her table writing observations of the children. The parents may have a check list for their project where we ask them to record certain information. The teacher circulates among the children during choice notating observations. All of this information gathering is combined with portfolios of the children’s work and used to evaluate the children. This documentation allows us to give the parents an accurate picture of their child’s strengths, weaknesses, and growth at conference time. This information is particularly important for parents to have when their child transitions to first grade.

No kindergarten program would be complete without a big dose of large muscle activity. Our playground affords the children the opportunity to run, play, build in the sand, or organize a pick-up game of football, kickball, or baseball. The kindergarten classes go outside each day in all but the most inclement of weather. We also have a gym teacher who comes in twice a month to develop the children’s large muscle skills in a more organized way. The teachers also incorporate large muscle activities into group time as needed.

Having been in the kindergarten business for thirty seven years we have had a wealth of positive feedback on how our children fare in their future education. Our students come out of kindergarten with all of the skills they need for first grade. They can make choices, budget their time, and solve problems. They are self confident, articulate, and not afraid to speak up or make mistakes. Most importantly they have an early love of learning, that contributes to making them life long learners.