Kindergarten

Kindergarteners develop their musical abilities while learning to participate in a collaborative musical community. In visual arts, they explore a wide range of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, and fiber arts. Woodworking and tinkering offer opportunities for both independent and collaborative projects, strengthening creativity and social-emotional skills.

Reading and writing are woven throughout the day in a print-rich environment where students engage with texts in meaningful ways. Children build foundational skills in letter recognition, phonics, and high-frequency words while developing confidence as readers and writers. Instruction combines direct teaching and multi-sensory approaches, with close attention to supporting each child’s growth.

Skills

• Expressive and receptive language
• Phonemic awareness
• Identifying and writing uppercase and lowercase letters
• Producing the primary sound for each letter
• Reading common high frequency words
• Concepts of print (print moves left to right, top to bottom; one-to-one word correspondence)
• Retelling a story through drawings, creative movements, and discussion
• Making connections and predictions
• Spelling words phonetically
• Communicating ideas through writing, drawing, and dictation

Kindergarteners explore math through play, stories, and hands-on investigation of numbers, patterns, and relationships. Using a variety of tools and materials, they build number sense, compose and decompose numbers, and share their thinking with others. Collaboration and discussion help deepen understanding and expand mathematical thinking.

Skills

• Exploring math in our world
• Counting, comparing and quantifying numbers
• Composing and decomposing numbers
• Understanding the Base Ten system
• Exploring and comparing shapes

Inquiry is central to the kindergarten experience, as students ask questions, explore ideas, and think independently. Teachers design learning experiences around essential questions and student interests, encouraging curiosity and multiple perspectives. A thoughtfully prepared environment supports exploration, creativity, and collaborative discovery.

Kindergarteners spend time outdoors each day, including on the playground and in the Fir Grove. In wellness classes, they build strength, coordination, and confidence through active play. These experiences support physical, social, and emotional development while encouraging cooperation and joy in movement.