Cambridge Public School District - Kindergarten Curriculum

Recess or child organized inside play allows children to be creative and social and to use their initiative and imagination. Play is an essential element in young children’s learning.

Using an enlarged text that all children can see, the teacher involves the children in reading together. They can read the following:

The teacher works with a small group of children who are at a similar stage of reading development. The teacher selects and introduces new books and supports children reading the whole text by themselves, making teaching points during and after the reading.

The teacher reads aloud to the whole or small groups. A carefully selected body of children’s literature is used. The collection contains a variety of genres (nonfiction, author studies etc.) and is representative of our diverse society.

Teacher and children work together to compose messages and stories. The teacher supports the process as the scribe.

As in shared writing, teacher and children compose messages and stories that are written using a “shared pen” technique that involves both the teacher and the children in writing.

Children draw and write their own pieces using their own words and spelling. The teacher guides the process and provides instruction through mini-lessons and conferences.

Children learn pre-writing skills and write numerals as well as the alphabet in upper and lower case letters. (Handwriting Without Tears)

Students explore, investigate and develop number concepts they are learning with hands-on activities using a variety of manipulative materials. (TERC Curricula) Concepts include measurement and the number system by counting, measuring and comparing, patterns and functions, making shapes with 2D and 3D geometry, addition and subtraction and data analysis.

In Kindergarten the students study physical, life and earth sciences under the units of Sand, Water and Bubbles, Myself and Others, Orgamisms and Our Five Senses. We encourage children to do science by inquiring, questioning, observing, exploring and investigating to formulate ideas and theories.

This curriculum begins with developing a sense of self and community as well as developing resolving conflict skills. We acknowledge our diversity and discuss our differences and similarities.

Our Three Kindergarten teachers have been trained in and will be implementing the “Open Circle” curriculum, which is the Reach out to Schools Social Competency Program based at the Stone Institute at Wellesley College. Teachers are also trained in Anti-Bullying Prevention.

Inspirations is a program for children to learn to read and practice their literacy skills on the computer.

All Cambridge Public Schools Kindergarten classes are involved in the Great Body Shop Curriculum. This is a comprehensive health and substance abuse program, which will allow children to learn more about their bodies and how to take care of them.

The music program is designed to develop creative expression and skills and foster music appreciation.

The children take part in library classes with our school librarian weekly. Many of these curriculum areas are integrated activities, which take place during our dedicated literacy block.

The goal of our Baldwin Kindergarten is to nurture children's cognitive, aesthetic, social/emotional, neurological and physical development. Our major focus of curriculum planning and implementation is to ensure that we create and balance appropriate educational activities that contribute to these facets of young children's growth and development within a supportive classroom/school environment. Our approaches involve creating an environment in which children of a wide range of interests and stages of development engage in a variety of "hands on" activities that nourish their growth as life-long learners.

Curriculum content areas are carefully planned, woven and implemented into activities that make up specific themes of study. By integrating various areas into related activities (for example, combining the study of insects with reading, writing, music, art, drama, math and social studies), we are able to cover a great deal more than we would by treating them as separate areas of study. This approach is exciting and encourages home involvement too!

Our daily activities are aimed at increasing children’s self-esteem, independence, self-motivation, cooperation and problem solving experiences. Children are given opportunities to learn independently, with a partner, as teams, on to one with a teacher and in whole class interactive lessons. We highly value children interacting and learning from each other.

Before children come to school, they have learned about their world through play. We capitalize on this natural inclination by providing time and materials for play as part of our daily schedule. One of the best ways for children to learn is in an enriched, supportive environment that combines teacher facilitated developmental activities and that nurtures a child’s natural curiosity through play.

Our children’s families are important members of our class and school community. We value and encourage open and on-going communication through the year. We know that a strong, comfortable school/home connection is vital to support a child’s success in school. We welcome and provide many academic, cultural/ethnic and social opportunities for family involvement and participation in the classroom and Baldwin School Community.