An Integrated Curriculum

At Curriculum Night, I promised that I would go into more depth about the kindergarten curriculum in my blogs. So, here is the first installment.

The first topic I would like to discuss is our integrated curriculum.

During your tour of Summers-Knoll you may remember Joanna spoke of our "integrated curriculum", but you might still wonder how it plays out in the Kindergarten classroom.

The way I like to think about it is that subjects and ideas flow back and forth and merge together for the children much as in "real life". Children are not introduced to concepts in isolation by subject area. Instead, instruction tries to merge subject areas.

This integration is happening throughout the day. It happens in small way, for example in math this morning, when geometry and art were combined as we used rectangles and triangles to draw castles. It also happens in extensive ways during our monthly themes when children learn about a topic in art, music, literature, science, math, and physical education.

For example, this month we have been studying the Renaissance. We have started many mornings listening to music written in the Renaissance period. The children listen to hear if they recognize any instrument, they try to articulate with words how the music makes them feel, and try to guess when or how the music might have been used.

As the morning progressed, we might read a book about why people built castles, or try to figure out how many hundred years ago the renaissance took place, or learn about Galileo's ideas about the earth going around the sun rather than visa versa.

After having the opportunity to ride horses like they did in the Renaissance, we had a brainstorming session in which the children thought about what kind of transportation people used 500 years ago: horses, carriages, boats, and walking came up as possibilities. Then we discussed if it was cheap or expensive to own a carriage, a ship, a horse. After talking about it the children decided most people probably walked.

These are just a few examples of how subject matter and content criss- cross throughout the curriculum. I hope this was helpful. More about specific content areas soon.

Numbers everywhere

This afternoon we read another chapter from The Apprentice, and then headed out into the neighborhood in search of numbers.

We didn't have to go far. Just outside the door, one child announced "I found a zero" and pointed to circle tile in the garden. Soon everyone was finding sticks that looked like 1's, 7's, and even a 2.

As we past the parking lot, someone noticed the numbers on the side of our bus. Advancing down the street, we found numbers on houses, signs, license plates, electrical boxes, and even imprinted into the sidewalks. The chatter about numbers filled the air.

Snacks/Math

Part of todays math lesson was to learn about graphs.

I made a chart with most of the snacks items we have had so far in the school year. Each child had two post-its to put on the chart to indicate their favorite snacks. After all the data was collected we analyzed the results.

It is probably difficult to read from this photo but bananas and raisins were the two top choices. Cucumbers, sweet potato chips, sweet potato fries, and red peppers received zero votes. Even though I thought I had presented the veggies in such an appetizing manner

and the children eat all the cucumbers and sweet potatoes, they just couldn't compare to bananas.

Below is a list of which child will bring snacks in the weeks to come:

September 13-17 Ella Keppo (thanks Ella for the delicious snacks this week)

September 20-24 Gabriel

September 27-October 1 Juna

October 4-8 Ella Kulper

October 11-13 Andrew

October 18-22 Eli

October 25-29 Nilay

November 2-5 Arwyn

November 15-19 Arnav

November 22-23 Varvara

November 29- December 3 Kit

December 6-10 Ella Keppo

December 13-17 Gabriel

If for some reason the date I have assigned your family does not work, please let me know.

(And remember check labels to make sure the snack does not contain peanuts/nuts. We also have two children who are allergic to eggs, so if you bring something that contains eggs, let me know so I can provide them an alternative snack. Thank you)

Understanding patterns is an important part of understanding mathematics. This morning the children worked with patterning. First, they tried to guess what would come next in patterns I drew on the board. Then they created their own patterns using colorful cubes.

When we were done some of the children used the cubes to see how many cubes long the table was.

At the beginning of music class, Jan had the children follow her around the room to the beat of a song. From now on, each music class will start with another child being the leader in the procession.

Our 1st day together

We spent the day getting to know each other. I was able to take a few photos while we were together.

Here are a few snippet from the day:

-After listening to a story and learning each others names, we explored the room and practiced writing numbers.

-In the morning we had a snack of bananas at the picnic tables and we had grapes for afternoon snack, inside.

-Before lunch we read books and some children got a chance to listen to a story with the headsets. And then we drew pictures of ourselves and some children added their families to the drawing.

-At 12:30 we came in for a Quiet Time. Everyone looked tired after a busy morning. I started reading a novel about a boy who lived during the Renaissance period. He wants to be an artist instead of a tailor like the rest of his family. The novel is titled The Apprentice.

-The remainder of Quiet Time was spent finishing drawings, painted at the easel, and playing with play-dough.

-Below is a photo of the children with Madame (Imogen) at the beginning of French class.

-Then there was the exciting first bus ride to the gym.

I hope your child is as excited about tomorrow as I am.