Kindergarten Curriculum
Bible
Course Objective/Philosophy: The Bible is the absolute truth by which every single area in life should be measured by. God’s truth is essential in kindergarten in laying the proper foundation so that Godly principles and wisdom can be built upon.
Course Content/Description
1st Quarter
We begin the year by learning about how Jesus loves the children and wants them to come to Him. We spend several weeks in the book of Genesis studying the creation of the world, sin entering it, Noah’s disobedience, and how God destroyed the earth because of sin. After that, we study the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Toward the end of this quarter, we start learning about the journey the Israelites took from Egypt to Canaan. We memorize our alphabet verses from A-H and The Lord’s Prayer. The Bible and sin are the focus of our doctrine questions. We learn who wrote the Bible, if it is true, and how God wrote it. We also learn what sin is, who does it, and who the first people were to ever sin.
2nd Quarter
Our unit about the Israelites journey continues into this quarter. We take a break from our sequential study to learn about the first Thanksgiving and the Christmas story. We pick back up by settling in a while to learn about what Israel in Canaan before the kings. Our verses from I-P are memorized as well as Psalm 100 and the 10 Commandments in song. The doctrine questions teach about God. Students learn who made Him, if He was ever born, had a beginning, or would ever die. The Trinity is taught so that the students learn God is three persons in one, but there are not three different gods. Students learn Jesus was sinless, is God, and took the punishment for our sins. We must ask Him into our hearts to live with Him in heaven forever after we die.
3rd Quarter
After finishing up our last unit, we go study the kings and prophets and the exile and return. We memorize verses Q-X and Psalm 23. We learn Finish Unit 5: Israel in Canaan: Before the Kings. The doctrine questions will teach about sin, heaven, and assurance. Students will be taught that God hates our sin; yet He still loves us even when we sin and if we ask Jesus into our hearts and trust Him, God will forgive our sins so we can go to heaven when we die. Students will also learn that heaven is a real place and it is a wonderful, safe, happy home where God lives. They will know the truth that God wants everyone to come there and live with Him. They will learn that anyone who has taken Jesus as his Savior will be able to go to heaven and live forever with God, but anyone who has not taken Jesus as his Savior cannot go to heaven but must go to a terrible place of eternal punishment. Students will be assured that when a person trusts in Jesus and the Holy Spirit comes into his heart, he becomes God’s child and God’s Word says that a person can know for sure that he is going to heaven. They will know that as God’s child, one sometimes will do wrong; but he is still God’s child and that each person should tell God, as soon as he sins, that he is sorry that he has done wrong.
4th Quarter
In this quarter the students will learn about Jesus’ Death and Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost, Jesus on Earth, and the Parable s of Jesus. We will end the year with a Heaven Series and some special Missionary Stories. The students will memorize verses Y-Z and some additional verses and lines for our graduation program including Matthew 7:7 and Jeremiah 29:11. The last doctrine questions are about Satan. The students will learn that he does not have horns and a long tail and even though he cannot be seen, he is very real. They will learn he once lived in heaven with God as an angel called Lucifer, but when he became jealous of God and wanted to make himself as great as God, God cast him out of heaven. They will also know that Satan is God’s enemy and the enemy of all Christians. He tries to get people not to obey God’s will. Satan is strong, but God is stronger and can give us victory over him.
Student Materials: Pencil, Crayons, Paint, Glue, Handouts and Crafts from CSI, God’s Wonders 2000.
Teacher Resources for Instruction: CSI, God’s Wonders 2000.
Time on Task: 30-45 minutes daily all year
Areas to Be Evaluated:
- Daily Doctrine Questions
- Weekly Bible Verses
- Quarterly Passage Memorization
- Questions during daily Bible lessons to check for understanding
The teacher will be able to employ genres of literature to engage students, practice vocabulary and communicate to students the value of Latin/Greek to our English language.
Evaluation: The teacher will use oral evaluations throughout the quarter. A written test will be given at the end of each week to assess knowledge.
Language
Course Objective/Philosophy: The teacher will provide the students with the resources and activities to ensure that every child develops a love for reading. We will explore different types of literature in reading and writing.
Course Content/Description:
1st Quarter/2nd Quarter: Identify main character (“The story is about…” or “The main character is…”) and setting. (“The story happens…” or “The setting is…”). While speaking, show that sentences are made of words (gesture to indicate each word, left to right). Ask questions about books. Classify and categorize words that go together into groups (“_____ and ______ are things that are green.” “_____ and _____ are things that are small.”). Read (recognize) 50 high frequency words. Make connections between texts and life experiences. Make predictions about story content using sentence stems and cloze sentences. Answer questions about plot (beginning, middle, end). Retell a familiar story including character, setting and plot (beginning, middle, end) Concepts about Print: Know that texts tell us things. Locate front cover, back cover, title, name of author, name of illustrator, title page, and table of contents. Inside book find letters, words, and indicate beginnings and endings of sentences. Track left to right and top to bottom when reading. Know letter sounds, capital and lower case. Continue assessing every other week until mastered. Inform parents of progress. Use adjectives to describe objects and events. Copy environmental print legibly and with spaces between words and sentences. Write with sentence stems and cloze sentences. Use spaces, capitals and end marks correctly. Generate legible independent writing .Use correct spacing, capitals and end marks. Listening/Speaking: Follow one and two step directions. Recognize and speak audibly in complete, coherent sentences. Memorize and present rhyme, poem and/or song in front of class individually, and listen while others present.
3rd Quarter: Read 50-75 sight words. Generate rhyming words. Read C-V-C word and blend words of 2 to 6 sounds (ex.: if, sun, help, frog, stands,). Distinguish fantasy from reality in texts. Identify beginning and ending sounds. Read long vowel words with “vowel-blank-e” pattern (hope, cave) (introduce). When presented with 2 or 3 separate phonemes, track/order, count, and compare (same/different) sounds. Manipulate sounds orally by adding, substituting, omitting, shifting, and repeating sounds. Independently ask questions about a text. Independently make predictions about a text. Vocabulary: Classify and categorize science-related words (ex.: “___ and ___ live in the ocean.” “___ and ___ can grow.” ). Track auditorily each word in a sentence and each syllable in a word. Count the number of sounds in syllables and syllables in words. Read simple one syllable and high frequency words. Understand that as letters of words change, so do the sounds. Retell familiar stories.(assess). Ask and answer questions about essential elements of a text.(assess). Identify characters, settings, and important events.(assess). Generate legible independent writing of 3 to 5 sentences on a single topic and later with sentences that are varied in structure. Deliver an original descriptive oral presentation in front of class. Students will also deliver a brief, individual oral presentation relating an experience or creative story in a logical sequence.
4th Quarter: Kindergartners will explore patriotism and the reasons why we love the United States of America. Selections will inspire feelings of national pride. Particular areas of focus include the American Flag, patriotic parades, citizenship, and some of the country’s natural beauty. Students also examine the many ways that people express their patriotism. We will be working on expressing ours by practicing our kindergarten graduation program. Read 50-75 sight words. Read long vowel words with “vowel-blank-e” pattern (here, time). Generate legible independent writing with correct capitalization, punctuation and spacing. On a single topic, write 3 to 5 sentences that are varied in structure and in sequential order.
Student Materials: Unit Big Books, Story Time Collection, Skills Practice Workbooks, Decodables
Teacher Resources for Instruction: Teacher Instruction Manuals, Assessment Book, Challenge and Reteach Activitie
Time Allotment: 1 hour each day
Areas to Be Evaluated: Letter Recognition and Sounds, Sight Words, Rhyming Words, Short and Long Vowel Words, Spelling Words
Science
Course Objective/Philosophy: The students need to make observations using their senses and have as many hands on experiences as possible for their lessons to be effective in physical, earth, and life science. The students will be encouraged to ask questions about nature so they will develop observation skills by using tools such as magnifiers, thermometers, rulers, or balances to gather data. Oral language and drawings will help them communicate their results. Their experiences will be combined with the learning they will do in their science books and using other resources to help new knowledge become concrete and a solid foundation to be built upon. Simple investigations will engage the students and help them become more successful learners.
Course Content/Description
1st Quarter
The students will investigate the different types of weather to learn how we can dress accordingly and take safety precautions when necessary. We will learn how to read a thermometer and keep a log of the temperature and graph the various weather types as well as discuss how different parts of the country has different temperatures. The students will do an experiment to see how water goes back into the air to be reused and learn about God’s plan to provide everything we need. We will take a trip around the schoolyard to determine the difference between which trees lose leaves and which ones are evergreens.
2nd Quarter
In physical science, forces and motion will be covered. The students will compare positions of objects inside and outside using position words. They will be able to give examples of different ways objects and organisms move or fall including. Proper care for animals and their homes will be explored. In life science, the structures and functions of living organisms will be taught. The students will compare characteristics of animals that are alike and different from other animals within a certain type of animal. They will also compare living and nonliving things. Magnetism will be taught in first grade, but may be introduced (optional).
3rd Quarter
The students will be exploring how to take care of the human body by using their five senses, exercising, cleanliness, resting, proper nutrition, and dental care. The food pyramid will be used and the students will discover where food comes from. During a unit on seeds, the students will have a special show and tell to bring in a labeled seed to share. They will learn about what plants need by doing a planting project at school with an observation journal. The students will understand how objects are described based on their physical properties and how they are used in physical science.
4th Quarter
The students will learn how to take care of the earth by conservation, recycling, and pollution. The Duke Energy Team will present a play that teaches the children what energy is and how to conserve it. We will learn about how George Washington Carver discovered how to keep soil rich. A unit on the seashore is optional if time permits. The students will bring in shells and make a labeled class shell display for the school to see. They will show and tell about the shells they brought. They will learn that they were animal homes and make shell magnet crafts for Mother’s Day.
Student Materials: Pencil, Crayons, Paint, Glue, Science Journals, God’s World K Workbook, A Beka Publishing
Teacher Resources for Instruction: CSI, God’s Wonders 2000.
Time Allotment: 30-45 minutes twice a week all year
Areas to Be Evaluated: Seasonal Pictures, Drawings of Living and Non-Living Objects, Science Observation Journal, Projects
Social Studies
Course Objective/Philosophy: The students will be able to understand how a community is run, about their country, and explore the continents realizing that Jesus loves all the different kinds of people in the world He created.
Course Content/Description
1st Quarter
The students are exposed to several community helpers. We have guest speakers come in to talk to the students about their position as community helpers. We invite a pastor, policeman, doctor, and farmer. We are able to tour an ambulance and police car during this study. We also have several field trips that help us see the work that some other community helpers do. We visit our local hospital, a library, a grocery store, a farm, and post office. The fire house comes to our school, so the firemen teach us about fire safety and take us out to experience the fire house and tour the fire trucks.
2nd Quarter
Thinking back to our community helper unit, we will discuss those people and places closely surrounding us. We have a community mat that has pictures of all of the businesses around us that we will use for review. During this unit the students will learn to read various maps and be introduced to the globe. The History of Thanksgiving will be taught. We will have our annual Thanksgiving feast together with our grandparents and invite them into our classroom to show them what we have learned about the first Thanksgiving. The students will learn the shape of our country’s boundary. They will learn cardinal directions with a song and see what a compass looks like. We will say country in our big voice and community in our small voice to help us remember that our country is much bigger than our community. The students will be introduced to Alaska and Hawaii as being two of our fifty states. They will understand the Pledge of Allegiance, what the stars and stripes stand for, and how to show respect for our flag. The students also will learn about the Statue of Liberty and what it stands for.
3rd Quarter
During this unit, the students will learn the shape of our world and begin learning the continents, oceans, and our neighboring countries. The students will be learning about the life of our first president. We will be seeing about how our rules are important. The students will learn about Lincoln and the importance of honesty.
4th Quarter
Each student is assigned a country and given several weeks to choose 5 of 10 ways they would like to present their country to their classmates. The areas they can choose to present about include: geography, landmark, animal, language, weather, craft, food, clothing, game, life. Everyone will recognize and recite the 7 continents and study about countries in all of them. The students will learn about scientist George Washington Carver, how his passion about plants helped farmers, and what he made out of sweet potatoes and peanuts.
Time Allotment: 20 minutes twice a week
Areas to Be Evaluated: Questioning and Letter Writing about Community Helpers, Student Country Projects, Teacher Observations
Mathematics
Course Content/Description
1st Quarter
Week 1: The year begins with counting to 10 and learning the meaning of a number to 10 by using flashcards and objects. Learn about alike/same and different and pairs of objects. They learn about circles, squares, and patterns during this grading period. Week 2: Completing Patterns, missing numbers in 1-10, top, middle, bottom, above, below, inside, outside, before, after. Smaller, larger, same size, shorter, longer will be taught. The penny is introduced here. Triangle, circle, rectangle, square will be taught. We will be measuring students for the first of three times. They will be doing one-to-one correspondences with objects, recognizing numbers to 19, counting to 20, writing to 7. They will learn several rhymes and songs to help differentiate between their right and left hand. 0 is taught here. The Ones and Teen family is introduced here and ordinal numbers will begin.
2nd Quarter
Introduce 20-80 Family. Count 1-100 touching numbers.20-100 Flashcard. Formation of 9-10. Construct numbers to 100. Time to the hour. Nickel, dime. Adding 1-4. After numbers. Counting by 10s to 100. Addition word problems. Measuring students.
3rd Quarter
Ordinal numbers 6th -10th. Spelling one-eight. Introduce one half. Adding 5-7. How many pennies equal one dime. More, fewer, between. Count by 5s to 60. time to the half hour and quarter after.Writing 7. Before numbers. Quarter.
4th Quarter
5s to 100. Subtracting 1. 2s to 100. Adding 8-9. Smallest to Largest. Counting nickels and pennies and dimes together with and without using word problems. Use nickels to count by 5s and dimes to count by 10s. Introduce a dollar. Measure the students.
Student Materials: Smart Board, Pencil, Crayons, Counting cubes, Flashcards, Combination Dot Cards, Money, Measuring Tape, Workbook pages from Numbers K, A Beka Publishing, 2008.
Teacher Resources for Instruction: Numbers K Teacher’s Edition, A Beka Publishing, 2008.
Time Allotment: 20-25 minutes daily all year
Areas to Be Evaluated: Oral Evaluations when skill is mastered, Weekly Tests,
Physical Education
Objective: Students will develop competent motor skills, behavioral strategies to demonstrate responsibility, respect of self and others, and understand the importance of achieving and maintaining a health-enhancing level of physical fitness. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 admonishes us to remember that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Time Allotment: 30 minutes a day; 5 days a week for 175 days
Course Content
3 Weeks: Personal / Social Responsibility
Use behavioral strategies that are responsible and enhance respect of self and others and value activity.
11 Weeks: Motor Skills
Apply competent motor skills and movement patterns as needed to perform a variety of physical activities.
11 Weeks: Movement Concepts
Understands concepts, principles, strategies and tactics that apply to the learning and performance of movement.
11 Weeks: Health Related Fitness
Understand the importance of achieving and maintaining a health-enhancing level of physical fitness.
Areas to Be Evaluated: Participation as an individual and in a group, Teacher observation, Role-playing, Checklists / FitnessGram / Assessments, Quizzes