Kindergarten

DEFINITION AND OBJECTIVES OF KINDERGARTEN
(according to the Department of Education)

Kindergarten is a place where four, five and six year old children are provided with a stimulating environment that allows them to interact with peers and concerned adults in a program designed to encourage physical, social, mental and emotional growth appropriate to their age and stage of development. The program is informal and uses the play activities natural to this stage to encourage the development of muscular coordination and communication skills as well as cognitive and social competencies. In an atmosphere of joy, through play, the children learn about the world around them; and where joy is a feature of early learning experiences, the child is likely to be motivated to continue to learn. The Kindergarten represents for the child a stage important to his/her life.

The French Immersion Program is a "child-centered" program, which strives to develop, as well as a second language, the cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills of your child, in accordance with his/her stage of maturation and his/her interests.

At the Kindergarten level, the specific linguistic goals are first, to develop an understanding of the French language and second, to initiate the use of this language for communication. Because your child is unfamiliar with French, the first months will be devoted to developing your child's comprehension of the language. Gradually your child will begin to use French words in English sentences and later he/she will say simple French phrases and sentences.

HOW WILL YOUR CHILD LEARN FRENCH?

Children are most likely to learn language skills more quickly when their environment exposes them to audio and visual materials. When the children are encouraged to participate and are positively reinforced, they are on the way to listening to, understanding and speaking French.

A wide variety of techniques and activities, selected and designed to make it easy for the child to participate, are used to foster the understanding and speaking of French.

• always communicating in French
• communicating by gestures and mimes
• simple, repetitive French structures
• concrete and attractive audio-visual materials:
  • picture story books
  • flashcards magnetic shapes
  • felt stories films
• songs, nursery rhymes, games

When children learn a new language, they listen before speaking and speak before reading and writing. In view of this, listening skills are of major importance in the French Immersion Kindergarten Program. Your child's listening skills will be developed through a variety of games and activities. The listening center is an opportunity to reinforce the concepts taught in the class and to:

• encourage and develop proficient listening skills
• provide situations where the child must listen to the directions being given
• develop the child's ability to recall (sometimes in proper sequence) what she /he has heard
• allow for deeper concentration as other sounds are not easily heard
• encourage the child to work independently
• develop a positive attitude to French independently
• foster the appreciation of favorite stories, nursery rhymes and songs.

CENTERS

Our classroom is divided into learning centers that are designed to motivate your child's interest in a multitude of areas. They allow children to initiate their own learning through manipulation of materials. Each center is designed to encourage children to co-operate with one another and to work independently.

Note: Listed are some of the learning outcomes expected when children interact with materials and with their peers at the various learning centers contained within the Kindergarten classroom. Not all of the materials will be in use at one time. Teachers plan and organize so that materials and activities reflect the developmental stages of the children and stimulate them to further learning.

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

House Center - Puppets, Dress-up

• Sharing, taking turns, playing with others
• Self-help skills (buttoning, table-setting, etc.)
• Opportunities to express oneself through role-playing and dramatic play
• Encouragement of creative thinking, decision making, problem solving
• Development of language, social skills

Art Center

• Fine muscle co-ordination
• Following directions
• Discovery and use of variety of art materials
• Creativity and imagination, self-expression
• Language development, social skills

Block Building Center

• Co-operation with others
• Problem-solving
• Language development (balance, height, shapes, etc.)
• Large and small muscle development
• Imagination and creativity
• Math concepts (numbers, size, etc.)
• Spatial relationships
• Visual-motor skills

Gym, Climbing Apparatus

• Large muscle skills
• Eye-hand, eye-foot co-ordination
• Body and spatial awareness
• Flexibility
• Movement and exercise to promote fitness
• Introduction to rules of games
• Following directions

Writing - Bookmaking Centers

• Opportunities to express oneself in another form
• Language development - meaning comes from written expression
• Preparation for reading - child reads own writing
• Relationship between oral and written language
• Use of variety of materials
• Fine motor skills
• Imagination and creativity

Computer Centers

• Introduction to computers and computer programs
• To familiarize the child with the different components of a computer (i.e. keyboard, mouse, etc.) and their care
• To introduce the child to simple computer language
• Programs used will reinforce readiness skills such as sequencing, number concepts, language concepts and creative problem-solving
• Children will be given opportunities to work independently or with a student helper
• Use of the computer will help to develop eye-hand co-ordination and small muscle skills

Carpentry Center

• Fine and gross motor development
• Eye-hand co-ordination
• Creativity and imagination
• Social skills
• Knowledge of how to use tools
• Language development

Games and Puzzles

• Organization, classification, problem-solving skills
• Spatial awareness
• Sequencing skills
• Left-to-right orientation
• Reading readiness skills
• Eye-hand co-ordination, fine muscle control
• Math skills (counting, weight, quantity, more, less, simple addition, etc.)
• Concept development (color, texture, time, etc.)

Science and Number Centers, Water Table, Sand Table

• Exposure to a variety of concepts, e.g., changes in matter (solid, liquid,
  gas), volume, temperatures, weight, density, space, magnetism, flotation, etc.)
• Exposure to plant and animal life
• Development of processes of exploration and discovery
• Problem solving, questioning, simple experiments
• Development of senses--touch, taste, smell, sight, hearing
• Visual-motor co-ordination
• Small muscle development
• Socialization and co-operation
• Creativity and imagination
• Measurement concepts and language; e.g. full, empty, pour, sift, half, mass, volume, etc.

Library - Story Corner

• Language development
• Motivation to read
• Reading readiness -- exposure to reading materials, awareness of print, and relationship between oral and written language

Music - Listening Center

• Exposure to various types of sounds, songs, poems, stories, instruments, etc.
• Association of printed words with words spoken or sung
• Development of rhythm and co-ordination

MATHEMATICS

During the kindergarten year, mathematics learning will be integrated into the children's day and opportunities will be provided for its development in all areas of the room (sorting center, art center, playhouse). During the course of the year, the following concepts will be taught:

1. SORTING AND CLASSIFYING BY:

• shape
• size
• color

2. COMPARING:

• recognizing and describing similarities and differences
• sets: more than less than

3. PATTERNS:

• recognizing, describing and continuing patterns as well as
• creating new patterns with: people colors sounds shapes

4. GRAPHS:

• real graphs (using real objects)
• picture graphs (using pictures)
• symbolic graphs (using symbols to stand for real things)

5. NUMBER:

• matching one to one correspondence
• identifying and constructing sets from 1-10 objects

6. ORDERING:

• ordering objects by size:
  • smallest to biggest
  • biggest to smallest

7. MEASUREMENT:

• the calendar
  • seasons
  • months
  • days of the week
• yesterday/today/tomorrow

EVALUATION OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Your child's social and emotional behaviours are observed during regular classroom activities. These behaviours are observed in a variety of situations: large and small group activities, in interactions with both children and adults and at play in a number of different centers during the school year.

Your child's language development in French is observed during regular classroom activities in a variety of situations such as a teacher directed activity in a large or small group setting, when classroom directions have been given, etc.

Fine motor skills are observed informally during regular classroom activities such as drawing, playing with toys, painting and sand and water play.

The evaluation is student based, that is, it takes into consideration the skills, abilities and potential of each student. Other assessment tools may include: checklists, student participation, informal discussions and work samples.