Kinderbirds
– 5 years old by September 1st –
While no two days are ever exactly the same, the kindergarten schedule provides comfort in predictable structure and routine. It is a fast-paced day, enabling the children to learn many things in different ways, while accommodating their high level of energy.
At all times, the teacher and one adult “participating parent” are present, bringing the ratio of adults to children is 1:6. We are in session on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9:00-2:00 p.m.
A Day in the Life of Our Kindergarten
9:00-9:20 Arrival & Floor Games
As children arrive, they place the previous day’s homework in a basket, hang their folders up to receive a new assignment, answer a yes/no question concerning the day’s theme, and greet the teacher. (Note: Homework is typically a fun 2-5 minute exercise that reinforces printing or other fine motor skill.)
The teacher has some tangible item on display that she shares with the children and they can explore, e.g. ongoing science experiment, interesting nature object, or cultural artifacts.
After the greeting, each child hangs up his/her backpack and coat, and washes hands. Then all children participate in “floor games” – three different hands-on games or activities (e.g. Hi-Ho Cherry-O, Trouble, Tinker Toys, Legos, peg boards).
9:20-9:50 Meeting
The teacher leads the class through the reading of a daily sentence, focusing on all aspects of that sentence. Then the teacher leads an interactive printing, spelling, and/or reading lesson. This is when the most conspicuous language arts learning occurs.
The lesson is appropriate for children at a variety of levels. Not all children are ready to fully comprehend the lesson in its entirety, but each child feels fully included and hits the ground running when he/she is ready. Finally, the teacher explains what the “must do’s” are for the day, as well as what activities are available during free play.
9:50-10:50 Free Play/Must Do’s/Snack
During this time period, children are free to move among the three rooms (Art Room, Block Room, Climbing Room) and engage in whichever activities they choose.
Painting, drawing, board games, play manipulatives, dress-up, giant wooden blocks, sensory table, etc. are always available, while alternating activities may include climbing on the metal & wooden climber, building with gigantic tinker toys, playing a sport, helping mix ingredients for a baking/cooking project, working at a simulated store, creating a special art project, etc.
At some point before this time ends, however, each child must complete all of the “must do’s”, e.g. printing exercise, forming a hypothesis and conducting a science experiment, surveying the class and recording results on a tally sheet, reading individually with the teacher. Also during this time, children are free to help themselves to a simple snack and drink of water.
10:50-10:55 Clean-up
The children all help with clean-up.
10:55-11:15 Journals/Writers' Workshop
Every school day, each child is expected to do some work in his/her journal. Free expression is encouraged, though the child must sound out words and print at least one letter; most quickly progress to words and even sentences plus lots of pictures.
Sometimes there is a mini-lesson before writing, and sometimes in place of writing in journals, the children will participate in Writers' Workshop. In Writers' Workshop the children make simple books.
11:15-11:30 Calendar/Chapter Book
The teacher leads the class in calendar activities, then reads the next chapter in an age-appropriate chapter book, sometimes discussing the book by reviewing and making predictions.
11:30-12:00 Lunch
The children bring their lunches and eat together each school day.
12:00-12:30 Outdoor Play
As long as the temperature is above zero, we go outside to play on the school’s well-equipped, half-acre playground. The children get to play on the tire swing, sandbox and playhouse, to name just a few items permanently situated on the playground.
We also provide tricycles, sand toys and sleds on the snowy days for the children to use as tools for enhancing their imaginative play. We encourage them to have fun, and we expect them to get dirty!
12:30-12:50 Rest then Quiet Reading
The children lie quietly on carpet squares while lights are dimmed and calming music is played. Each child may bring a soft “lovey” from home to hold.
Quiet Reading: The children quietly read and/or look at books independently or in small groups.
12:50-1:30 Math
The teacher leads the class in a math lesson. The children then break into small groups, rotating among three hands-on, math-oriented activities. These range from practicing writing numbers to manipulating small objects which help teach pattern recognition, sequencing, length/weight comparison, spatial relations, addition and subtraction, etc.
1:30-2:00 Music or Circle Time
Our music teacher comes once a week to the classroom and leads the class in a music lesson. This is a very interactive and often physical lesson, in which the children learn about pitch, rhythm, tempo, etc. and frequently have the opportunity to play different instruments.
During Circle Time, the teacher leads games, songs and finger plays. Then she will read a story to the children, often related to the theme of the day/week.
Enrichment & Field Trips
Friday Schedule
On Fridays the Math activities are incorporated into Free Play, and the order of activities is different. Our Spanish teacher comes to the classroom for "immersion Spanish" from 11:45-12:45. She speaks to the children in Spanish during lunch, and then the children participate in an interactive Spanish lesson.
The Friday afternoon schedule after Spanish is flexible to allow for special activities that need more time.
Field Trips
Field Trips are a great way to extend in-class learning, and fit in well with our hands-on learning philosophy. The children prepare for trips and follow up with related activities.
We take trips monthly, and typical field trips for our year include hikes, a fall orchard trip, Conner Prairie, The Nutcracker Ballet, Theraplay Horse Barn, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art
