Kindergarten Curriculum

Literacy: FOCUS on Kindergarten (Kindergarten)

Focus on K2 was written to help teachers promote children’s creativity and their abilities to collaborate, communicate and think critically. It was written to develop essential literacy and numeracy skills. It was written to give our K2 students the adventure in learning they deserve.

Units of Study
Four in-depth units of study structure Focus on K2. Each study builds on the concepts and skills developed in previous studies, allowing children to deepen their understanding and apply skills and concepts with creativity and innovation.

The first six weeks of school are devoted to building Our Community. This is a time for establishing a supportive community of learners, building relationships, fostering peer collaboration, and becoming confident with the routines and expectations of kindergarten while experiencing how individual needs can be met in a group setting. The lens of community and the concept of citizenship introduced in this unit permeate the year, with children first learning what it means to be a citizen in their own classroom communities and gradually applying this idea to broader contexts.

From October to January, Animals and Habitats focuses on caring for living things and learning about animals through investigation and research. Children engage in an author/illustrator study and in collaborative projects, and explore concepts of care and safety, responsibility, courage, and respect. Children embark, in turn, on three distinct studies: fish and frogs, owls, and wolves—animals that live both close by and far away. The unit ends with children and teachers organizing a Showcase of Learning that includes artifacts of learning from across the full 10 weeks of the unit.

Beginning in late January, Construction invites children to make physical science connections through construction of structures, measurement and comparison, and experimentation with materials. Children are introduced to a design process that involves envisioning, researching, planning, executing, and revising. The definition of construction expands to include constructing buildings, songs, dances, plays, and stories. The unit culminates in the Our City project, with children working as a class to build a model that answers a question from the Mayor: How can we make our city a more fair and interesting place for children?

From April through June, Our Earth explores the natural world through investigations and research of the earth’s properties and systems. Concepts of sustainability, urban renewal, economics, healthy lifestyles, authority, honesty, respect, courage, responsibility, and stewardship frame discussions and projects. The unit and year culminate in a project through which children choose a sustainable practice and write to persuade a local audience to adopt this practice.

For more detailed information on the specifics of the FOCUS on Kindergarten (K) curriculum, click here.

Mathematics: Illustrative Math

The Kindergarten curriculum of Illustrative Mathematics focuses on introducing young learners to fundamental concepts such as recognizing and comparing whole numbers, understanding and applying basic addition and subtraction, and describing shapes and spatial awareness. Each unit is designed to build upon previous learnings, creating a seamless and comprehensive educational journey throughout the year. This curriculum employs a problem-based learning approach, tailored to engage kindergarteners in mastering essential skills while fostering critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and perseverance. It emphasizes a student-centered environment, nurturing curiosity, cooperative learning, and practical application of mathematical concepts in real-world scenarios.

The year is divided into 8 units:

Unit 1: Math in Our World
In the first unit, kindergarten students embark on their mathematical journey by exploring numbers and quantities in their environment. They engage with various mathematical tools and concepts, developing an understanding of counting and number recognition. Activities are designed to be accessible, focusing on recognizing and naming small groups of objects without the need for counting. This foundational unit sets the stage for future learning, introducing students to the structures and routines of mathematical exploration and community building within the classroom.

Unit 2: Numbers 1–10
This unit deepens kindergarten students' understanding of counting, comparison, and number representation. Building on their prior knowledge, students answer "how many" questions and engage in counting and comparing groups of objects and images within 10. This unit emphasizes the connection between quantities and spoken number words, and introduces students to writing numbers. The use of fingers and 5-frames aids in visualizing numbers, particularly 6–10, as combinations of smaller numbers, laying the groundwork for future number sense development.

Unit 3: Flat Shapes All Around Us
In this unit, students delve into the world of geometry, focusing on identifying, describing, and comparing two-dimensional shapes. They learn to recognize and name basic shapes like circles, rectangles, squares, and triangles, using both formal and informal language. The unit also encourages students to analyze and sort shapes based on their attributes and to use pattern blocks for creating larger shapes, enhancing their spatial reasoning and understanding of geometric concepts.

Unit 4: Understanding Addition and Subtraction
Unit 4 introduces students to the foundational concepts of addition and subtraction within 10. Students relate counting to these operations, representing and solving story problems that involve combining or separating objects. This unit emphasizes the interpretation of mathematical expressions and the relationship between story problems, drawings, and equations, fostering a deeper understanding of basic arithmetic operations.

Unit 5: Composing and Decomposing Numbers to 10
In this unit, students explore various ways to create and break down numbers within 10. They use tools like fingers and 10-frames to visualize and represent different number combinations, with a special focus on composing and decomposing the number 10. This exploration builds a strong foundation for understanding place value and prepares students for future work with larger numbers.

Unit 6: Numbers 0–20
This unit expands students' counting and number representation skills to include numbers up to 20. They use 10-frames to organize larger groups and to understand teen numbers as combinations of ten ones and additional ones. Students practice tracing and writing numbers 11–20, reinforcing their understanding of these larger numbers through hands-on activities and visual aids.

Unit 7: Solid Shapes All Around Us
Students broaden their geometric knowledge to include three-dimensional shapes. They distinguish between flat and solid shapes, describe and compare them, and explore concepts like weight and capacity. Students use various materials to build and create models, applying their understanding of shapes in practical contexts. This unit strengthens their geometric vocabulary and spatial reasoning skills.

Unit 8: Putting It All Together
In the final unit, students revisit and consolidate their learning from the year. They engage in activities that emphasize counting, comparing, composing, and decomposing numbers, with a focus on achieving fluency in these foundational mathematical skills. The unit provides opportunities for students to apply their knowledge in various contexts, ensuring a solid grounding in the key concepts and skills of the kindergarten mathematics curriculum.

For more detailed information on the Kindergarten Illustrative Math curriculum, click here.