Unified Catholic Schools

Kindergarten Curriculum Overview

Religion
At the heart of our religion program is the task of developing in kindergarten child the readiness for valuing what it means to live a life of faith. The Faith First program focuses on core beliefs, story, and celebration of our Catholic faith. The series lays the foundation using Bible stories and celebrations of the season and special days of the Church year. Themes include God as Creator, Jesus as teacher and friend, and a simple understanding of the Mass. The children participate in simple prayer throughout the day; attend Mass and Chapel once each week.

Math
Kindergarteners develop the basic math skills through the use of manipulatives and pencil/paper tasks. The children practice skills related to the calendar, counting, patterning, number recognition, time, money, and estimation. Addition and subtraction stories (problem solving) and measurement are also included into the math curriculum. Our goal is for each math lesson to be practical and relevant to the students’ lives.

Reading
Building reading, writing, and oral language skills daily is a priority in the kindergarten classroom. It is our goal that each child’s early reading experiences are positive and rewarding. Through the use of big books, trade books, and leveled readers, we provide the opportunities to develop phonemic awareness, build phonics skills, recognition of high frequency words, and target comprehension skills. Daily writing instruction includes modeled writing, shared writing, and independent writing activities. The Scott Foresman Reading program provides instructional support to build each child’s confidence and skills for successful language learning.

Social Studies
Throughout the year, students are introduced to geography, economics, civics, history, and social, cultural, religious, world perspective topics. Through daily instruction and themed units during the year, students will learn about topics such as celebrations and holidays, rules of school, home, and the world, personal geographic information, and to identify parts of the Earth and tools used to find them.

Science
Scott Foresman Science allows students to explore subjects such as living and nonliving things, pollution and ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle, seasons and weather, and matter. Through weekly hands-on lesson, students express their knowledge using science journals and a variety of experiments.