Language Arts

The focus of the language arts program in kindergarten is to nourish a love for books, foster interest in oral and written communication, and help children gain confidence in their own abilities. We do this by creating an inspiring literacy environment where there is a range of opportunities for children to explore language and to reinforce and extend their skills. These activities include shared reading of big books, songs, and poetry; listening to stories on tape; and playing phonetic games. Drawing and writing begin on the first day and are a central focus of the curriculum. Teachers read aloud to children from a variety of sources and routinely model writing.

Our classrooms are "print rich," and there are abundant opportunities to develop reading and writing skills. However, we do not expect children to learn to read by the end of kindergarten. We hold that belief knowing that five-year-olds cannot yet easily sweep their eyes laterally across a page, left to right, right to left, so most are not ready for formal reading instruction. A number of children do leave kindergarten reading and writing with a great deal of sophistication and confidence; our goal is to nudge children forward wherever they are.

back to top^