KINDERGARTEN

Religion

Semester I

• Realize that God is good, made each of us special, and loves us
• Understand that Mary is the Mother of Jesus and our mother
• Celebrate Mary's birthday, September 8th, and the months of October and May as Mary's months
• Express sorrow for unloving choices and realize that Jesus forgives us
• Realize that the Bible is a holy book about God and God's people
• Learn some people and some stories from the Bible
• Understand that Mass is the most important way we worship God
• Describe prayer as talking and listening to God
• Learn the Sign of the Cross, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be and Grace before meals
• Learn to sign and sing religious songs
• Understand that Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season

Semester II

• Learn that Jesus died for us and rose on Easter Sunday
• Be aware of the Stations of the Cross in church
• Participate in the May crowning
• Learn that Baptism is the way we become members of God's family, the Church
• Learn to sign the Our Father
• Learn that all good things come from God (friends, family, community)
• Observe Catholic Schools Week and Irish Week

Language Arts

Semester I

• Demonstrate left-to-right directionality
• Put story events in sequence
• Retell important parts of a story
• Listen attentively
• Follow two and three step directions
• Learn the relationship between letters and sounds A-L (phonics)
• Begin basic sight words using Dolch word list
• Introduction to reading through phonics, word families and sight words contained in stories appropriate to their ability
• Develop a love of reading and learning by successfully reading teacher selected materials
• Develop a sense of pride and self esteem by learning to read

Semester II

• Reinforce skills taught first semester
• Learn the relationship between letters and sounds M-Z
• Continue to learn basic sight words
• Begin daily journal writing
• Demonstrate spelling ability through spelling tests based on word families and words appropriate to their level
• Continue to increase reading ability through constant exposure to reading material
• Learn science and social studies concepts through reading
• Demonstrate reading ability through drill and repetition
• Further develop pride and self-esteem as their reading ability increases

Mathematics

Semester I

• Identify the colors red, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, brown and orange
• Recognize basic geometric shapes: square, circle, triangle, rectangle
• Understand which of two objects is larger/smaller, taller/shorter, longer/shorter
• Understand which of two containers holds more
• Classify objects by color and shape
• Recognize objects that are the same length
• Recognize an object that does not belong to a specific classification
• Given a pattern of objects, select the object that comes next
• Understand the concepts of top, bottom, inside, outside, left, right, middle, more, less, and same
• Count up to ten objects developing 1-1 correspondence
• Use ordinal numbers first, second and third (sequencing)
• Write numbers 1-20 in order
• Understand calendar concepts of seasons, days of the week and months of the year
• Introduce number recognition through writing numbers and dot-to-dot activities

Semester II

• Develop number recognition through writing numbers, dot-to-dot activities and playing Bingo
• Introduce recognition of money (pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters) and their values
• Introduce time to the hour and half hour
• Continue to introduce numbers according to student's ability
• Solve simple addition and subtraction problems
• Estimate time ' for example: what activity takes longer to do?
• Introduction to graphing
• Celebrate the hundredth day of school with a variety of activities that utilize
• Counting to 100

Science

Semester I

• Understand that learning can come from observation of the world around us
• Recognize body parts
• Observe the changes in seasons and weather (fall, winter) and how we dress to accommodate the seasons
• Understand that water can be a liquid or solid (snow, ice)
• Learn science concepts through the scholastic magazine

Semester II

• Continue to learn science concepts through the scholastic magazine
• Observe changes in seasons and weather (spring-summer)
• Distinguish between living and non-living things
• Recognize parts of a plant
• Recognize needs of plants
• Distinguish between fruits, vegetables, flowers, and seeds
• Recognize mammals, reptiles, insects and birds
• Match mother mammals and their babies
• Identify animal habitats
• Identify pets and their needs
• Identify food groups, nutritious choices and non-nutritious choices
• Recognize body care
• Recognize simple tools and their uses
• Identify kitchen tools and school tools
• Identify machines with wheels
• Tell time by the hour using two kinds of clocks
• Recognize the power of electricity
• Recognize the shape of the earth and its makeup
• Distinguish between day and night, and activities of each
• Visualize the moon and stars
• Recognize a spaceship
• Develop awareness of seasons and their differences
• Recognize pollution and its causes
• Recognize litter and what we can do

Social Studies

Semester I

• Develop social skills in the classroom (raising your hand, taking turns, lining up and walking procedures, being considerate of others, following directions)
• Learn structure through homework
• Understand class procedures: where completed work, folder, homework, coat and other materials belong
• Learn to tie shoes, zip and button
• Understand safe use of classroom materials: crayons, scissors, glue, pencils, sharpeners and rulers
• Learn the Pledge of Allegiance
• Learn about the holidays August-January

Semester II

• Recognize our flag, its rules and the celebration of Flag Day
• Recognize our capital city, Washington, D.C., the White House, Capitol Building, Washington Memorial, Jefferson Memorial and Lincoln Memorial
• Learn about our government- following rules, the constitution, and freedom
• Learn about Martin Luther King, Jr., George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and other famous Americans from diverse backgrounds
• Discover different forms of transportation
• Develop understanding of community helpers and career awareness
• Develop understanding of the different places in our community and why we need them (gas station, bank, market, home, school, library, parks, restaurants)
• Learn map skills and symbols
• Learn the importance of voting
• Learn about the holidays February - July

Handwriting

Semester I

• Learn to write first name using upper and lower case letters
• Learn to write numerals to 20 using correct line placement
• Learn to write letters Aa ' Ll using correct spacing and line placement

Semester II

• Learn to write last name, reinforcing correct spacing and line placement
• Learn to write numerals to 100
• Learn to form and write complete sentences in a daily journal, using correct punctuation and capitalization
• Learn to write letters Mm ' Zz
• Learn to enter spelling words in a kindergarten style dictionary