Our Kindergarten Curriculum

The mission of EPCS’s Kindergarten Program is to support life-long learning by promoting independent exploration, enhancing problem solving skills, and expanding social skills. Our program encourages  positive self-image by providing age and  developmentally appropriate learning experiences in a safe and supportive community.  This happens in a hands-on, play-based, engaging and challenging environment.
  • Class size is 5-10 students, allowing a focused and personalized learning experience.
  • Classes are held 12:30pm-3:00pm, Monday – Friday.
  • All days off will run concurrent with District U-46, including inclement weather days.
  • Each child will have an individual initial goal assessment, a mid-year assessment and a final assessment.
  • Parents rotate providing snack and assisting teachers.
  • Parents accept minimum responsibilities, including participating in fundraising efforts,  monthly tuition fees, and a supply fee.

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Our play based curriculum includes:

Beginning reading skills
Track print from left to right, understand that words convey meaning, recognize a word, understand that words are made up of sounds and introduce high frequency words. Demonstrate an interest in books/reading for enjoyment and information. Participate in a variety of reading formats such as aloud, guided, shared and independent.
Letters and sounds
 Develop fluency in letter and sound recognition, sound-letter correlation and beginning sounds of letters. Recognize and name all the letters of the alphabet, both upper and lower case in random order.
Phonemic awareness
The ability to isolate, segment, blend and manipulate sounds in spoken words. Rhyme orally, discern syllables in words, understand that words are made up of sounds. Blend and segment phonemes (sounds) into spoken words, ex. (b)(a)(t)= bat, bat= (b)(a)(t)
Math and science
All hands on and experimental.
Measures, weights, observation, sort, classify and sequence. Shapes and graphs, simple addition and subtraction. Counting, by fives and tens. Number line that is added to each day, ending in a 50 day party. Science experiments and exploration that enhance math, language, reading and cooperation. Calendar, pattering numbers and an “All About ME Week”. Tracking weather and seasons.
Fine motor skills
Ongoing active manipulation utilizing a variety of tools and materials including cutting, coloring, painting, chalk, play-doh, clay, drawing and gluing.
Ongoing activities
Students sign in and out daily. Class jobs and corresponding job chart. Daily journal time, center based “play”, free time and choices. Thematic units, field trips including monthly library trips and weekly homework packet. Children will have multiple opportunities to think symbolically and representationally through charts, graphs and pictures as well as through dramatic play and creative storytelling. This helps children gain a foundation to explore abstract ideas.

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All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten

By Robert Fulghum

Most of what I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top off the graduate school mountain, but there in the sand pile at Sunday school. These are the things I learned:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don’t hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours.

Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before  you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life- Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

Be aware of wonder.