Kindergarten Curriculum
	Bible The Bible curriculum, written by Bob Jones University, is rich in teaching of Bible heroes and strong on application as God’s word pertains to five year-olds. Daily Bible time is for building foundational truths in an age/developmentally appropriate manner. Crafts, songs and dramatization are added to bring the Bible curriculum to life for the students. Our teachers put a strong focus on guiding students to “encourage one another in the Lord” as they develop relationships with their classmates.  Handwriting  D’nealian manuscript is introduced through a variety of hands on activities. D’nealian manuscript is introduced through a variety of hands on activities. The D’nealian style of writing was designed to ease the learning of cursive and print handwriting by offering a complete audio, visual, tactile, kinesthetic approach to teaching handwriting. This style of writing aids reading by giving immediate letter to word associations in drill and practice work and building basic vocabulary thus making reading and writing correlated subjects as opposed to separate subject skills.  Mathematics  Mathematics is taught through a hands-on, activity approach. Students explore geometry, measurement, time periods, whole number operations, graphing, money, patterning, and many other number concepts as they develop a foundation for higher mathematics in future grades.  Language Arts  Kindergarten students are introduced to the wonderful world of language through the Orton-Gillingham Multi-sensory approach to teaching language, phonics, reading, writing, and spelling. Coupled with a desire to instill a love of printed and oral language, students develop strong decoding skills and phonemic awareness, while enjoying a wide variety of activities, experiences, and field trips to enrich their language experience. The use of Level 1 phonics, published by Modern Curriculum Press, helps solidify the decoding and encoding skills developed through the multi-sensory method. Students begin reading/language groups while using the Houghton Mifflin first grade reader. Leveled readers allow accelerated students to continue to grow in language and reading skills. Second semester five year olds visit and use the technology lab on a consistent basis.  Social Studies The Kindergarten students are taught from a Biblical perspective in order to begin developing a “heart for our community and the world that God has created,” students have an “all senses experience” as they are introduced to different aspects of human cultures. Every other year, the Kindergarten students “tour the world” as they are immersed in a study of three different countries.  Science  Students participate in “hands-on/minds-on” science activities with a fun approach to learning. Students begin developing a scientific approach to age/developmentally appropriate experiments. Many of the topics covered are seasonally related. Every other year, the students investigate the world God made through the study of topography which includes the plains, the rainforest and the swamps.  PE  The physical education curriculum is designed with the objective to teach all students to enjoy personal fitness, sport, and an active life as a fulfilling and life-long habit (I Corinthians 6:19). All information is presented in a manner that reflects God’s Word and His purpose for us.  Our philosophy is that exercise and sport at a suitable skill level are enjoyable, character-building experiences for children of all ages. Life-long exercise and sport inevitably invoke most of the great human emotions of triumph, defeat, joy, sacrifice, pain, and contentment. Through participation in games and sport, we learn how to lose graciously, to win with modesty, and above all, how to participate with others in the teamwork required achieving what often seems like an unreachable goal. Through exercise, games, and sport, students extend their limits of courage, ability, self-knowledge, and selflessness – and alter themselves for life (Galatians 5:22-23).  Several Biblical concepts are stressed throughout the physical education curriculum. Kindness to one another is extremely necessary in the class (Ephesians 4:32). Encouraging one another is also extremely important (I Thessalonians 5:11). Emphasis is placed on making wise choices (Proverbs 1:5).  Through the various skills and games taught, the students will develop physically as well as spiritually and socially. Through participation in fast-moving aerobic games and activities, the hope is that the students will realize that exercising is fun as well as beneficial! The positive physical education experiences will develop a healthy lifestyle.  Implementing a Biblical worldview, the kindergarten classes will participate in skills, activities, and games that develop fundamental loco motor skills. Rhythmic activities are an integral part of the physical education curriculum. Parachute activities are used to enhance working together and listening skills. Throwing and catching, striking, kicking, ball handling, tumbling, gymnastics, and fitness skills are integrated into aerobic activities.  Spanish  The purpose of this program is to present the Spanish language, K-4, as an enrichment to the general curriculum. The classes will emphasize practical spoken Spanish as a communication tool. Build upon oral mastery, reading and writing will be introduced. Students do some writing in the Computer Lab using the U.S. International Keyboard which offers Option Keys for correct punctuation.  All learning styles will be integrated into each class. Students will also be taught about the culture of Spanish speaking countries. Art  Kindergarten students will learn basic art elements: line, color, shape and texture. Students will learn “art words” as we do art projects with different art supplies and techniques. Many Kindergarten projects are integrated with units of study in their classrooms. Emphasis will be on learning about different kinds of lines, and the primary colors and secondary colors. Students will be introduced to famous artists Vincent Van Gogh and Piet Mondrian. Be sure to ask your students what kinds of lines and colors each of these artists liked!  Music  Our God is an awesome, creative God. We are created in His image. Music is a gift from God given to us to glorify Him, as well as, to enrich our lives and the lives of others. The purpose of music at Providence is to engage students in the active making of, listening to and responding to music in order to praise God, relate to others in positive ways and to enjoy and develop the gifts He has given. Music activities contribute to the total development of the child mentally, emotionally, socially, spiritually and aesthetically.  Elementary music is an active process in which the student explores the nature of movement and sound through excellent folk and composed materials. Students reproduce sound and learn to interpret the unique system of musical notation. Improvisation enables students to create music that is uniquely their own.  Essential experiences and assorted activities are included in lesson plans. The following elements are sequences within each grade level as well as spiraled from grade to grade: Rhythm, Melody, Harmony, Form and Expressive Qualities. Our Kindergarten students encounter the elements in the following ways:  Rhythm: Steady beat with movement, instruments, rhythmic speech, quarter notes/rests, Duple meter Melody: High/ low pitches, sol/mi songs, melodic direction, singing a variety of songs, Finding singing voice Harmony: Major and minor tonalities, playing instruments Form: AB form, ABA form in music pieces, phrases Expressive Qualities: Loud (forte)/ soft (piano), tempos (allegro, andante, adagio), Instrument timbres Activities are directed toward these goals and objectives using speech, singing, movement, listening, and drama and playing instruments.  K5 students have music 3 times a week for 30 minutes. Library  The students visit the library one time a week. Students are introduced to a variety of genre through the librarian. Students independently locate and select books based on personal interest. Additionally, students will learn some basic research skills in the library including the following: Know library checkout procedures and expected behavior Know proper care of books and other materials Locate areas of the library for E fiction and E nonfiction Identify parts of a book (cover, spine, title page) Recognize author, illustrator, and their functions Recognize award-winning books (Caldecott, Georgia Picture Book, etc) Develop listening skills through read-alouds Experience a variety of literary forms Technology  Students are exposed to some basic keyboarding, word processing, and network navigation skills. They also gain exposure in using drawing, paint and shape tools. The computer programs they are introduced to are Kid Pix, Kidspiration, and Jump Start.