Kindergarten Program

Language Arts, in Kindergarten, provides opportunities for children to look at, read, and share a wide variety of texts. Each day students engage in activities that help them develop their oral language skills and begin to read and write. Students listen and respond to others while contributing their own ideas in conversations and in groups. The learning environment is rich with print as students learn the relationship between printed words and spoken words. Students learn letters and sounds of the alphabet through explicit phonics instruction as they begin to decode simple texts. They learn beginning reading strategies as they make predictions, ask and answer questions, and retell from a variety of genres including Nursery Rhymes, Fairy Tales, Folktales, Poetry, as well as fiction and informational texts. Learning experiences are designed to build on students’ natural curiosity and prior knowledge to develop life-long learners and a genuine love for reading.

Students also spend time engaged in writing experiences that follow the writing process. Students express their ideas and feelings through a variety of writing tools and materials, including writing notebooks and technology, to communicate ideas and information. Students learn to develop drafts, revise, and share writing with others. Our goal is for every child to gain confidence and find pleasure in writing.

Math, in kindergarten, is more than identifying and using numbers. The primary focal areas in kindergarten are understanding counting and cardinality, understanding addition as joining and subtraction as separating, and comparing objects by measurable attributes. Students build conceptual understanding of these foundational concepts through the use of hands-on manipulatives and problem-solving situations.

Through problem solving, students will apply mathematics in everyday situations. Students work to develop an appropriate plan to solve different problems, use multiple strategies to determine the solution, and work to justify and communicate their mathematical thinking.

The kindergarten math curriculum also includes developing fluency with numbers, identifying coins, identifying and classifying geometric shapes, collecting, sorting and organizing data, and an introduction to personal financial literacy. In LISD, all students will be given opportunities to makes sense of math, do the math and use the math.

Our goal is for all kindergarten students to see math as challenging, fun, and doable!

In social studies, the emphasis is on self, home, family, and community. Units are designed around holidays, customs, symbols, and celebrations that represent beliefs and principles of America and countries around the world. Biographies, folk tales, poetry, songs, and art are used to enrich the curriculum.

Through these experiences students will build a foundation in history, geography and patriotism.

Kindergarten students experience science through active engagement with materials and interactions with their peers. Students observe and compare snails and worms; grow and study plants and their parts; investigate objects and how they move; explore sound, light, heat, and magnets; and observe changes and patterns in weather and seasons. They build language and science knowledge through hands-on, minds on investigations. Young students are naturally curious and eager to participate in science. Through these experiences they build language and vocabulary while they develop and enrich their abilities to understand scientific concepts and processes. Our goal is for students to develop an understanding about the world around them.

Kindergarten students experience fine arts through classes in music, art, and theater arts. In music they sing, identify and play instruments, and perform a variety of music. In art, children create work that expresses their ideas and feelings, identify art elements (color, line, form, and space), and use a variety of art materials. In theater arts, students engage in dramatic play, explore lighting, puppets, and props, and use voice and movement to express themselves.

As a result of these fine arts activities, we hope children develop an appreciation for the arts and acquire appropriate behavior for performances.

In kindergarten, children learn fundamental movement skills and begin to understand how the muscles, bones, heart, and lungs work in relation to physical activity. Students begin to develop a vocabulary for movement and apply concepts dealing with space and body awareness. Students are engaged in activities that develop basic levels of strength, endurance, and flexibility. Students learn to play safely in group and individual movement settings.

Kindergarten students are administered assessments during the year to determine their instructional needs. The Early Reading Instrument is administered three times a year to help ensure reading success for every student. District assessments, which are aligned to our Mathematics and Language Arts Essential Units of Study, are administered throughout the year as one measure of monitoring progress on state standards. Parent/teacher conferences are held during the year to discuss these results. In addition, this information helps teachers in designing curriculum activities. Report cards are issued each nine weeks.

• School Breakfast/Lunch, call 512-570-0670
• Transportation, call 512-570-0700
• Volunteering, call 512-570-0029
• Campus/District Information, call 512-570-0000
• If you have concerns about your child’s growth and development, please call Child Find at 512-570-0352.

1. Read to your child each day.
2. Have your child practice writing his/her name, using a capital letter only for the first letter.
3. Have your child count objects around the house.
4. Help your child identify and name the colors.
5. Have your child look for and name letters and numbers everywhere.
6. Have your child color, cut and glue.
7. Have your child play board, educational computer, and card games.
8. Have your child participate in physical activity outdoors and imaginative play, like dress up, kitchen, or building with blocks.
9. Talk with your child every day.
10. Hug your child each day.