4-K Curriculum and Instructional Goals
Summary
Our 4-K Program is taught by a highly qualified professional with a bachelor’s degree and nearly 30 years of experience in Early Childhood Education. Our classroom size is 13 full-time students. At KRA every child gets personalized attention every day. Our Educational/Academic program runs Mon Friday through Friday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Children can be in our care from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm daily. Included in tuition we offer USDA Organic Hot Lunch and 2 Snacks daily. We also offer fresh fruit with the AM snack and fresh veggies with the PM snack. We offer extracurricular classes such as Music and dancing, Kidokinetics, Fun and Funny Gym, Kids Yoga, and Creative Art daily. Some of these classes are taught by professional and certified contracted instructors.
First and foremost, at KRA children will learn honesty, dignity, respect, sharing, caring for others, kindness, structure, discipline, and believing in truth, justice, and the American way!
KRA’s 4-K Graduates will be able to:
Speaking
- Descriptive speech and objectives when speaking
- Use past, present, and future tenses when speaking
- Take “basic” questions and ask a child to explain/restructure question in more details (e.g., not just “Why”, but “Why do seasons change?”, etc.)
Reading
- Use print and visual clues to read “stories” independently
- Recognize letter sounds and identify the 26 letters in the Alphabet
- Follow text left to right
- Read and spell basic words and phrases
Writing Skills
- Writing own First and Last names
- Write parent’s First and Last names, phone numbers, street addresses
- Refine children’s fine motor skills
- Spell basic words using letter sounds and phonemes
- Communicate through written words
Numeracy
We use Dr. Maria Montessori’s method and tutorial materials when presenting basic math and geometry to our students. Montessori’s method is based on visual observation and a simple understanding of numbers and fractions in correspondence to other everyday objects. This method is proven to work and makes it very easy for a child to understand, and most importantly, to love math and geometry.
- Recall and count sequence to 100 and beyond
- Build up to 100
- Compare numbers to 100 (more than/less than)
- Understand the relationship between numbers and quantities up to 100
- Identify “first” and “last”, “left’ and “right”, “small” and “large”, “short” and “tall”, “long” and “short”
- Sort objects into categories and count the number of objects in each category up to 100
Time and Spatial Relations
- Understand length of time (second, minute, hour)
- Vocabulary (later, before, often, more, less)
- Proportions and spatial relations
Numbers and Numerical Operations
- Demonstrate numbers and numerical orders
- Solve simple math problems
- Create and sort numbers by sets
- Estimation (make with increased accuracy)
- Matching numbers 1-100
- Manipulate with “100 Square Table”
Geometry and Measurement
- Properties of different shapes
- Create new shapes from existing shapes
- Use both Standard and Non-Standard measurement tools
- Explore various units of measure using different tools
Science
- Investigation of properties: Observe – Describe – Explore – Compare and Contrast
- Living things and the Environment
- Recognize the properties of living things
- Become familiar with properties and elements of the Environment
- Forces of nature: Magnets, Concepts of Gravity, Motion with Purpose
- Scientific Inquiry Skills: Questioning (what, why, when, how), Hypotheses, Planning experiments, Coming to conclusion about outcomes, Solving and planning complex problems
- Tools and resources: Selecting appropriate tools for tasks, Independent use of classroom resources, Recording observations
Technology
- Use age appropriate technology (computers, tablets)
- Understand the various ways in which it can be used
- Explore and investigate topics using technology
Creativity and Art
- Visual Art: Choosing materials and tools, Demonstrating ideas (visual medias and materials), Distinguishing between forms of visual media, Making observations
- Music: class with a professional music teacher is offered weekly. Recognizing differences in genres, Recognizing, Repeating, and Creating Rhythms and Melodies, and Understanding and recognizing musical concepts. We give Concerts to parents every 3 months.
- Dance and Creative Movements: Coordinating movements to music and sounds, displaying spatial and relational awareness, Using imagination and creative movements with music
- Dramatic Art: Planning and performing complex dramatizations with peers, Using child’s imagination to stimulate various environment and situations, Composing and directing stories and plays
Social and Emotional
- Developing Identity: Using expressive language to describe feelings and personal characteristics, Taking pride in accomplishments, abilities, and characteristics, Impacting world and others
- Emotional Intelligences: Problem solving skills, Understanding how personal actions impact others, Demonstrating compassion and empathy for others
Caring for the Environment
- Take care of living and non-living things
- Have positive impact on Environment
Nutrition
- We are 100% USDA Certified All Organic Center
- Food Choices
- Understand the benefits and characteristics of healthy, nutritious foods
Health and Safety
- Respect and create safety rules
- Take initiative for personal care and hygiene
- Apply safety rules to personal conduct
Motor and Fitness
- Kids Yoga – weekly class is offered by Certified Yoga Instructor
- Kidokinetics – weekly class is offered by a Certified Instructor and introduces children to over 40 different sports
- Gym – is offered every week
- In Summer our 2+ Acre backyard turns into a Thyme Park with fun sprinkler systems and many outdoor activities
- Coordinate multiple muscle movements
- Seek out and enjoy engaging in multiple physical activities
- Understand basic ideas about how exercise and physical activities benefit the heart and muscles.