2023/2024 SCHOOL YEAR

 

The Kindergarten Program at Gaithersburg Presbyterian Preschool and Kindergarten (GPP&K) is licensed by the Maryland State Department of Education and follows a Maryland State accredited kindergarten curriculum. 

Our Kindergarten program opened 37 years ago!

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Our Kindergarten class consists of an average of 12 children with one Maryland State certified teacher and one assistant teacher.

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Our Kindergarten is an activity oriented program and includes many 'hands-on' and direct experiences. The program is designed to accommodate individual differences in children and to promote a love of learning. We provide an atmosphere in which the child can be successful and build strong self-esteem. The instruction is delivered in many forms including individual instruction, small group experiences, and large group/circle time activities.

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Christian Education is the cornerstone of our school. We are a ministry of the Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church. The children hear a weekly Bible story from their teacher. Chapel Time takes place every Monday in the church sanctuary with our music teacher. This is a special time to hear a Bible message/story and to sing and experience music with other classes from our school. The children learn what a special place the church sanctuary is.

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Reading/Language Arts will be lessons from the SRA McGraw Hill, Open Court Phonics Level-K curriculum. Instruction includes letter stories, games, songs, and other activities to teach letter/sound recognition. The program offers direct instruction in blending all the sounds to form words. The child will build fluency through guidance in listening and speaking objectives. Books, poems, and language experience stories are used to extend vocabulary and to motivate children in writing their own stories. Sight words, sentence structure and comprehension skills are taught in small groups using the Guided Reading curriculum.  The Word Wall and flash cards are other instructional tools that are utilized. Handwriting instruction is taught and homework is to be expected. We will explore the writing process with theme journals, science journals, and a sentence response to a book.

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Math will be lessons from the SRA McGraw Hill Math Explorations and Applications Level K curriculum. Students have individual workbooks to reinforce math objectives. Students will also have opportunity to develop understanding through hands-on math manipulative activities and the use of the classroom computer. Through various activities the program will emphasize classification, counting, one-to-one correspondence, measurement, sets, more/less, shapes, patterns, value of money, telling time, as well as addition and subtraction. A cooking project is completed by the children every week to focus on sequencing, following directions, and measuring.

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Social Studies theme is My World which includes the units: About Me, My Family, Friendships, Our Community, and The World and Me. Incorporated into these units are lessons on safety, health, manners, as well as geography. This program utilizes the SRA materials and emphasizes cultural, social interaction, critical thinking and civic competence.  Monthly and seasonal themes are supplemented with Scholastic News.

 

Science will be lessons from SRA McGraw Hill which gives students the foundation of knowledge about life, earth and physical sciences, as well as key concepts on good health.  A variety of literature based materials enrich the program as well as 'hands-on'  activities to encourage inquiry in order to challenge the children to observe, measure and experiment. 

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• Life Science includes senses, living and non living things, plants and animals

• Earth Science includes weather, earth's land and water, earth and space

• Physical Science includes matter, changes and how things move

• Health concepts include The Human Body - your body, taking care of your body, and nutrition for your body

    

Physical Education occurs every day through outdoor or indoor large motor activities.

    

Sharing Time is an opportunity for each child during the week to have a special day to share an item from home with their classmates. This is another opportunity for the children to practice their listening and speaking skills.

Lunch Time is an opportunity for children to learn and sing blessings and to socialize with classmates.  They will also practice good table manners, discuss nutritious foods, eating the colors of the rainbow,  and talk about seasonal fruits and veggies.     

Art Program - our Kindergarten Art Program curriculum will allow the children to explore many different types of art medium, such as watercolor and pastels that can be used for visual expression. They will study the works of famous artists and emulate their styles, from pointillism to cubism, as they create their own art. The children will observe art from different cultures, as well. Many of their projects will be showcased in our Kindergarten Art Gallery.

 

Cooking Program - our Kindergarten Healthy Cooking Program is designed to enhance our academic curriculum. The children will use mathematics and scientific thinking by making predictions, measuring and sequencing. Cooking together in the classroom engages all of their five senses. It reinforces literacy and vocabulary as children and teachers read recipes together and learn new words relating to different types of food. In this unit we will explore new and interesting ways to expose them to healthy foods to encourage children to make healthy choices! The monthly theme for cooking projects will be highlighted on the Kindergarten Cooking bulletin board along with weekly recipes.