Kindergarten

  • The Heights Community School has three all-day kindergarten classrooms. Our full-day kindergarten curriculum has proven very effective in preparing children with the skills they need for success in the first grade. With the additional instructional time, we are able to provide a more extensive curriculum in reading and math while still providing the social, art and sensory experiences that kindergartners need to thrive. Our goal is to have every kindergarten child complete this important first year feeling confident and positive about school.

    A typical kindergarten day at the beginning of the school year consists of:

    • Reading instruction in beginning sounds, letter recognition, and visual discrimination/matching skills.
       
    • Math instruction in number recognition, counting skills and patterning.
       
    • Language lessons that involve listening to stories read to them, answering questions, retelling stories and enjoying follow-up art activities.
    • Self-directed choice time


    Students also attend classes daily in either physical education, music, or science. 

    • Please visit the specialist page for more information from the specialists. http://heights.spps.org/Domain/8549
    • For Social Studies we will work on sharing, problem solving, and using the CARES curriculum in our daily activities. We will explore various events around the world and learn about our community from The Minnesota Children's Museum.

    Later in the school year, children are ready for small group instruction in reading picture books with repetitive text and learning sight words. Many children are ready to begin reading simple books on their own. We ask families to support their child's reading program by daily reading of a take-home book. Math instruction includes number recognition to 100, simple addition and subtraction, solving oral story problems and introduction to time and money concepts.

    We look forward to getting to know our families and welcome their visits and participation in the classroom. Together we can help each child achieve a successful start to their school career.

    - Elliott Greenawald, Melissa Kennedy, and Timothy Schneider

Kindergarten Daily Schedule

  • 7:15-7:45--Breakfast and Ease into the Day

    7:45-8:00--Morning Meeting

    8:00-9:10--Shared Reading, Independent Reading, Literacy Centers, and Guided Reading Groups

    9:10-10:10--Writer's Workshop

    10:10-10:30--Recess

    10:30-10:40--Transition from Recess

    10:40-11:10--Lunch

    11:10-11:50--Whole Group Math

    11:51-12:41--Specialists (Science, Gym, Music)

    12:45-1:00--Small Group Math

    1:00-1:20--Skills/Phonics

    1:20-1:45--Snack/Active Learning

    1:45-1:55--Closing Meeting and Transition Home

    1:55-2:00--Dismissal