Forest Ridge Academy offers
a full day junior kindergarten
program for four-year-old and
young five-year-old children.

Children in junior
kindergarten learn
through "active learning,"
direct, hands-on experiences with
people, objects, events, and
ideas. Children explore, ask and
answer questions, solve problems,
and interact with classmates and
adults as they pursue their
personal interests and goals.

The children in junior
kindergarten learn a daily
routine. This gives the children
a sense of control over the
events of the day and enables
children to anticipate what
happens next. Our routine is
discussed each day and is
displayed in writing/symbols to
encourage early reading.

Each day begins with free
choice. This 30-minute period
provides many opportunities for
the children both socially and
academically. Children are given
the opportunity to start each day
at their own pace. Children make
and express choices, solve
problems, take care of one's own
needs, express feelings in words,
build relationships with other
children and adults, and create
and experience collaborative
play.

Language and literacy are an
essential part of junior
kindergarten. Children enhance
their language skills by talking
with others, describing objects,
listening to stories, dictating
stories, drawing, scribbling,
invented spelling, reading
storybooks, signs and symbols,
one's own writing, and
journaling. Students are taught
letters of the alphabet and their
corresponding sounds.

Sight words/spelling tests
are given to children that show
signs of readiness. Beginning
reading skills are taught using
the Intensive Phonics Program.
Before kindergarten, the majority
of the junior kindergarten
students are reading
leveled/sight word books.

Junior kinderarten students
explore the following math
concepts through the use of many
manipulative objects throughout
our day and during DAP
(Developmentally Appropriate
Practices) or Bubble Math:
classification, seriation,
number, space, and time. Before
kindergarten, children develop
their skills of counting, writing
numbers, and counting by 5's and
10's.

The science curriculum
focuses on learning about
weather, safety, the seasons,
plants,and animals. Our science
program incorporates many hands-
on experiments and projects to
learn and develop these
concepts. These skills may be
enhanced by growing plants,
taking
field trips and nature walks, as
well as a host of other
activities.

Students in junior
kindergarten also attend special
classes in physical education,
music, computer, Spanish, Sign
Language, and art two to three
times weekly.

The junior kindergarten
students also participate in
Service Learning by collecting
gently used stuffed animals and
donating them to the fire
department, who in turn donates
them to those in need.

Junior kindergarten students
participate in approximately one
field trip per month. Fild trips
have included such excursions
as: the apple orchard, pumpkin
patch, Krispy Creme to watch
doughnuts being made, a pizzeria,
the zoo, Children's Museum, and
various children's plays at
nearby playhouses.

CLICK ON SPECIALS TO SEE WHAT THE
STUDENTS ARE LEARNING IN SPANISH,
SIGN LANGUAGE, COMPUTERS, MUSIC,
AND PE.