Kindergarten is an exciting year
of cognitive growth! It is also
a time when a child's critical
thinking, reading, writing, and
processing skills blossom.
Forest Ride Academy acknowledges
that all children are unique and
special individuals that develop
at different rates. The
kindergarten program at Forest
Ridge incorporates many learning
activities that cater to each
child's individual needs and
provides children with
opportunities to develop positive
relationships and social skills.
The following is a description of
the components that make up the
kindergarten program.

Language arts incorporates
various subject areas such as
handwrtings, phonics, reading,
and writing. In handwriting,
students learn and practice the
Zaner-Bloser formation of letters
and numbers. Phonics instruction
is interwoven into the subject
areas of reading and writing in
order to help children construct
and decode words. Students learn
about word families, short and
long vowel sounds, blends, and
digraphs. The reading ad writing
programs use a variety of
resources to help children become
and see themselves as independent
readers and writers.
Kindergarteners are engaged in
shared reading and writing,
guided in reading and writing,
and read and write
independently.

Students in kindergarten do two
major writing projects throughout
the year. The first project is
writing an animal rhyming story
where students use their
imaginations and knowledge of
word families to create a short
story about an animal of their
choice. Although this project
involves a lot of time and
effort, students take great pride
in their work after developing,
editing, and illustrating their
own stories.

The second project is writing a
biography. Students write a
biography about one of their
peers after interviewing them and
share their completed product
during the kindergarten
graduation ceremony. In addition
to these two writing projects,
the language arts program allows
kindergarten students to develop
their writing skills through
sentence composition, journal
writing, and picture writing.

The math curriculum in
kindergarten involves units about
shapes, patterns, symmetry,
money, time, and measurement.
Later in the year, students begin
learning the practical
application of math fact families
through the use of manipulatives
and hands-on experiences. This
approach provides children with
opportunities to nurture mental
growth and the development of
logical structures that are
necessary in understanding
various mathematical concepts.

The science and social studies
curriculums are rotated
throughout the year. In science,
children conduct experiments and
explore areas of physical science
including matter, magnets, sound,
heat, light, and motion.
Students also learn about areas
of life science including the
five senses, how the human body
works, and the different stages
in the life cycles of ladybugs
and butterflies. Through a
sustainability grant received
from BP, kindergarten students
will also have the opportunity to
learn about solar energy and
build their own solar powered
cars.

The social studies curriculum
introduces children to the world
around them by focusing on topics
such as where they live, the
environment, neighorhoods and
communities, land vs. water, and
U.S. history. They also learn
how to read a map, use a map key,
and why maps are important.

Kindergarteners have the
opportunity to go on numerous
field trips throughout the year.
Some of these field trips include
the apple orchard, pumpkin patch,
and the zoo. For their community
service project, kindergarten
student visit a local assisted
living facility where they get to
know the residents and play games
with them.

Some of the special celebrations
that are highlights of the
kindergarten year include
celebrating the 100th day of
school, Dr. Seuss week, and
graduation. Students, families,
and faculty look forward to our
annual kindergarten graduation
ceremony. It is a memorable time
to celebrate the children's
accomplishments as they prepare
to step over into the life of
a first grader.

The kindergarteners also attend
special classes in Spanish, Sign
Language, computers, music, art,
and PE. To learn more about the
happenings in these classes,
please click on the appropriate
links.

To learn more about what is
happening in kindergarten, click
on classroom pages and then on
kindergarten.

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