Kindergarten Love Song
Dierdre Roussin
I LOVE this song. Google tells me that Snapchat first claimed the symbolism of the yellow heart to represent two users who send and receive the most messages to and from one another. So I guess the first person on your send list on Insta, etc ? I just love the music tbh!
I am so excited to share with you more about A Quiet Growing Kindergarten! I wrote this curriculum because I love educating my children in the Charlotte Mason method but also feel like there is a huge gap when it comes to the kindergarten age group.
Entering into kindergarten for the third time, I knew I wanted more than just a book list for my child, but also nothing too rigorous or formal. I wanted something that truly aligned with what Charlotte Mason envisioned for this age.
1. Charlotte Mason's idea of a "quiet growing time": "In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a mother's first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it spent for the most part out in the fresh air." (Home Education, p.43)
To recite, beautifully, six easy poems and hymns.
To recite, perfectly and beautifully, a parable and a psalm.
To add and subtract numbers up to ten, with dominoes or counters.
To read--what, and how much, will depend on what we are told of the child; children vary much in their power of reading.
To copy in print-hand from a book.
To know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, where the sun rises and sets, and the way the wind blows.
To describe the boundaries of their own home.
To describe any lake, river, pond, island, etc., within easy reach.
To tell quite accurately (however shortly) three stories from Bible history, three from early English, and three from early Roman history. (*To Note: AQGK substitutes Early American and Native American history for early English and Roman history)
To be able to describe three walks and three views.
To mount in a scrap book a dozen common wild flowers, with leaves; to name these, describe them in their own words, and say where they found them.
To do the same with the leaves and flowers of six forest trees.
To know six birds, by song, color and shape.
To send in certain Kindergarten or other handiwork, as directed.
To tell three stories about their own "pets"--rabbit, dog, or cat.
To name twenty common objects in French, and say a dozen little sentences.
To sing one hymn, one French song, and one English song.
To keep a caterpillar, and tell the life-story of a butterfly from his own observations.
So, if you've read through this list and are anything like me, you're probably a little bit intimidated and also left wondering how a child can attain these things while also having that "passive, receptive" "quiet growing time".
Let me tell you how. I believe this list isn't a check list, but rather an outline for the beauty we can spread before our children when they are in kindergarten. It is the parents' job to bring before them a wide feast of ideas, without pressure, and the child's job to receptively and passively enjoy!
The included teacher's guide gives you detailed instructions on how to teach each subject in a Charlotte Mason way, ideas for afternoon and outdoor occupations, a book checklist, a supply checklist, optional teacher's enrichment reading, folk song playlist, amazon shopping list and a sample schedule.
Each week is laid out in a grid format, and each day should take less than 90 minutes to complete. Mondays also include Poetry Tea Time and all of Friday is a lighter schedule with nature walks and time for a family read aloud chapter book.
The rest of the day is to be spent outside, exploring and digesting all that they have heard. This is the "letting alone" that Charlotte Mason talks of, giving children room and space to grow. In A Quiet Growing Kindergarten there are no tests or exams or narrations required. It is meant to be a resource to kick start you and your child on the path to a Charlotte Mason education while your child enjoys the beauty of their home-life and world.
Play is the best instructor, so our kinders learn letters, numbers, and other concepts experientially. They hear the sounds of a letter repeated in stories and poems carefully selected to feature that letter. They draw the letter with their feet in the sandbox and fashion it in bread dough. They paint the strokes of the letter in watercolor. Through engaging the senses in natural play the true essence of the letter emerges for the child. Numbers are experienced in a similar way. We may count stones to build an edge for a flower bed and measure the ingredients we need to make our snacks. Shapes and colors are discovered in the natural world and described with love, only to be rediscovered with joyful enthusiasm on our regular nature walks. Science surrounds us in everything we do both inside and outside of the classroom. We serve the learning of the whole child in this way, deepening their engagement with the world.
Bluebells have one Adventure Day each week. We'll use the River Song van to meet up with the Elderberries and visit a local natural area where the children are fully immersed in the science of nature. Hiking, exploring, adventure journaling, picnicking, and deepening the connection to the beauty that is around us. Seasonal field trips may also take place on Adventure Days. These may include a pumpkin patch, farm, butterfly house, etc.
Our forest kindergarteners meet Monday-Friday, 8:30am-2:00pm at the River Song bus before departing for our location of the week. After care is available from 2:00-5:30pm back at the school (additional charge for after care).
The children's day is spent exploring parks and natural area around Fort Collins using the River Song bus as our mobile classroom. Indoor locations are planned in the event of inclement weather, though most of our days will be spent fully outdoors.
Family volunteers help make these festivals a success, and your service allows our teachers and staff a chance to step beyond education and facilitation. With parent volunteers, we allow our teachers and staff to celebrate the seasons and experience the gifts of renewal and camaraderie with our children and families. Upon enrollment, your family will be asked to commit to a minimum of four of volunteerism in support of our festivals.
So how do I do it? With identification, I use a flash-card approach. We also use a Bird Bingo game in my room that the kids love. Then I introduce one or two bird songs a day. I start with the most common birds our area, and later I add on unique songs that are fun to know like the killdeer, barred owl and northern bobwhite.
Each morning, the first thing we do is come to the rug for circle time. I find that starting with circle is a great way to start the day because it is a routine that students know well and sets our day up right away for the learning ahead.
Then, we sing the days of the week song. After the song ends, I choose a student to tell us what day it is today. Next, we discuss the date and I put the calendar piece on the calendar. Students repeat the full date (example: Today is January 25, 2017).
The calendar helper comes up and moves around the days of the week cards. The calendar helper is the leader during this part of circle and says what day it is, what yesterday was and what tomorrow will be. The rest of the class repeats after the calendar helper.
After calendar is over, our place value helper comes up and adds one straw to our place value chart. This helper also changes the days in school card and announces what day we are on in kindergarten. I love this portion of circle because it reinforces place value and we discuss making bundles. Students love when we get to make a BIG bundle on the 100th day of school!
Hello! My name is Danielle and I'm a kindergarten teacher. My passion is creating engaging lessons to make learning fun for my little ones. It is amazing to watch a child grow as they learn what the world has in store for them. Follow my page and teachers pay teachers store to find lessons you can use in your own classroom!
Integrating songs into a preschool curriculum offers a multitude of benefits that extend beyond simple enjoyment. With brightwheel's Experience Curriculum, it's easy to plan lessons that incorporate singing, music, and dancing. With this complete curriculum system, you'll get access to flexible lesson plans for baby, toddler, and preschool age groups and you can easily match lessons in the app to the monthly curriculum kits.
Incorporating songs into the daily routine of a preschool curriculum greatly supports language development. Through repetitive listening and singing, children are exposed to a range of vocabulary and linguistic structures, facilitating their ability to comprehend and use new words. Rhythmic patterns in songs also help with pronunciation and intonation, which are critical components of language learning.
Singing together fosters a sense of unity and cooperation among young children. Group songs require listening to others, sharing, taking turns, and expressing ideas within a safe and structured environment.
Songs provide a unique outlet for children to express their emotions freely. Through music, children can externalize and process complex feelings, whether positive or negative. This creative means of dealing with emotions promotes emotional intelligence and self-regulation, crucial skills for overall well-being and development.
Naturally, children are more engaged and learn better through fun and play. Preschool songs can introduce new concepts to your classroom through things like rhyming lyrics and repetitive melodies. Below are some of the best preschool songs for children.
Welcome preschool songs can be used to make children feel welcome and set a tone for the rest of the day. You can sing welcome songs as you begin the school day or after children have transitioned from one activity.