At Bradley Elementary School, kindergarten is a wonderful year to grow and learn. The four kindergarten classrooms are structured for success and have high expectations for student achievement. Teaching methods vary to accommodate different styles of learning. Core curriculum areas are outlined below.

Language

The heart of our language program is the Houghton Mifflin reading series. Students develop phonemic awareness by listening for individual letter sounds and word parts that rhyme. Poetry is one of the key components used to teach phonemic awareness. Letters are introduced weekly through Alphafriend characters and songs. The children learn to apply phonetic skills to blend sounds and decode words. Through read-aloud literature, the students learn various oral language and comprehension strategies. Students also build a sight vocabulary of high frequency words. Practice Book pages reinforce these strategies by developing listening skills and asking students to respond to the stories.

Handwriting

We use the Zaner Bloser method for teaching letter formation. The children learn to use guidelines to write upper and lower case letters. They learn about correct spacing within a word and between words. Important elements of instruction are top to bottom strokes, counterclockwise circles, and left to right slide strokes.

Math

The Houghton Mifflin math series guides our math instruction. Manipulatives are used to provide hands-on reinforcement. The math curriculum focuses on problem solving and computation skills.

Special Classes

The students go to Art, Music, P.E., Library, Science Lab and Computer Lab once a week.

Learning Centers

Learning to make choices is an important skill. Kindergartners have a scheduled block of time each day when they are free to make choices about their learning activity. This is also a time for students to develop social skills through play.
Learning Centers provide an opportunity to meet the needs of various learning styles. It allows time for small group and one to one instruction.

Listening Skills and Work Habits

Kindergarten provides the foundation for good work habits that students will use throughout their education. We focus on teaching listening skills and staying on task. Children learn to develop academic and social responsibility.