K3 concepts
SCHOOL will be in full session in a matter of days, and though many of our children have missed a lot of instruction time, not much has changed about the aspects of the curriculum that they need to cover for their age group.
Starting at Pre-K, there are certain concepts that are needed to move to the next level, and it is these that we have been exploring. What are the concepts that your child will cover when they start school in September?
Over the past weeks we’ve covered Pre-K to K2, and now here are the basics of K3 (five year olds) as outlined by the Early Childhood Commission.
Developmental Objectives
Term 1
WELLNESSIf provided with the appropriate opportunities children will:
• Demonstrate increasing mastery in gross motor skills needed in sporting activities such as football, cricket, dancing and swimming
•Demonstrate increasing mastery in fine motor skills, eg forming letters, numbers, shapes, using scissors, completing intricate puzzles, using the computer keyboard
•Disassemble and reassemble objects; build three-dimensional block structures
•Freely choose and try out new tasks
•Demonstrate increasing competence in self-help skills and chores at home and school
•Tell their phone number, address and other personal information
• Demonstrate strong sense of belonging and being a member of a group
•Demonstrate ability to successfully enter into play situations with peers
•Acknowledge the importance of having adequate rest, sleep and physical activity
•Demonstrate improved judgement of space and distance in games, sports and use of equipment
•Suggest ways in which accidents can be avoided.
COMMUNICATION
If provided with the appropriate opportunities children will:
•Create and use sentences that make statements, ask questions and show excitement
•Respond to a story with discussion and questions about the characters and plot
•Listen and respond to texts through a variety of media and activities
•Predict and represent outcomes for stories; dramatise events in a story; enact the role of any selected character; suggest alternative versions of and outcomes for stories
•Follow complex instructions
•Ask questions to seek clarification
•Recall and use previous knowledge and information for problem-solving
•Begin to introduce, welcome and thank visitors with adult supervision
•Repeat rhymes, jingles, verses, poems, etc.
INTELLECTUAL EMPOWERMENT
If provided with the appropriate opportunities children will:
•Select samples of work for display and give reasons for their selection
•Make sets of and bundle materials in groups of two, five and 10
• Create and write simple mathematical sentences and understand their meaning
• Use symbols to show comparison (equal, less than, greater than)
•Use the number line appropriately for activities that include comparing numbers, sequencing numbers, and skip counting
•Combine and partition sets to solve problems
•Make sets using pictures and objects up to 20
•Identify and name shapes, including circle, triangle, star, square, rectangle, oval and heart, using templates for creating patterns and pictures.
Term 2
WELLNESS
If provided with the appropriate opportunities children will:
•Enjoy independent and group/team activities
• Drop a ball and kick it before it falls to the ground
•Use a bat to hit a ball
•Develop basic gymnastic skills
•Copy shapes, eg circle, triangle, rectangle, oval, and heart; combine more than two geometric forms in drawing and construction
•Write most letters of the alphabet in upper and lower case
•Draw scenes that include more details and objects
•Talk freely about where they live and where other people live.
COMMUNICATION
If provided with the appropriate opportunities children will:
•Use various types of sentences, eg statements, questions and exclamations
• Listen and respond to texts through a variety of media and activities
•Predict and represent outcomes for stories; dramatise events in a story
•Follow and give complex instructions
•Understand and describe various concepts
•Engage in a variety of activities for composing creative writing and expression; use pictures and other forms of expression to demonstrate creativity.
INTELLECTUAL EMPOWERMENT
If provided with the appropriate opportunities children will:
•Investigate and expand knowledge about self, others and the environment
•Express their knowledge using a variety of media
•Apply information and vocabulary to a new situation or context
•Select samples of work for display and give reasons for their selection
•Use pictographs to represent information
• Count in ones up to 100
• Count in twos up to 20
•Recognise and use the zero concept.
Term 3
WELLNESS
If provided with the appropriate opportunities children will:
•Engage in imaginative and creative play indoors and outdoors; join in independent and group activities that involve co-ordination, speed and balance
•Imitate movement of things in the environment, such as a bird flying, a tree swaying, etc.
•Demonstrate increasing dexterity in fine motor coordination; trace and draw geometric forms, symbols; write letters and numerals; use appropriate spacing in writing; manipulate materials — playdough, scissors; put small items such as Lego blocks together
•Use a computer mouse and keyboard with increasing skill.
COMMUNICATION
If provided with the appropriate opportunities children will:
•Give and receive information in conversation, using appropriate courtesies
• Extend courtesies to others, such as introduce, welcome and thank visitors with increasing confidence
•Listen to and describe various concepts; ask for and seek clarification
•Dramatise events in a story; enact the role of any selected character
• Identify likenesses and differences in symbols, shapes, letters, words and sentences with increasing attention to details.
INTELLECTUAL EMPOWERMENT
If provided with the appropriate opportunities children will:
•Use money appropriately; recognise the value of most Jamaican coins and notes
• Use non-standard and standard units to measure length, height, perimeter and capacity
•Differentiate between day and night
•Observe and classify materials and objects that sink and float in water
• Identify and describe different weather conditions such as thunder, lightning, wind, clouds, rainbow and others; record information about the weather
• Produce and interpret simple floor plans and maps
•Describe the varying physical features of Jamaica
• Talk, sing songs, retell and relate stories and poems about events from the Bible and other books that demonstrate cultural and religious beliefs and practices
•Write numerals and number names 1 to 20
