KINDERGARTEN 1

Kindergarten 1 represents the student’s first introduction to school life, and we aim to provide a firm foundation in basic skills that will foster a well-rounded education. At the same time, we nurture the student through their early learning experience. Our goal is to instill an initial love of learning and exploration of the world around them through structured play. This period of early learning is necessarily less structured than later stages, but by the end of the school year, we expect the students to have achieved the following:

1) Communication, Language, and Literacy

       A. Listening

• • Listen attentively to a speaker without interrupting and provide relevant responses.
  • Recognize rhyming words through simple nursery rhymes, for example, ‘Jack and Jill.’
  • Participate in games that involve sounds, such as drawing a picture related to a given letter sound or word.
  • Follow music in games, for instance, ‘The Hokey Pokey.’
  • Comprehend and follow simple oral directions, such as ‘stand up’ or ‘sit down.’
  • Remember the names of classmates and teachers.
  • Respond appropriately to questions or engage in conversation, like answering ‘How are you?’ with ‘I am fine.

       B. Speaking

• • Express ideas clearly, describe the world around them, and verbally convey feelings and emotions.
  • Engage in creative drama, puppetry, and role-playing activities, such as animal action games or re-enacting professions, for example, being a firefighter.
  • Participate spontaneously in speaking situations, offering comments on situations without prompting and building confidence in speaking.
  • Begin to use polite language, including phrases like ‘please’ and ‘thank you.

       C. Reading

• • Interpret pictures and arrange them in sequence to form a story. Students will identify the main theme or subject from a given picture and then sequence a selection of pictures that are out of order. At the most basic level, this could involve sequencing images representing a seed, shoot, and tree to tell a growth story.
  • Recognize similarities and differences in colors, shapes, letters, and orientation through visual models, matching games, and letter jumble activities.
  • Practice left-to-right sequencing, which is linked to story sequencing and the visual aids provided by the teacher.
  • Match initial letter sounds to pictures, for example, ‘C’ for ‘cat.’
  • Learn the common sounds of consonants and vowels from A to M, starting with phonemic awareness and then progressing to letter names using games, songs, and other phonemic awareness activities.

       D. Writing

In the initial stages of writing, we focus on encouraging students to fully express themselves on paper while gently guiding the correct use of writing instruments and writing styles. This approach aims to foster good writing habits for the future.

• • Hold writing instruments correctly.
  • Write from left to right.
  • Maintain proper sitting posture and hand position when writing.
  • Trace the basic strokes used in writing numbers and letters.
  • Begin to write the lowercase letters of the manuscript alphabet.

2) Science/Health

• Identify a variety of animals from photographs or illustrations, and imitate the characteristics of selected animals, beginning with a Farm topic and reinforced through songs such as ‘Old MacDonald’ and role-playing animal behaviors.
• Match animals to their respective homes through both verbal and visual matching exercises.
• Pair baby animals with their parents.
• Name and describe basic objects and elements in our environment using visual, oral, and tactile methods.
• Recognize body parts through songs like ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes’ and by exploring the body through tactile art activities.
• Begin to distinguish between good and bad habits.
• Learn how to care for skin, eyes, ears, and teeth, using physical demonstrations and songs like ‘This Is the Way We Wash Our Hands.’
• Practice good safety habits, such as walking instead of running and tying shoelaces.

3) Mathematics

• Classify objects by color, size, and shape, using both tangible and pictorial models as well as basic sorting games.
• Group objects by other common attributes, such as categorizing people into girls and boys.
• Match sets that contain an equal number of items, starting with tangible models (for example, matching three blocks to another set of three blocks) and then progressing to pictorial representations.
• Determine which of two sets has a greater or lesser number of objects.
• Use a tangible model to solve a problem.
• Recognize sets of objects ranging from 1 to 10, employing pictures, counting games, and songs to foster counting skills and an interest in numeracy.
• Write the numerals for sets of 1 to 5 objects.
• Sequence and recognize numerals 1 to 5 using flashcards with numbers and sequencing worksheets.
• Identify basic shapes and associate them with common objects in the environment, such as a circle representing the sun or a square representing a house.

4) Social Studies

A. Social Awareness

• • Identify individual family members from pictures, initially through stories about families. Parents will be encouraged to provide pictures of the student’s family for discussion and to create visual models.
  • Take responsibility for the care of personal spaces and belongings, both at home and at school.
  • Practice good manners in various settings, including at home, at school, and in public, such as using polite language with teachers and displaying proper eating habits.
  • Demonstrate the ability to share with others.
  • Cooperate with peers in a group setting.
  • Distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior at home, with a focus on safety and manners. This is achieved through visual modeling of correct behavior and understanding consequences via positive reinforcement.

5) Music

• Differentiate between tone and noise.
• Express responses to music with large, free movements by regularly engaging in music games, songs, and dynamic visual modeling.
• Engage in action songs and singing games.

6) Art

Art is a continuous and integral part of the learning process across the curriculum, and it’s important to outline the fundamental objectives.

• Experiment with a diverse range of art media and techniques.
• Create art with a high level of freedom and creative expression.

7) Physical Education

• Learn to kick a stationary ball.
• Engage in both classroom and outdoor group games, adhering to instructions, such as running, basic football skills, and other physical activities.
• Foster an enjoyment of swimming and actively participate in pool activities. Pupils are encouraged to engage in swimming from their initial introduction to preschool.

8) Thai Language and Culture

• Use Thai greetings and appropriate behaviors correctly, such as ‘Sawadii Ka/Kap’ and the proper execution of the ‘Wai.’
• Begin to familiarize with the Thai alphabet, starting with basic visuals and letter sounds, for example, ‘Gor Gai, Kor Kai,’ etc.
• Identify common Thai fruits and flowers.
• Learn to say various numbers and colors in Thai.