For many kindergarten students, school is a new experience. So, from day one, our teachers and caring staff work to forge a bond with students. This bond makes school feel like a fun, safe space to learn. When students have 300 questions to ask, we’ll have 300 answers. Even better, we’ll provide hands-on learning opportunities and help them discover the solutions.
This webpage provides an overview of what your child will learn by the end of kindergarten as directed by the Iowa Core, our statewide academic standards. The Iowa Core standards focus on key concepts in mathematics, literacy, science, social studies, and 21st Century skills.
Kindergarten opens your child’s eyes to learn about the world around us. Using the Iowa Core standards, we help curiosity flourish and instill a love for life-long learning.
Mathematics
Children arrive in kindergarten with widely varying levels of knowledge in math. By the end of the year, your child must have some important foundations in place. This includes the ability to count objects, add and subtract small numbers, and use addition and subtraction to solve word problems.
Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:
- Count objects to tell how many there are.
- Act out, using objects, addition and subtraction word problems, and/or draw diagrams to represent them.
- Add with a sum of 10 or less; subtract from 10 or less; and solve addition and subtraction word problems.
- Fluently add and subtract within 5 (e.g., 3 + 1).
- Correctly name shapes regardless of orientation or size (e.g., a square oriented as a “diamond” is still a square).
English Language Arts & Literacy
Your child will learn about the alphabet and its role in reading. He or she will practice rhyming, matching words with beginning sounds, and blending sounds into words to prepare the child to read and spell correctly. Your child will begin to experiment with writing and will be encouraged to use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing letters to share information, ideas, and feelings.
Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:
- Name upper- and lower-case letters, match those letters with their sounds, and write them.
- Retell stories and talk about stories read to your child by using details from the text.
- Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to describe an event that includes the student’s reaction to what happened.
- State an opinion or preference about a topic or book in writing (e.g., “My favorite book is…”).
- Take part in classroom conversations and follow the rules for discussions (e.g., listen to others and take turns when speaking).
- Learn to recognize, spell, and properly use short grammatical words that hold language together (e.g., a, the, to, of, from, I, is, are).
Science
Learners build on their early experiences of observing the world around them as they begin to formulate answers to questions such as “Where do animals live and why do they live there? What is the weather like today, and how is it different from yesterday?” Kindergarten students will use their senses to make observations, ask and answer questions, develop models, and plan and conduct investigations. Students in kindergarten will identify patterns and cause and effect relationships as they explore the world around them.
Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:
- Ask and answer questions related to the natural world.
- Use observations to identify patterns and variations in local weather.
- Observe plants and animals, determine what all animals, including humans, need to survive, and identify examples of how plants and animals meet their needs through interacting with or changing their environments.
- Experiment with pushing and pulling various objects and investigate the answer to “What happens if you push or pull an object harder?”
Social Studies
In kindergarten, students will engage in learning about themselves, their school, city, and state. They will have opportunities to compare how life in the past is different from life today with respect to their own experiences.
Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:
- Construct class rules that embody fairness, leadership, and responsibility while learning how to apply the ideals of democratic citizenship.
- Compare and contrast life today to life in the past.
- Use maps, globes, and photos to create a route to a specific location.
- Recognize that people have individual traits and can be alike and different in many ways.
- Evaluate the difference between needs and wants and make connections to the difference between buying and borrowing.
- Discuss and act on civic problems in their classrooms.
21st Century Skills
Your child will participate in activities that teach how good hygiene, healthy food choices, and adequate rest help him or her feel good and be ready to learn. Students will learn how to use technology in all curricular areas to communicate and appropriately work with others. They will practice work habits and social skills that will help them become successful students. Students will receive real-world experiences through visits from community members and parents who represent various professions, and then participate in age-appropriate activities that are related to the visits.
Examples of Your Child’s Work at School:
- Compare positive and negative health and safety practices.
- Give examples of personal rights and responsibilities as members in a classroom.
- Use technology to illustrate and communicate ideas related to class projects.
- Follow steps or processes to complete increasingly complex tasks.
- Understand the concepts of spending and saving money and why both are important.
Source: Iowa Core Parent Guides from the Iowa Department of Education.
Read the Iowa Core Parent Guide (English) and Iowa Core Parent Guide (Spanish).
Read the complete standards at www.iowacore.gov.