EARLY CHILDHOOD

In grades Kindergarten through 2, students are active learners, building on a foundation of skills and routines from pre-school. Students build their literacy skills with a focus on foundational phonics curriculum, combined with guided and whole-group reading and writing instruction. In math, students explore addition and subtraction, while building fluency, working to more abstract thinking about counting and numeracy, and beginning to problem solve. Science and social studies reinforce literacy skills and help students explore the world through inquiry and observation. Social emotional skills are introduced and reinforced through weekly lessons on character traits, community, empathy, diversity, and mindfulness.

Our curricula include:

• Into Reading
• Wilson’s Fundations
• Eureka Math/Engage NY Math
• Amplify Science
• NYC DOE Passport Social Studies

Students should receive reading instruction every day. Some days may include shared reading and a whole-class discussion of comprehension; guided reading in small groups with leveled texts should be included at least twice per week. We use Fountas & Pinnell to monitor student reading levels. The following is a guide for where students should enter and exit each grade level. Please keep in mind that all students develop at their own pace, and your teacher can provide more information on your child’s assessment and progress.

The writing block includes time for students to workshop more extended writing pieces, including creative writing. Phonics instruction teaches students to decode letters into sounds in order to build fluency. Students will learn letter sounds, blending, phonemic awareness, high frequency words, vocabulary, handwriting and spelling. 

A daily math block should include lessons from the Eureka Math/Engage NY Math program. Each lesson includes fluency practice; modeling using pictures, charts, and manipulatives; time to solve problems; and time to discuss solutions. 

In each Amplify Science unit, students are asked to inhabit the role of a scientist or engineer in order to figure out scientific phenomena through a 21st century, real-world problem context. The units of study include:

Social Studies includes activities to think like historians and raise questions, think critically, consider many perspectives and gather evidence in support of their interpretations through the practice of chronological processing, decision-making and historical research and analysis. The units include: