Senior Kindergarten learns this way...

 Senior KG, its the last year for the children in the pre-primary section. The portion in this year is such that the children are prepared for the next class- Grade 1 or 1st standard. This is done keeping in mind the transition to the next year, which becomes difficult for the children if not done correctly. The atmosphere changes from informal to formal. For example, the furniture itself depicts the change, from small furniture to formal desk and chair pairing. There is only one class teacher per class who takes the attendance and teaches only one subject. The other subjects are taught by other teachers who take turns and teach according to the periods in the time-table.

The curriculum is designed according to the skills developed in the Junior KG. Take for instance, in English the children are first made to hone the already learned skills in Alphabets by doing activities aimed at recognising the letters, capitals and small letters, filling the missing letters etc. As an extension, the children then begin to form two letter words such as "at", "on", "in" and so on along with phonic sounds (A E I O U) such as "um", "un"etc. They also learn the three letter word formations soon after. Once they have mastered the skill of forming the two to three letter words they are made to recognise the objects and write down the words they have learnt. Worksheets here are the best source of teaching aids with plenty of scope for creativity. Sentence formation is also introduced to the children this prepares the child for the next year. Question and answer writing is one example for the activity that can be used to teach the children to form and write simple sentences.

 Three letter words

 Object recognition and Writing

 

 

 Sentence formation

 

Shapes and colors are the concepts that are first taught in this year for Maths. The usage of the learnt shapes is further enhanced by attempting activities such as creating designs by combining various shapes. Number value from one to fifty is learnt. Counting is used as a follow up activity once the numbers have been taught and learnt. Missing number, higher and lower numbers, "what comes before and after", simple addition and subtraction with single digits and number names are few of the activities that are done in the Senior KG for mathematics. Concepts of short and long, big and small, heavy and light is also another area that is touched upon in this year. Indeed, these are quite a few things that the child is taught, but it is all taught keeping in mind that the child is entering the formal schooling soon and will have lesser hand-holding.

Missing number writing

Counting and simple addition

In Environmental science (EVS) the concepts of pet, domestic and wild animals are revised. Asking the children to bring along their pets or animals is an interesting way of teaching and making the learning experience fun for the children. Young ones of animals is further explored under the concept of animals. Dramatizing the rhymes and poems, both colloquial and English, is a fun activity done with the children, which gives boost to their creativity and imagination. The plant structure in learnt in detail- like roots, stem, leaves, flowers etc. and fruits. Food and nutrition includes teaching the child the importance of nutrition and important nutrients they must eat such as proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. They are educated about the sources of these nutrients. A dietician could be invited to address the children and the parents, which helps answer all the queries by an expert himself!

Such a variety of information is taught to the children that it could be difficult for them to retain it if they do not revise often. After the summer vacation, when the children begin their formal schooling in 1st standard, the teachers must revise what has been taught already in the pre-primary classes. This is very important and goes a long way in acclimatising the children and building their confidence.

Activities for the Junior Kindergarten

Moving on to the next in line age group-Junior Kindergarten, I wanted to elaborate a bit on the activities that we could try out with them.

One marked difference between the Nursery and Junior KG is that in this year the children are taught to write. Junior and Senior KG sessions are for three hours and requires structured time-table. Junior KG curriculum has more subjects and formal work like reading, writing, Hindi etc. This requires perfect planning and following of the time table. Here the first  period is not free play like that in the nursery class. They begin with the prayer and followed with the attendance. Children then assemble on the floor and start with oral work like reciting the alphabets, counting from one to hundred. This is then followed with formal writing work, alternating with English and Numerical writing exercises.

In English, the kids learn both capital and small alphabets. For each letter, a follow up worksheet is made which has exercise such as matching the letters with the objects, missing letter, recognising alphabets and so on. Apart from the alphabets writing skills are honed by doing pattern writing, repeated alphabet writing etc.

In maths, the conceptual knowledge is given priority in this year. The concepts that are taught include numbers, shapes and sizes, missing numbers, sequencing the numbers and number value too. This is practiced both orally and in writing.

In Evironmental Science, the concepts that are covered in Nursery and repeated but in greater detail. For example, the idea of my family is extended to other relatives like cousins, Aunts and Uncles and many other relatives in the family. Other topics like the plant life, wild animals, infants of animals, food and nutrition, seasons-rain and rainy creatures, craft and drawing. Below are the examples with pictures of various activities that are tried with this age group.

Co-curricular activities are similar to the previous year but are advanced in nature. Dancing, singing, yoga are some of the activities that the children enjoy and look forward to participate in. Annual day in the school becomes an occasion for the children to showcase their talents. The child is given certificates and trophies for their participation. Children also look forward to the sports day with similar enthusiasm. They are encouraged to participate in various competitions throughout the year. This helps the children in self-esteem and confidence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All these activities and many more are given in my book set "You can do...". For any enquiry regarding this, you could contact me at my email- jjdesai90@gmail.com and jyotidesai@yahoo.com

 

 

 

Nursery Curriculum broken down for you

A general overview of the subjects for the pre-primary classes was given in my last three posts. The curriculum is so important that I feel spending a little more time on elaborating the activities would help many teachers and parents understand their child's needs and how to fulfil them better.

Nursery is the preparatory year and this class focuses on activity based work aimed at gross motor control, eye-hand coordination, physical, emotional and social development. As given in the previous post, the first period for this class is free play which ensures that the child's attention is grabbed from the minute he enters the classroom when he looks at the variety free play material laid out for him.

Free Play:

Free play is not just any random, aimless game playing but involves plenty of skill development. The child learns through the material laid out for him/ her on the table, such as the play dough, the ring pyramid, blocks, puzzles, inset puzzles for shape, numbers, alphabets and colors and many more. Crayon work also is one of the activities that can be done during the free play time. Threading the beads is aimed at developing and improving the eye-hand coordination.

English:
Next subject that is part of the nursery class is English. This too is taught through activities such as story telling, picture talks, flashcards, books and charts which are all part of the teaching method here. For picture talk, the topics picked are usually something that the child is familiar with like the beach, station etc. At this age, the child's motor skills aren't fine tuned yet to take up writing work. Hence, only recognition of alphabets is done in this class.

Mathematics/ Number work:
Oral counting upto 50 is covered in this class. Only recognition of numbers until 50 is done. No conceptual knowledge is emphasised here as the child is not yet ready for such high level skills. In terms of shapes, the child is encouraged to recognise the basic shapes such as a square, circle etc. through activities like coloring the shapes.

Environmental Sciences (EVS):
This subject is focussed on familiarising the child to his surrounding environment. This not only includes the home and the school but also the outside world. The kids are familiarised with their family and themselves to begin with. Then topics such as rain is introduced. The activities could include the dressing for the rainy season, what does the rain mean and later in higher classes (Junior KG and Senior KG), the concepts of water cycle etc. is taught. Health and Hygiene along with Nutrition is also taught to the children. Excursion to places like bakery, diary etc. are helpful ways to make a lasting impression on the child while teaching about Nutrition. In Nursery, while teaching about animals only the pet animals are introduced as the child would have already experienced seeing the animals in their surrounding. A visit to the zoo is a good way of teaching this concept. Vehicles such as bus, car, cycle are also familiarised to the child. Other topics that are touched upon include-plants, fruits (learnt by visiting a garden) etc.

Extra-curricular activities:
These include activities such as dancing, yoga, singing, physical exercise etc. They help the child in terms of personality development, gaining social skills as they do most of the activities with other children of their age and also involve gross motor skills.

These are the basic activities that can be done with the children at this age. Many more creatively thought out activities can be planned keeping in mind the skills and the level of the children at this stage.

Directions activity

 

 

Finger Painting

 

 

Paper Tearing

 

Junior KG is another age which has slightly different subjects and ways of teaching the same subjects compared to the Nursery.  My next post would touch upon the activities for the Junior KG.

 

Senior Kindergarten time table and curriculum

After the post on Junior KG time table and curriculum, I would like to focus on the Senior KG.

Both the Senior KG and Junior KG time table and curriculum are very similar, except that the Senior KG topics are more advanced. For example, in the subject environmental Science, the children in the Junior KG are taught only about pet animals. Whereas, in Senior KG, the children are taught all the various types of animals such as the pet animals, wild animals and so on. Another example is that when learning English, the children now begin with three to four letter words instead of just learning the difference in Capital and Small letter like in the Junior KG. They also begin the reading work independently. Advanced reading like a story is also taken up here with some help and coaching from the teachers. In number work, the children would have learnt the numbers from one to hundred in the Junior KG. It is now time for them to learn some conceptual knowledge by doing activities like- filling the blanks with the missing numbers, before and after numbers, addition and subtraction, big and small and number comparisons amongst many others. The rest of the subjects remain the same such as drawing and coloring and craft work. Children enjoy narrating stories and reciting poems that they have learnt. This is done as a competition to encourage the children to give in their best and build self confidence.

Senior KG is the last year before the child enters the world of formal schooling. The environment and the methods of learning are very different in the formal classes such as the Class one when compared to the Senior KG. In the Senior KG the learning is based more on activity and in the Class one, the learning becomes more structured and direct. This transition is not an easy task for the children. The teachers must acknowledge the change and the difficulties the children face. In fact, trying to bridge the differences between the two classes becomes a crucial aspect in the teaching. Teachers could consider not starting any structured teaching in the first month of the classes in Class one. This would allow the children to settle down in the new environment and to the new methods.

Since, there is so much importance given to the activities in the three years, I would like to take up the various activities that could be done with the children in each year, based on my book, in the coming posts.

 

Junior Kindergarten Curriculum and Time Table

Picking up from where I had left off at my previous post, I am going to elaborate on the Junior KG time table.

Junior KG and Senior KG sessions are for three hours and require a structured time table. Junior KG curriculum has more subjects and formal work like reading and writing in English and introduction of Hindi. It requires perfect planning and following the time table to the T. Now the children are more active and boisterous. Teachers thus have to be better prepared to keep them adequately busy with formal work and fun activities that follow the written work. Some children are slow and need to be motivated. The teachers could be prepared with drawings and follow up worksheets. After the break too, the teachers must plan for activities such as dancing, singing, yoga or number work and number concepts. This is done keeping in mind that the children are more energetic and restless post the break. The activities mentioned would then suit this time appropriately. They also have Environmental science, Story telling and poems, conversations. Children must be allowed to go on the stage and they should be trained to use the Mic. This could help to build their self-confidence. In my school I had gotten a small stage built which could also be used for other activities such as the puppet show. Through the puppet show, the teachers would teach concepts like hygiene, cleanliness, health and nutrition and even fun stories and poems. The teachers were trained in making the puppets and voice modulation that helped make the puppet show entertaining. On Saturdays a "Teacher's Enrichment Programme" would be oragnised by me. Similarly, on the last Saturday of the month a "Parent's Enrichment Programme" for the parents would be conducted. For the Teacher's Enrichment Programme eminent people from the Educational field would be invited to conduct workshops and seminars. The topics of these seminars and workshops ranged from:
1. Making creative teaching aids and Puppets
2. Nutritional and Diet information for the children.
3. Reading and Writing skills to encourage effective learning.

Parent Enrichment Programme topics:
1. Class library and the importance of books.
2. Diet and Nutrition
3. Importance of computers in learning.
4. Importance of Water play and Sand play

Period	Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
I	9.00-9.30am	Prayer/ Attendence/        oral work	Prayer/ Attendance /    Yoga	Prayer/ Attendance /oral work	Prayer/ Attendance /Hindi oral	Prayer/ Attendance /Yoga
II	9.30-10.30am	Writing work  (English Writing)	Writing work (Number Writing)	Reading (English)	Story telling/ Poem recitation	Computer Introduction
III	10.30-11.am	B	R	E	A	K
IV	11-11.45am	EVS	Craft	Dancing	Singing	P.T
V	11.45-12 pm	D         I	S      P	E        R	S	E

* If the teachers are trained in MS Word, Excel or Powerpoint, they could further do worksheets or presentations for the children on the Computer.