Introduction

Kindergarten (4 to 5 years old)

Our kindergarten classes are designed to maximize learning opportunities in core academic skills as children engage in multifaceted, interactive tasks organized around a weekly thematic schedule. Instruction includes differentiated strategies, cooperative learning, scaffolding, and tasks involving higher order thinking skills.

In language arts for example, language is presented orally using stories, picture books, songs, and flashcards, and children are exposed to phonetic tasks and letter manipulation games. They also learn purposeful language in order to express and share their ideas. In addition, library, music, physical education, and technology are important areas that will form children’s daily curriculum.

Mathematics

The mathematics curriculum provides a comprehensive set of learning objectives that covers key content areas. As well as the content we engage in the development of mathematical thinking through problem solving, making connections, and trying to explain the mathematical processes. The focal points of the curriculum are number systems, patterns, and mathematical relationships. The first of the content areas is numbers and their operations. Children become aware of numbers in the early stages of their education. Building a strong numeracy foundation prepares them for later learning and so it is important to provide children with many varied opportunities and materials to build an understanding of numbers, number names, and their relationship to object quantities. Additional tasks include counting by one-to-one correspondence, sequential ordering, looking for visual patterns, sorting and categorizing items, and simple computations in addition and subtraction. All of these helps build a solid foundation for the next level. Next children will also learn about measurement and data processes, shapes and their properties, as well as word problems, where they need to think about how to extract and process the information to solve the problem.

Science

Science is the process of learning about the natural world through observation and experiment. Science naturally sparks children's curiosity and motivates us to investigate our surroundings. In our science classes we learn how to think and make informed decisions about the things we see as well as giving us the opportunity to gain knowledge of how and why things function as they do. We collect information, ask questions, organize and test our ideas and learn how to make predictions. This process of doing science develops critical thinking and helps to solve problems and be able to confirm or reject hypotheses.

Art & Craft

Art and craft classes offer both a fun and educational environment rich for children to learn and develop their imagination. Each student will get a wide array of experiences through learning about illustration, painting, designing, sculpture, collage, sketch books, colouring, and learning how to draw. Children can also submit their own cool, interactive art ideas thereby developing their own creative thinking. Arts and crafts provide a freedom of expression. Through arts and crafts children can express feelings that may otherwise be repressed due to lack of communication skills. As we talk about colours, shapes, and textures, the child can explore and create using a variety of materials. As such they can express their feelings of joy, sadness, fear, etcetera. With a careful eye we can see the beauty in their self-expression. This stimulation is an important part of learning and for brain development. As children learn to communicate and express their ideas and feelings in words, they take ownership and control of their emotions and imagination and understand what it is they are producing and making.

Jolly Phonics

Jolly Phonics is one of the literacy programs used at Cambridge and is a thorough foundation for reading and writing. It uses the synthetic phonics method of teaching the letter sounds in a way that is fun and multi-sensory. The program features direct, daily, systematic teaching, and children learn how to use the letter sounds to read and write words. The program covers letter–sound correspondences, blending for reading, segmenting for writing, letter formation and tricky words.

Developmental Courses

We have specially designed developmental courses for ages 1 to 5 that are to targeted to help children further develop cognitive, sensory and motor skills. These courses are primarily aimed at those children who may need additional stimulus in important developmental areas because they do not currently have opportunities to engage with such tasks and materials that enhance learning in these areas. For more details, click here.