Jr. Kindergarten

As your child enters the Junior Kindergarten program at ImagiNation Learning Center, you will notice a shift in philosophy.

As your child enters the Junior Kindergarten program at ImagiNation Learning Center, you will notice a shift in philosophy.  The Junior Kindergarten Learner is very industrious.  There is a strong focus on refining previously developed skills, achieving new levels of understanding, and creating tangible evidence of the learning process.  Your child’s teacher will become the Project Leader as she guides your eager learner through a series of challenging yet achievable activities.  You will witness his instinctive desire to acquire knowledge; and a growing pride in personal achievements.  

Reading

It’s the gateway to knowledge! As letters and words begin to evolve into written thoughts and ideas, it is vital to create an understanding of the basic rules of print.  We use the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL’s) as a guide to prepare for kindergarten and beyond.   Junior Kindergarteners will utilize the “Let’s Find Out” Magazine throughout each week.  “Let’s Find Out” not only provides a basis for emerging reading and decoding skills, but also addresses all aspects of a STEAM focused curriculum.  Junior Kindergarten reading goals are as follows: 

* Understanding and applying knowledge on how print is organized and read, 

* Learning that print makes sense,  

*Developing/applying the basic phonetic principles needed to read and spell  

Writing

One more way to communicate!  Junior K’s are excited as they begin to leave their “marks” on the world around them.  Printing upper and lower case letters independently, writing to communicate ideas, exploring technology for writing (computer skills); printing legibly and confidently are the building blocks for strong writing skills.

Listening

It’s a two-way street! The student will build oral communication skills throughout the year.  Many opportunities are provided to initiate and participate in conversations with peers and adults.  Listening skills and speaking vocabularies are growing by leaps and bounds as your child gives and follows multi-step directions, begins to ask how and why questions, and experiences and reflects descriptive language to better express her thoughts.  Our bright and engaging flip charts expose the children to a wide variety of literary forms.  Stories, poems, rhymes, songs, and dramatic performances abound!

Science

How our world works! Throughout the year your child will learn to describe basic characteristics, classify objects, develop questions, record data, and make predictions.  Some of the topics we will explore are: Animal Habitats, The Five Senses, Magnets, Weather, and Scientific Tools. The scientific method and investigational process become a more formal technique as your junior kindergartener becomes an active participant in the discovery of the world around her.

Technology and Engineering

Let’s Build It!  Our children are natural born engineers.  For Junior Kindergartners, engineering is about play!  As we provide them with an abundance of materials and opportunities for building and discovering, the Junior K’s will 

* Be introduced to a wide variety of classic and creative building materials 

* Build Science and Math Skills 

* Become engaged in the learning process 

* Foster critical skills in self-confidence and problem solving 

Art

A creative journey to yourself!  Art is an important addition to the STEM philosophy. As the connection between logic and creativity is strengthened, it opens your child’s world to new ideas, processes, and technology. This is our future!  We seek to develop the whole child by promoting activities which use both sides of the brain.  We encourage creativity and innovation, and in doing so, children apply their newly learned skills across all subject areas.  Your Junior Kindergartener will be introduced to clay, weaving, beads, and papier-mâché.  They continue to have open access to crayons, markers, scissors, colored pencils, collage materials and much, much more. Long term and group activities are introduced as a new and exciting way to create! As your child’s capability increases, more and more complex materials and methods become available.

Math

It all adds up!  Our busy learners are exposed to a variety of math concepts in Junior Kindergarten, however the most critical concept is counting.  The Compass Junior Kindergarten Curriculum provides many hands-on opportunities for children to develop an abstract understanding of the concrete objects in the world around them.  Counting and writing from 1-100, grouping collections of objects into 10’s and 1’s, recognizing the value of money, and learning about analog clocks are some ways that we experience math at ImagiNation Learning Center.