Early Kindergarten
Fellows offers Early Kindergarten students a developmental, child centered learning environment. For each student, we provide time, choice, and differentiated opportunities to develop social, emotional, and academic abilities through authentic hands-on, minds-on learning experiences
Early Kindergarten Learning Experiences
Early Kindergarten is an option for children who will be 5 years old by September 15 but may not be ready for a full-day kindergarten program. We offer morning and afternoon half-day classes, Monday through Friday, based on a regular kindergarten curriculum.
Early Kindergarten provides learning experiences that focus on literacy and mathematics with embedded social and emotional learning. Learning outcomes for students in Early Kindergarten are the same as those for Kindergarten students. These learning outcomes come from the Iowa Common Core Kindergarten Standards. Students in Early Kindergarten also participate in the same district and state assessments as kindergarten students.
Is Early Kindergarten Right for Your Child?
Please note that birth date is not a reliable factor in judging Kindergarten readiness. If your child did not attend a preschool program, for example, and does not have most of the following skills, Early Kindergarten is an option to consider in supporting your child’s growth and development.
Social-emotional skills:
- Pays attention and follows directions for five or more minutes
- Controls strong emotions
- Understands that sometimes one must wait for what one wants
- Manages rules, routines, and transitions with occasional reminders
- Initiates, joins in, and sustains friendships
Academic skills:
Literacy
- Rhymes
- Identifies 11-20 upper and lowercase letters
- Names the sounds of 10-20 letters
- Writes first name
Mathematics
- Counts orally to 20
- Counts 10-20 objects and knows that the last number stated is the number of objects
- Tells more, less, or same when looking at objects