K1: Ages 4 – 5 years
Timings:
Mondays – Fridays
8:00 am – 2:30 pm
We know that early childhood education sets the foundation for a child’s future. It is well researched that the first three years of life are the most fundamental in a human’s development and their potential. However, the second most crucial phase in a child’s life is between 3 – 6 years of age. While 80% of a child’s brain is formed by age 3, 90% of a child’s brain is formed by age 6. Keeping this in mind, the K1 class is designed to provide a dynamic range of activities to help stimulate your child’s senses and unleash their innate curiosity through our international curriculum (IB & Montessori) for holistic development – social, emotional, physical, cognitive, language and creative.
Social & Emotional Development:
At Kai, we understand that a smooth transition from home to school is crucial, and in response to this, we make sure that your child has a safe and hygienic learning environment for your child to explore and engage with warm and vibrant facilitators with whom they can develop secure relationships – a crucial foundation for learning and life-long happiness.
We have a clear plan to support both the child and parent with the transition and settling in process, while also helping to establish healthy routines. Becoming familiar with and comfortable in the school environment, peers and teachers is always the first priority.
Once settled, the teachers plan for opportunities for your child to gain a sense of self-esteem, self-worth, self-confidence and independence. We also begin our day together, as a family, by eating breakfast together and learning good table manners from others as well as, taking turns, sharing, caring for ourselves and for our environment.
Participating in circle time to share experiences and feelings adds to a child’s social and emotional development, as well as having various times in the day to interact with peers across different age groups to either learn from or role model.
Throughout the year, Kai students have different programs to be a part of to come together with their parents, friends and greater community.
Physical Development:
Physical development at this age is evolving and our teachers prepare the environment with curated resources and scientifically designed Montessori materials, which continue to encourage both fine and gross motor skills. Children also have a plethora of space on our sprawling 2 acre campus, such as the sandpit, balancers, tunnel, rock climbing wall, indoor slide, athletic track or the very popular climbing mound, to provide a variety of opportunities for each child to explore and thrive in their physical development. This is also a great way for them to be able to expand their abundance of energy at this age.
Cognitive Development:
This area focuses on how a child constructs their thought processes; children will begin to gather, sort, and process information around them, using the data to develop perception and thinking skills. The areas of cognitive development include remembering, information processing, problem solving, reasoning, decision-making and language development.
Age appropriate Montessori materials for remembering and problem solving guide the child for more complex activities as they grow, particularly in math, language and culture. These activities are also uniquely integrated with K1’s 4 International Baccalaureate* transdisciplinary themes.
Transdisciplinary Themes (theme across disciplines/subjects)
Who We Are
Central idea: We live together with our similarities and differences
Where We Are in Place and Time
Central idea: Exploration leads to new experiences and understanding
How We Express Ourselves
Central idea: People communicate in many ways for many reasons
How the World Works
Central idea: Living things are dependent on their ecosystems
Also in line with the Montessori and IB philosophies, at Kai we follow the child, which allows time for him or her to process, repeat and master activities on their own, while also differentiating the activity according to the child’s individual pace.
Our approach as an IB school is to teach through open-ended guided inquiry approaches, which are hands-on and provide meaningful play and exploration of the many different learning environments that Kai has to offer – there are several learning connections for the children to make within the school’s purpose-built premise.
Language Development:
At Kai, we provide each child a language rich environment which provides exposure to new vocabulary through exploration and new experiences. This supports children in their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.
To further language and brain development, our international curriculum ensures experiences for the children to enhance their mother tongue, should it not be the working language of the school, and additionally be exposed to both Hindi and Spanish as additional languages.
Through the physical development of fine motor skills, Kai teachers ensure that each child has developed their pre-writing skills, such hand-eye coordination, muscle memory and developing the hand and finger muscles before proceeding into the year’s curriculum outline and goals for reading and writing. K1 focuses on setting a solid foundation where they will become confident with letter sounds, simple reading and writing skills. The well-renowned Montessori materials provide a clear progression and individualized approach each step of the way.
Creative Development:
The future for our children is yet to be seen. With several careers that don’t yet exist, and areas such as technology continuously advancing, Kai ensures that each child’s innate creativity is nurtured and developed. This includes opportunities for creating and responding through exploration of art, dance, music and other learning experiences. Each of these classes are integrated into the current IB transdisciplinary themes to be able to make real world connections and view themes and ideas holistically.
Additional Aspects of the Program:
Our standards follow a 1:12 student teacher ratio for this age group, along with a support staff helper. Kai strives to give each child the attention and support to grow, develop and achieve their milestones. We also believe in creating opportunities for our students to begin to develop life attributes, skills & values, such as curiosity, sharing and independence through the IB Learner Profile.