Language
The development of language skills is an important step in the process of preparing for further education. At Colwell Nursery School & Kindergarten, we offer a number of activities to provide a well-rounded language curriculum.
Speaking and Listening
- Daily opportunities in individual and group settings to: recount personal experiences, ask questions, listen and react to stories, communicate messages, follow instructions, join in songs and choral responses, and apply basic rules of participating in conversation
- Opportunities to bring materials from home, related to our topic, to share
- Oral activities designed to promote speech development
- Daily enrichment activities in French and Spanish (words, phrases, counting, stories, and songs)
- Special programming and referrals for speech and language problems or other learning or behavioural activities
Reading
- Emphasis on books and reading for interest and information
- Themes planned around literature
- Reasoning and critical thinking developed through retelling stories, recalling information, expressing thoughts and feelings
- Attention to following written instructions
- Attention to understanding the conventions of sentences, including punctuation and capitals
- Use of phonics as an aid in learning new words
- Use of context to determine meaning
- Use of predictable patterns to assist reading and determine meaning
- Group reading: “chiming in”
- Small group repetitive story reading
- Daily story times
Writing
- Writing as a means of communicating ideas
- Early story writing to be encouraged through art work
- Early writing skill practice
- Understanding of simple, complete sentences/plurals
- Awareness of simple punctuation, capitals, and spaces between words
