WELCOME!

Welcome to the Kindergarten Program at Anne

Frank Public School. We are thrilled to be a part of
your childs early learning journey and are very
much looking forward to working alongside you
this year. As a Kindergarten team we strive to have
consistent messaging and programming. The
following will explain the importance of
relationships, self regulation and oral language in
the first few months of Kindergarten. We have also
included an explanation as to how we program
using time, space and materials,

TIME, SPACE, MATERIALS

Time: Flow of the Day
Students in Kindergarten engage in a Flow of the
Day wherein they flow through purposefully
planned invitations for learning that have a
mathematics, literacy or science/social studies/
visual arts focus.

THE KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM

ANNE FRANK PUBLIC SCHOOL
September 2016

Children succeed in programs that focus on active

learning through exploration, play and inquiry. Children
thrive in programs where they and their families are
valued as active participants and contributors.
How Does Learning Happen? (Ontario Ministry of Education,2014c, p.4)

Space: Classroom Space

Kindergarten classrooms are designed in a way to
encourage students to develop self regulation.
Neutral tones and natural materials help to
provide a calming environment for students to
learn. Our walls evolve into a canvas for student
thinking to become visible.

Materials: Invitations for Learning

Students are invited to explore new concepts or
extend further learning through provocations or
invitations for learning. This approach helps to
foster creativity, imagination and critical thinking
in our Kindergarten students.

RELATIONSHIPS &
SELF REGULATION
Emotional Development Through
Relationships
The deepest language of all ... is the language of
relationships. It goes much deeper than more easily
measured skills like logical thinking and problem
solving.
The Kindergarten Program (2016, p. 48)

What Can You Do At Home to Promote

Emotional Development?
Listen to your child with full attention.
Instead of advice and offering solutions
acknowledge with a word Oh ...Mmm ... I
see.
Instead of denying what your child is feeling, give
the feeling a name (That sounds frustrating!).

In the Kindergarten program, educators help to

Communication (verbal and non-verbal) plays a

major role in Kindergarten. Educators often begin
building communication skills as a way to foster
relationships and self regulation. Educator teams
will model verbal and non verbal forms of
communication so that children can learn how to:
Notice and name non-verbal communications
(I saw by her face she was angry);

support emotional development and social

competence in various ways for example, by

share their ideas, feelings, interests, and

experiences;

modelling problem solving and alternative

ways of managing conflict, and by affirming

ask and respond to questions;

positive choices. They provide opportunities to

initiate, respond to, and engage in both verbal

and non-verbal communication with others;

help individual children learn to self-regulate, with

the understanding that childrens ability to
regulate emotions varies from individual to

ask simple, what and where questions;

individual for example, that there are differences

use simple vocabulary to describe things;

in childrens emotional reaction times and in the

duration and intensity of their emotional responses.

COMMUNICATION,
RELATIONSHIPS & SELF
REGULATION

SELF REGULATION
What is Self-Regulation?

engage in pretend play that includes language;

listen to each other with attention and engage
in give-and-take conversations (turn taking).

A childs ability to self-regulate to set limits for

themselves and manage their own emotions,
attention, and behaviour allows them to develop
the emotional well-being and the habits of mind,
such as persistence and curiosity, that are essential
for early learning and that set the stage for lifelong
learning. Some common misconceptions about self
regulation are:
that self regulation is the same as compliance;
the role of the educator is to manage childrens
behaviour.
Source: The Kindergarten Program. 2016. Ontario Ministry of Education.

Source: The Kindergarten Program. 2016. Ontario Ministry of Education.

Source: The Kindergarten Program. 2016. Ontario Ministry of Education.