Read. Write. Learn.

Kent School students experience a cohesive, spiraling curriculum that illustrates our commitment to developing excellent verbal, reading, and written communication skills. From high-frequency words in Kindergarten to complex vocabulary and spelling skills in Fourth Grade, our students leave Lower School with a strong foundation in Language Arts.

By Grade Level:

Kindergarten: Students build on phonological awareness skills to prepare them for success in First Grade and a comprehensive approach to reading fluency. Students learn to read, write and spell simultaneously practicing basic grammar skills and sentence structure in their writing. Self-guided reading is always encouraged so children develop a love of books and reading.

First Grade: At the heart of First Grade’s curriculum is the Language Arts program, where reading, writing, spelling, listening, and speaking skills are developed and practiced throughout the day. Our comprehensive, explicit phonics instruction allows students to develop phonemic awareness, encoding, and decoding skills. Sight words and letter-sound relationships are presented in a systematic, detailed way that is designed to include multiple learning styles in each lesson. Grammar, usage, and mechanics are practiced, with an emphasis on sentence construction, across the curriculum. The flexibility of the program allows for lessons to be adjusted, added, or deleted depending upon the needs of a particular class or group. Activities and lessons may be presented to the whole-class, in small groups, as partner work, or one-to-one with a teacher, and are regularly individualized to meet the needs of a broad range of learners. A wide variety of activities are designed to provide ample time for each child to be in front of the class, in authentic and appropriate ways, developing crucial public speaking skills. In this literature-rich environment, children find multiple ways to meaningfully engage with a wide variety of texts to build oral fluency while developing reading and listening comprehension skills. 

Second Grade: Language Arts builds on First Grade skills with an emphasis on writing in paragraph form and the introduction of creative writing through poetry and short stories. Reading remains a focus  with ample time in the daily schedule for student selected reading. Cursive is taught in Second Grade.

Third Grade: Students are ready for more in depth non-fiction writing and complete projects that put their writing skills to use. Writing skills are honed through book reports and World Geography studies.

Fourth Grade: Students are ready to read novels and think and write critically about them. Throughout the school year, Fourth Grade students will read up to ten novels as a class while also reading a second book of their choice each month.

The Lower School Social Studies curriculum has been thoughtfully designed to guide students through the process of developing a strong sense of self, allowing them to connect to their peers, families, communities, country, and our diverse world. The common strands of citizenship, history, civics, geography, and social-emotional health are presented in age-appropriate ways using relevant literature, artifacts, technology, field learning, and research. In Third Grade students learn with a global focus.

Social Studies themes and concepts are frequently integrated with other subject areas, including Language Arts, Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Spanish, and Science.

By Grade Level:

Kindergarten: The Kindergarten curriculum includes strands of history, economics, civics, and geography. Students use clocks, calendars, schedules, and written records to record or locate events in time. They practice the concept of trade. Students learn that positions of authority carry responsibilities and should be respected. They have opportunities to carry out responsibilities in the classroom. A foundation is laid for understanding the nature and uses of maps, globes, and other geo-graphics, with a focus on exploring natural habitats like the coral reef, Artic Circle and rain forest. The classroom comes to life as students build habitats while refining fine and gross motor skills.

Kent School students enjoy hands-on, inquiry-based science beginning in Kindergarten. The overarching goal of Kent School’s Lower School Science curriculum is to introduce our students to the many branches of scientific study. Using cross-curricular cues from a unit of study in Language Arts or Social Studies, students will be introduced to botany, archeology, anthropology, chemistry, engineering, zoology, astronomy, meteorology, geology and much more. Our youngest scientists become familiar with lab materials and technique. They are engaged with materials that help them become familiar with absorption, dissolving and properties of matter. Students engage in STEM and STEAM activities that support cross-curricular goals. Bridge design and building might support a Third Grade Geography unit while harvesting native grasses from the school garden might support a Fourth Grade Maryland History lesson.

Fourth Grade science is grounded in Kent School’s nationally acclaimed Bay Studies program. Partnerships with the Department of Natural Resources, the National Aquarium, Kent County Soil Conservation, Washington College, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and Sultana Education provide opportunities for project based learning such as over-wintering native diamond back terrapins and blue gills, building buoys to collect data, and the growing of underwater grasses. The program is further enriched through a series of guest speakers from the community and numerous field experiences.  Culminating the year-long program is a three day trip to one of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Island Study Centers. Here, the children are immersed in the history, culture, and ecosystem they have been studying. This program is designed to give the children a sense of place and to inspire environmental stewardship.

At Kent School, Science is all around us, especially on our riverside campus. Lower School students are frequently outside exploring student-built and maintained gardens or garden bird stations throughout campus where they are engaged in citizen science programs such as tagging migrating monarch butterflies or monitoring visiting bird species that appear at our feeders at during different seasons. At Kent School, the study of science is active not passive. Students not only learn about our environment; they learn in it.

Nosotros Hablamos Espanol

The goal of Kent School’s Lower School Spanish curriculum is to prepare students for a successful immersion program when they reach Middle School. Kent School introduces Spanish Language instruction in Little School where children learn basic vocabulary through songs and stories. That approach is continued on a spiraling basis in Kindergarten through Grade 4. Students become familiar with hearing, seeing and speaking Spanish language words, phrases and songs. We deliberately take an introductory approach to Spanish Language instruction in Lower School in order to serve students who join our community in these grades. New students will be able to join in our program and catch up with current students relatively quickly.