Daily Routine

Routines support children to feel safe and confident as possible in any environment. We follow a daily routine to make sure that students understand and prevent what happens during their learning journey. 

SIS Kindergarten is open from Monday to Thursday from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. and on Fridays from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Children need time to adapt and get ready to start their learning journey. We give children the time to start softly, cheer their friends play outside. 

Morning Snack

The Kindergarten children have snack time twice a day. Children need to bring healthy snacks. Sweet foods, including  chocolate or Nutella, are discouraged.  We encourage parents to prepare a balanced healthy snack box for their child, and include a rich variety of culturally significant foods. All Kindergarten is a free nuts zone due to allergies.

Pre-Literacy 

Effective language teaching and learning are social acts, dependent on relationships with others, context, the environment, the world, and the self. Such learning is relevant, engaging, challenging and significant. Language provides a vehicle for learners to engage with the world and, through the Pre/Literacy sessions we accept, responsibility for the mission of the IB to “help to create a better and more peaceful world”.  

Phonological & Phonemic Awareness  

• Kinesthetic awareness: Exposure to sounds and action 

• Blending Syllables: e.g. clapping name 

• Segment Body percussion: keeping a rhythm/ making music using clapping, tapping, stamping etc. to reinforce distinguishing between sounds and to increase exposure to ending sounds 

• Manipulate sounds: Identify the first sound: examples of listening - which animal can you hear? What sound do you think that is? Distinguishing between sounds. Exposure to sets of initial sounds. 

• Rhyming through song and dance : Books/stories/poetry alliteration, e.g. Simon saw silly socks. 

• Reading/writing. (Adults model reading and writing for leisure and with a purpose. Children will have many other opportunities during library times to bexposed to books and printing material.) 

• Role-playing , writing/ mark making for a purpose. Example - creating a shopping list, writing a prescription, writing a sign for a shop. Children make their own props. Providing opportunities for writing in all areas, e.g. labelling/ designing in the construction area.) 

• Fine motor development: Pre-writing skills are the fundamental skills children need to develop before they are able to write. These skills contribute to the child’s ability to hold and use a pencil, and the ability to draw, write, copy, and colour.  
  In Kindergarten the fine motor skills practice includes activities such as: lacing beads, manipulating play dough, interlocking building blocks, finger games, craft projects, buttoning, tweezer activities, etc. The more precise fine motor skills are practised, the better handwriting will the children develop in the long term. 

Numeracy 

Numeracy is the ability to use numbers and solve problems in real life. It involves skills that are not always taught inside the classroom and the confidence to use numbers and mathematical approaches in all aspects of life. 

Through natural play experiences and exploration, educators offer specific related maths materials and areas within the kindergarten, where children can engage according to their interest and develop the basis of a numeracy knowledge and mathematical understanding:  

• Number Sense and Numeration: Quantity Relationships; Counting; Operational Sense 

• Data Management and Probability: Collection and Organisation of Data; Data Relationships; Probability) 

• Geometry and Spatial Sense: Geometric Properties; Geometric Relationships; Location and Movement 

• Measurement: Attributes, Units, and Measurement Sense; Measurement Relationships.  

“Good intuition about numbers and their relationship develops gradually as a result of exploring numbers, visualising them in a variety of contexts, and relating them in ways that are not limited by traditional algorithms”. (Howden 1989). During numeracy activities, the elements involve multiple senses and are three dimensional, so that children can manipulate numbers, data, labels or construction blocks. Children and educators create diagrams, charts and graphics to manipulate data and create conclusions.  

Gross Motor Skills Development (Sports) 

Activities that develop gross motor skills, between the ages of two and five years old, take an essential role in the development of the child. Children show a natural urge to move, experiment and explore things by themselves to make new learning experiences. 

Through sport activities, children gain new possibilities of perception and expression and can explore their bodies holistically. An essential goal is to develop the general motor skills and abilities of every single child to promote them individually. This is achieved through many different activities, such as balancing exercises, testing the ability to react (for example catching and throwing a ball) or sharpening the sense of orientation. These activities help children to develop space perception, which in turn, provides cues, such as depth and distance, that are important for movement and orientation in the environment 

During sports activities children play team and coordination games to foster cooperation and develop relationships among their peers. Independence, social behaviour and a sense of community, body awareness, concentration and attention as well as the imagination will develop and strengthen through these activities.   

Music  

Kindergarten music sessions are centred around performing singing and playing instruments. Singing lies at the heart of the music sessions as the voice is the most immediately available instrument for all children regardless of their age or ability. Children sing a repertoire of songs to display confidence, expression, language and an awareness of musical elements such as pitch and rhythm.  In performing children play musical pieces using a range of instruments to demonstrate style, expression, and an understanding of melodic direction, tempo and dynamics.  

Library Sessions 

Library sessions are provided once a week with the classroom teachers. We aim to foster the love for reading as well as the correct use of books. During library sessions, children had an opportunity to explore different books from different tropics as well as languages.

The nutrition on children has an essential impact on their development and their future eating habits. With a healthy, balanced diet at an early age, children lay the foundation for a future healthy lifestyle. 

A hot meal is provided daily for all Kindergarten children from 12:00 to 13:30. The meal includes salad options, fruit for dessert and sometimes yoghurt or pudding. No pork products are ever used, and vegetarian options are always available. 

We only use ingredients from 100% certified organic cultivation for cooking. We do not use flavour enhancers, preservatives, colours and additives and we of course pay attention to “fair trade” and thus support sustainable trade.

We recognise the need for children to have the opportunity to rest or sleep in the afternoon. A quiet, restful environment is provided for the entire Kindergarten. We take an individualised approach and we will provide a rest time suitable for each child. Children will have the opportunity to choose quiet free-choice play or sleep time. 

That’s it for the day! Kindergarten day is over. After a full day of learning experiences children are ready to go home and enjoy family time.  

In case you need extension of the kindergarten times we offer two different options from Monday – Thursday: 

• 04:00 p.m. – 05:00 p.m.  After Kindergarten Care (internal providers) 

• 04:00 p.m. – 05:00 p.m.  After Kindergarten Activities (external providers) 

For these options please see further information in our AKA section.