Experience Our Academic Program

Kindergarten

Welcome to Kindergarten

Our Kindergarten Program is intentionally designed to harness the unique growth opportunities available to five- and six-year-olds during this developmental stage. We know our students are social, confident, capable and creative thinkers. Our curriculum develops their intellectual capacity and nurtures their insatiable curiosity, laying the foundation for future academic success as well as a lifelong passion for learning. 
Our teachers design a balanced day which includes direct literacy, math, science and writing lessons as well as open explorations. We are passionate about children believing in themselves. We encourage them to work independently as well as collaboratively, and affirm the contribution of all voices.

Kindergarten Highlights

List of 3 items.

  • Woods Walk

    Our Kindergarten program includes weekly “Woods Walks,” where students explore our 35 acres of woodlands, trails, and vernal pond — discovering nature and learning about the environment firsthand. Being outdoors in the woods offers tremendous developmental benefits for young children, nurturing their bodies, minds, and spirits in ways that indoor or more structured environments often can't. These walks encourage curiosity, foster a love of nature, and provide a rich context for science and exploration activities.

  • Mood Meter

    The Mood Meter is a key component of our social-emotional learning curriculum. Kindergarteners use this tool to identify and express their emotions, helping them develop emotional intelligence, self-regulation skills, and empathy. This practice lays the foundation for healthy emotional development and positive interactions.

  • Learn to Skate

    In our “Learn to Skate” program, Kindergarteners have the opportunity to develop balance, coordination, and confidence on ice. This fun and engaging activity promotes physical fitness and introduces students to a new skill, fostering a sense of accomplishment and resilience.

Kindergarten Sample Schedule

List of 17 items.

  • 7:30 a.m.

    Early Birds: Before School Programming Available
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  • 8:00 a.m.

    Arrival & Choice Time

  • 8:30 a.m.

    Morning Meeting

  • 9:00 a.m.

    Writing or PE

  • 9:30 a.m.

    Snack & Recess

  • 10:00 a.m.

    Small Group Lessons: Language Arts

  • 10:30 a.m.

    Small Group Lessons: Music, Science or Spanish

  • 11:00 a.m.

    Math

  • 11:30 a.m.

    Social Studies

  • 12:00 p.m.

    Lunch

  • 12:30 p.m.

    Quiet Time

  • 1:00 p.m.

    Small Group Lessons: Art or Music

  • 1:30 p.m.

    Small Group Lessons: Math or Writing

  • 2:00 p.m.

    Recess

  • 2:30 p.m.

    Story

  • 2:45 p.m.

    Dismissal

  • 3–5:30 p.m.

    After School Programming Available
    Learn More

Our Kindergarten Curriculum

Language Arts

Kindergarten Language Arts fosters a love of literature and supports children as they grow more confident as readers, writers, speakers, and listeners. Our curriculum is designed in a systematic and sequential way to develop the foundational skills essential for becoming an independent reader. Recognizing that children enter Kindergarten with varying levels of proficiency and developmental readiness, we differentiate instruction to meet each child where they are. Through read-alouds, shared reading, word work, small-group phonics instruction, shared writing, and writing workshop, we create responsive learning experiences that build skills while nurturing curiosity and confidence.

Social Studies

The social studies curriculum focuses on developing a sense of community and an appreciation of the natural world. Children take advantage of the school’s surrounding fields, woods and streams to develop the concept of stewardship. The curriculum is designed to create a community where kindness, respect and empathy are fostered. Children begin to develop a deeper understanding of self. Each child is a valued and contributing member of a group learning to solve problems, collaborate, cooperate and take responsibility.

Mathematics

The curriculum builds a strong mathematical foundation while instilling an attitude that math is exciting, relevant, challenging and accessible. Using a framework that helps learners from concrete to pictorial to abstract engagement with numbers, students spend time representing and comparing whole numbers, describing shapes and space, joining and separating objects to understand addition and subtraction, and describing and analyzing attributes of the shapes they see in their daily lives. With the use of manipulatives and games, children are invested and develop a positive, confident attitude toward learning mathematical concepts. 

Science

The Kindergarten curriculum approaches science through direct experiences in which they form ideas, test them, see the results, revise their ideas and try again. They are encouraged to design their own experiments, hypothesize, problem solve and analyze their results. With a variety of animals in our building and our expansive campus to explore with woods and a vernal pond, opportunities to interact with nature abound. Children learn about protecting habitat, and respect for our environment. An understanding and appreciation for the natural world is formed through meaningful and relevant hands-on experiences.

World Languages

Kindergarten Spanish classes are designed to engage the child’s multiple intelligences — visual, musical, spatial, kinesthetic and interpersonal. Through songs, books, poems, puzzles, dance, games and artistic media, students learn to structure and communicate words and phrases in Spanish. The following topics are introduced: everyday greetings, colors, numbers, body parts, animals and clothing.

Visual Arts

In Kindergarten art, children experience the creative process through the use of recycled and found materials with an emphasis on problem solving, resourcefulness and sustainability. Concepts of color, space, line, texture and design are taught in a manner that encourages individual thinking and freedom of expression. Children work on their own and in small groups, and the artistic experience takes advantage of the wide array of unique workspace environments and opportunities available on the campus.

Music & Movement

Kindergarteners bring their creative, playful spirits to the music curriculum and are ready for more sophisticated song games. Their creative ideas come to play in reenacting a piece of literature or in different ways to move to a piece of music. By the end of the Kindergarten year, students can identify the eighth, quarter and half notes as they match their step to the drum.

Dramatics

Through puppet shows, theatrical adaptations of favorite stories, and other age-appropriate, collaborative activities, students engage in imaginative play that deepens their connection to classroom learning. These responsive, in-the-moment experiences support self-expression, build confidence, and help children make meaningful links between the curriculum and their own ideas and experiences. Dramatics also foster empathy, creativity, and a joyful sense of belonging as students work together to bring stories to life.

Physical Education

In Kindergarten, children continue to develop their gross- and fine-motor skills for physical activity such as catching and throwing a ball, performing locomotor movements, and navigating obstacle courses, while building upper body strength. Group games are introduced as children participate in running games while learning to change directions, share equipment, take turns and demonstrate good sportsmanship.

Imagination & Curiosity Have Room to Roam.

New Canaan Country School

635 Frogtown Road, New Canaan, CT 06840
Phone: (203) 972-0771

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Accreditations

New Canaan Country School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin and are afforded all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, financial aid policies or any other school-administered programs.