Clever Kittens are children aged 5-7 years.
The curriculum for this year provides a bridge between Kindergarten (US System) or 1st Grade. Compared to a typical Kindergarten year at school, at ICCC children will be exposed to more play-based learning with daily classes on Literacy or Math skills. We take into consideration children’s individual needs and abilities and support them to achieve the best withing their own pace of learning.
The Clever Kittens learn about nature, space and the planets, art, health and mindfulness, and more. They use books, magazines, charts, video clips, and field trips, to expand their knowledge and understanding of the world and the environment.
They continue to develop a positive self-image, personal skills such as resilience and adaptability, and social skills such as sharing, cooperation, morality, respect.
With the help of Jolly Phonics they continue to build and expand their phonics knowledge and form a a solid base for reading and writing. They learn operations with numbers, measurement, size and shape, and use everyday language related to time and position.
Weekly Science, Dance and Karate Classes with outside teachers are a special feature in our program and complement children’s physical and cognitive development.
There are optional Bulgarian Literacy and Math classes in the afternoons for children who need preparation for Bulgarian school requeirements. Validation for entry into 1st grade in Bulgarian schools can be organized with ICCC partner schools.
We hold orientation days for families to help with their choice of schoold for children.
Learning goals
Communication and Language
– Listen attentively and respond to what they hear with relevant questions, comments and actions
– Hold conversation when engaged in back-and-forth exchanges with their teacher and peers.
– Participate in small group, class and one-to-one discussions, offering their own ideas, using recently introduced vocabulary;
– Offer explanations for why things might happen;
– Express their ideas and feelings about their experiences using full sentences, including use of past, present and future tenses.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
– Show an understanding of their own feelings and those of others, and begin to regulate their behaviour accordingly;
– Set and work towards simple goals
– Be confident to try new activities and show independence, resilience and perseverance in the face of challenge;
– Explain the reasons for rules, know right from wrong and try to behave accordingly;
– Manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs, including dressing, going to the toilet and understanding the importance of healthy food choices.
– Work and play cooperatively and take turns with others;
– Form positive attachments to adults and friendships with peers;
Physical Development
– Negotiate space and obstacles safely;
– Demonstrate strength, balance and coordination when playing;
– Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing
– Begin to show accuracy and care when drawing.
Literacy
– Use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems and during role-play.
– Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs;
– Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending;
– Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed;
– Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters;
Mathematics
– Have a deep understanding of number to 10, including the composition of each number;
– Automatically number bonds up to 5 and some number bonds to 10.
– Verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system;
– Compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity;
– Explore and represent patterns within numbers up to 10, including evens and odds, double facts and how quantities can be distributed equally.
Understanding the World
– Talk about the lives of the people around them and their roles in society;
– Know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class;
– Understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.
– Describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps;
– Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class;
– Explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries, drawing on knowledge from stories, non-fiction texts and – when appropriate –maps.
– Explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants;
– Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons and changing states of matter.
Expressive Arts and Design
– Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function;
– Share their creations, explaining the process they have used;
– Make use of props and materials when role playing characters in narrative sand stories.
– Invent, adapt and recount narratives and stories with peers and their teacher;
– Sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs;
– Perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and –when appropriate –try to move in time with music.
Daily routine at ICCC (space for one picture)
8.00 am: arrival, play and small group activities
9.30 am: circle time and IEYC group activities
10.00 am: morning snack
10.30 am: IEYC / math / Jolly Phonic sessions
11.45 am: physical education and outdoor play
12.45 am: lunch
1.15 pm: music class; relaxing time; free play or Bulgarian Literacy and Math classes
2.30 dance / karate / science class
3.30 pm: afternoon snack and closing circle
3.30 pm: IEYC activities; closing circle;
4.00 pm: free play indoors or outdoors and pick up me
6.00 pm: school closes