Mission Statement

“The Huron School District, in partnership with the community, believes that all students can achieve. We believe that our district’s purpose and responsibility is to provide life long learning opportunities for people of all ages; enabling them to progress toward their maximum potential academically, socially, physically, and emotionally.”

Dear Parents and Guardians:

The relationship between a child and their parents is the most important bond in the world. There isn’t anything that rivals the love between a parent and a child. In the Huron School District, it is our goal to respect that bond and to form a partnership between the home and the school. When schools and parents share the same vision and goal for each child, anything is possible.

The purpose of this handbook is to provide families with information about grade level curriculum and student outcomes in their elementary school. In the Huron School District, we have placed the highest priority on having set grade appropriate standards and creating the framework to reach those standards. The curriculum is simply a road map to a better education. Like all road maps, it is only as good as the person reading it.

For parents, an important component of this guide is the “You can help by…” section. I strongly suggest that parents read this section and ask their son or daughter’s teacher about additional activities that can be done at home to reinforce the lessons being taught in class.

Like you, it is our goal to have every child achieve academically to their fullest potential; and have no child left behind. This is only possible when parents and the schools work together to create a strong academic foundation that will serve in the years to come as a strong base for the future success of all students.

Best wishes and have a great school year.

Sincerely,

Thomas L. Hosler
Superintendent

The Young Five Program

The Young Five Program is intended for those children who may not be ready for the rigors of Kindergarten. The Kindergarten Curriculum is followed, but with more focus on manipulatives and hands-on experiences. This allows the student two years to accomplish the Kindergarten goals.

Development of a Kindergarten Child
It is important to remember that each child is unique and that a wide range of individual differences will be apparent with any group of children. Although there is diversity, there is also consistency. A child’s development is organized and directed. Age characteristics are broad guidelines to help us know what may be expected from children of a certain age.

The Kindergarten Child...
• wants to be liked by classmates and teachers
• is beginning to have the capacity to “wait”
• is calm, friendly, and not too demanding in the child’s relationships with others
• can follow directions
• is generally reliable, stable, and well adjusted
• likes to be instructed and get permission

You Can Help By...
• helping your child to find ways to learn at home
• not pressuring your child to attempt tasks that are too difficult
• providing varied experiences such as visits to the farm, zoo, museums or the library
• letting your child see you reading every day
• building independent skills
• attending parent teacher conferences and school meetings
• volunteering at school and in the classroom
• monitoring television viewing
• making sure that your child eats healthy foods and gets sufficient rest
• acknowledging your child’s accomplishments
Language Arts - Curriculum
The primary goal of language arts is for students to communicate effectively at home, school and in the community by reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing. The Language Arts Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCE) are taught throughout the school year.

By the end of the kindergarten year, most students should be able to do the following:
Reading
• name upper and lower case letters
• make rhymes
• enjoy a variety of printed text (nursery rhymes, poetry, finger puppets, songs, story books, information books, pattern and predictable books, magazines)
• practice appropriate reading behaviors (know that print represents language, pretend read from top to bottom of page and left to right, differentiate letters from words)
• begin to recognize frequently used words
• see themselves as readers and writers
• identify letters and associate them with corresponding sounds

Comprehension
• retell stories or events
• understand concepts of print
• understand that the print as well as the pictures tell the story
• repeat a familiar verse or text
• understand the main ideas presented in text
• connect text to their own lives

Parents Can Help By...
• reading aloud with your child daily: nursery rhymes, pattern and predictable books are especially beneficial
• providing many types of children’s reading materials in your home
• playing sound games with your child that focus on beginning sounds and rhymes
• visiting libraries regularly
• monitoring your child’s TV viewing, watch quality shows and together discuss their meaning
• encouraging your child’s reading effort

Writing
• retell a story with pictures or phonetic spelling
• read back own writing
• write using standard letter forms
• express ideas writing with pictures or phonetic spelling

You Can Help By...
• providing many opportunities for your child to write (messages, lists and cards)
• encouraging your child to dictate stories that you write
• encouraging your child to form the letters in the alphabet correctly
• making writing materials available to your child at home (pencils, markers, paper)
• providing small motor experiences like Legos

Stages of Literacy

Kindergarten/
Pre-First
First
Second
READING emergent transitional fluent
WRITING semi-phonetic phonetic standard
Reading

Pre-Emergent – listens to and retells familiar stories; pretend reads; reads a story logically from wordless picture books; recognizes own name and familiar signs or labels; shows interest in and recognizes some letters

Emergent – differentiates letters from words; uses picture clues to obtain meaning; matches some initial consonant letters with sounds; repeats familiar verses and stories; begins to recognize frequently used words; begins to recognize that print is read from left to right, top to bottom; identifies upper case letters; shows progress in identifying lower case letters; understands that print represents language

Early – uses phonetic and picture clues to decode words; reads predictable or familiar text; reads high frequency words in context; understands what is read and attempts to construct meaning; recognizes words that rhyme and creates rhymes

Transitional – understands that punctuation enhances meaning; monitors and checks own reading by applying a variety of strategies (predicting,pictorial clues, rereading, reading on, context clues, phonics, sentence structure); reads to others, recalls facts from informational books; reads unfamiliar text with support; reads for pleasure

Fluent – uses and applies punctuation to enhance meaning; confidently reads and understands familiar text; uses reading to acquire information; regularly applies reading strategies; continues to increase sight vocabulary; corrects own reading based on meaning
Writing

Scribbling/pictorial – combines pictures and scribbles to represent writing; shows some evidence of over-all form (scribble lists look like lists); no recognizable letters

Pre-communicative – understands that ideas can be written down; strings together random letters (upper case) and letter-like forms; prints own name and occasionally copies words; begins to use letter/sound relationship with support

Semi-Phonetic – uses letter sound relationships; uses one beginning letter to write a word; separates words with dots, dashes, spaces; begins to write left to right; understands that print holds meaning

Phonetic – shows confidence in letter/sound relationships; spells well known words correctly; leaves spaces between words; writes a complete thought; uses both upper and lower case letters; includes some vowels; demonstrates a beginning knowledge of punctuation and its use

Transitional – correctly spells some high frequency words; demonstrates a beginning knowledge of punctuation and its use; appearance of silent ‘e’ (make, life), double consonants (mitt, cliff) and vowel combinations; writes longer sentences

Standard – correctly spells many high frequency words; writes longer passages; edits and revises written work; uses larger vocabulary; uses more complex sentence structure; uses correct punctuation

Mathematics – Curriculum

Purpose
Mathematics is a science of patterns and relationships. Students should be able to reason and communicate mathematically, problem solve and make connections to the real world. The Mathematics Grade Level Content Expectations (GLCE) are taught throughout the school year.

By the end of the kindergarten year, most students should be able to do the following:
Numeration
• understand and combine quantities 0 - 10
• count from 1 - 100
• count objects using one-to-one correspondence
• name numerals 0 - 30

Measurement
• use calendar terms, develop a sense of time
• develop comparative language (more/less, heavier/lighter)
• recognize patterns and sequences in clocks and calendars

Geometry
• identify circle, square, triangle, rectangle, diamond and oval
• explore likes and differences
• classify objects according to their shapes

Statistics and Probability
• contribute to constructing a graph
• interpret a pictorial graph

Algebraic Ideas
• read and extend patterns
• recognize missing parts in patterns

Problem Solving
• classify using attributes of shape, size and color
• use problem solving techniques

Parents Can Help By...
• cooking with your child
• sorting and classifying with your child, household items such as dishes, toys and laundry
• asking your child to count pennies up to 100
• playing simple card games with your child
• playing simple math games with your child, such as Connect Four
• encouraging your child to play and count with blocks
• pointing out numbers and patterns in your child’s world

Science– Curriculum

Purpose
The elementary science program provides students with a science curriculum that includes constructing knowledge, reflecting on scientific knowledge, life science, physical science, and earth science. As students progress through the elementary science curriculum they will build upon scientific knowledge gained in previous grades.

Life Science
• Living and Nonliving Animals
• Plants
• Life Cycles

Physical Science
• Matter
• Sound, Heat, Light
• Movement

Earth Science
• Earth & Sky
• Weather
• Caring for Earth
• Water

Parents Can Help By...
• visiting science centers and zoos with your child
• having your child help measure things with a ruler, scale, measuring cups and spoon
• helping your child see how science relates to their everyday world

Social Studies– Curriculum

Purpose
The kindergarten social studies curriculum creates an awareness of the students expanding world and their role in it. Students develop a sense of time and space by exploring their personal histories. They investigate the geography of their world by locating places at home and school along with studying their culture. They learn to see themselves as consumers who depend on others to provide goods and services. They develop an understanding of civics that enables them to behave as responsible members of groups and be productive members of society.

By the end of the kindergarten year, most students should be able to do the following:
• explain rules and consequences
• sequence personal events in chronological order
• make appropriate suggestions to solve a problem
• gather information and interpret results
• use directional terms to locate places
• recognize themselves as consumers
• understand concepts of time

Parents Can Help By...
• holding family meetings to discuss rules and consequences
• classifying the grocery list and discussing needs vs. wants
• working on problem solving skills at home
• making graphs of your child’s height and weight
• encouraging your child to describe locations in your home and community
• reinforcing directional terms like below, above, on and over
• following local and state laws and discussing them with your child

Physical Education– Curriculum

The K-12 physical education curriculum emphasizes the development of body control, fitness, and personal, social and teamwork skills. Healthy lifestyles, good nutrition, self-understanding, and respect for individual differences in growth and development are essential learning outcomes of a physical education program.

By the end of the kindergarten year, most students should be able to do the following:

• hop, gallop, run (heel toe), balance on an object, twist, bend, stretch, warm up and cool down
• catch a large ball when rolled and tossed
• throw underhand and overhand using hand/foot patterns
• maintain movement for five minutes
• demonstrate personal and social skills
• self assess performance and make improvements

Parents Can Help By...
• enrolling your child in a community recreation program
• providing opportunities for your child to use and strengthen large muscles
• encouraging all family members to practice physical fitness in their daily lives
• encouraging outside play
• reinforcing good sportsmanship and fair play
• participating in physical activities with your child

Fine Arts

The primary aim of fine arts education is to provide students with a means of aesthetic expression, communication, and cultural awareness. An organized set of experiences gives students the opportunity to express emotions and ideas, portray images, and explore through creative expression. These musical, artistic and dramatic experiences all require creative and critical higher level thinking skills.

Music

By the end of the kindergarten year, most students should be able to do the following
• perform various melodies
• listen to, analyze and describe music
• demonstrate various rhythmic patterns

Parents Can Help By...
• taking your child to musical concerts, plays, performances
• listening at home to a wide variety of music (vocal and instrumental)
• providing your child with the opportunity to play a musical instrument
• encouraging creative movement to music
• teaching your child appropriate “audience” behavior

Student Progress

The elementary reporting system reflects current curriculum and practice, communicates grade level expectations, and reports student progress four times a year. Our goal is that by the end of the school year, students will achieve the learning outcomes listed on the card.

Every student is expected to make progress toward achievement of the core curriculum performance standards, however, students may vary in the speed or extent of the achievement. Authentic assessment tools and strategies help teacher’s measure student progress.

Students are assessed by many methods to measure their progress, including teacher observation, checklists, projects, rubrics, work samples, tests, and demonstrations. Teachers use the report card to document student learning. Teachers also communicate student progress through a variety of other ways. Fall conferences provide all parents with direct communication with the teacher.

Sample copies of the kindergarten report card are available in the school office.

Parents are our partners in promoting student success. Attending conferences, open houses, curriculum nights, and maintaining ongoing communication with the teacher, the school and your child, positively impact student learning. Good school attendance is of the utmost importance. Students benefit when schools and parents work together.

Huron School District complies with all Federal laws and U. S. Department of Education requirements prohibiting discrimination and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status or disability.

Administrative Offices
32044 Huron River Drive
New Boston, Michigan 48164
734-782-2441

Thomas Hosler, Superintendent
Debra Krauss, Chief Academic Officer
Carol Harman, Chief Operating Officer