Curriculum - Wells International School

CURRICULUM: KINDERGARTEN AND PRIMARY

During the early year of children’s lives, their cognitive development peaks, and they begin to learn foundational skills in language, motor skills and social interaction. Wells International School taps into the enormous capacity, providing young students with research-based learning opportunities that promote their reasoning, creative thinking and inquiry skills. Aligned with school’s primary and secondary programs, the curriculum at the kindergarten and early primary levels emphasizes hands-on learning, engaging

physical and mental activities, and a holistic approach that address each developmental domain-creative, emotional, intellectual, physical and social. Young learners are thus able to build a solid foundation and a love for learning that carries into middle school and beyond.

WELLS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL’S EARLY CHILDHOOD CURRICULUM REFERENCE

In early childhood education, various kinds of curriculums are referenced to aid the students in the best way. Each teacher has their freedom of teaching. All the study materials are referenced from Jolly Phonics, Literacy By Design, and American Common Core. Students are not required to sit examinations in their early years but they will have to go through two major projects in each academic year.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Students will be taught swimming as part of their curriculum. Wells will also teach soccer, and basketball as sports. Teachers and trainers make sure that students are improving in their motor skills and their physical health. Every sports activity is supervised by lead teachers or teacher assistants.

WHAT IS JOLLY PHONICS?

Jolly Phonics is a fun and child centered approach to teaching literacy through synthetic phonics. With actions for each of the 42 letter sounds, the multi-sensory method is very motivating for children and teachers, who can see their students achieve. The letter sounds are split into seven groups.

LETTER SOUND ORDER

The sounds are taught in a specific order (not alphabetically). This enables children to begin building words as early as possible.

HOW DOES JOLLY PHONICS WORK?

Using a synthetic phonics approach, Jolly Phonics teaches children the five key skills for reading and writing. Complemented by Jolly Readers and Jolly Grammar, it provides a thorough foundation for teaching literacy over three years in school.

WHAT IS LITERACY BY DESIGN?

Literacy By Design (LBD) is a prepackaged literacy curriculum which is marketed to be an integrated, comprehensive and balanced literacy program for early childhood education. LBD claims to provides teachers with easy-to-follow lessons plans to help students develop into independent learners. By also utilizing a workshop model, Literacy by Design lessons link literacy skills across the curriculum with integrated Science and Social Studies content. This program has been implemented by schools both in the United States and internationally in order to incorporate an integrated curriculum that links to the common core standards. It is one of the many curriculum programs jumping into the market to meet the growing needs of schools who are implementing the Common Core State Standards.

HOW TO USE LITERACY BY DESIGN?

LBD was designed with a five-step lesson plan guide for each day of whole-class learning. Each theme begins with ten whole-group lessons, moving from modeled reading, to shared reading, to interactive reading. The writing activities are based on themes the students have used in the reading lesson, and, like the reading lesson, learners progress from whole-class learning, to small-group activities, to independent writing. The curriculum is set up with 16 themed units with each unit lasting about two weeks. At the end of a theme an assessment is given. The Theme Progress Tests cover skills and content the students learned throughout the theme. These include: comprehension, target skills, vocabulary, word study, writing, and grammar.

BENEFITS OF LITERACY BY DESIGN

Provides opportunities for students to listen to and explore different types of text forms and engage in interactive discussion to discover the meaning of the texts
Explicitly teaches students critical comprehension strategies (e.g., main idea, literal, inferential, retell, prediction).
Teaches or activates prior knowledge to increase a student’s understanding of what is read.
Allows teachers to supplement materials based on student and class need
Provides repetition by connecting previously taught skills and strategies with new content and texts

WHAT IS AMERICAN COMMON CORE?

Today’s students are preparing to enter a world in which colleges and businesses are demanding more than ever before. To ensure all students are ready for success after high school, the Common Core State Standards establish clear, consistent guidelines for what every student should know and be able to do in math and English language arts from kindergarten through 12th grade. The standards were drafted by experts and teachers from across the country and are designed to ensure students are prepared for today’s entry-level careers, freshman-level college courses, and workforce training programs. The Common Core focuses on developing the critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills students will need to be successful.

WHAT ARE THE STANDARDS?

Building on the best of existing state standards, the Common Core State Standards provide clear and consistent learning goals to help prepare students for college, career, and life. The standards clearly demonstrate what students are expected to learn at each grade level, so that every parent and teacher can understand and support their learning.

THE STANDARDS ARE:

1. Research and evidence based
2. Clear, understandable, and consistent
3. Aligned with college and career expectations
4. Based on rigorous content and the application of knowledge through higher-order thinking skills
5. Built upon the strengths and lessons of current state standards
6. Informed by other top-performing countries to prepare all students for success in our global economy and society

WHAT IS RAZ-KIDS?

Raz-Kids is an award-winning teaching product that provides comprehensive leveled reading resources for students. With hundreds of eBooks offered at 29 different levels of reading difficulty, it’s easy to put the right content in every student’s hands. Kids access their leveled text through an interactive learning portal designed to keep them motivated and engaged. Every eBook is available in online and mobile formats, and allows students to listen to, read at their own pace, and record themselves reading. Students then take a corresponding eQuiz complete with an extended answer response to test comprehension and determine future instruction needs. Once a child has read ten or more of the leveled eBooks and passed each of the corresponding eQuizzes, they advance on to the next reading level where they have access to lengthier and more difficult text.

WHAT IS MYMATH?

MyMath is made for Student Success. Built around the Standards for Mathematical Practices, McGraw Hill My Math engages students with the focus, coherence and rigor required by state standards. The program has an intuitive lesson format and digital tools to develop customized content. Digital accessibility with any device helps you to plan, sequence, and deliver instruction that works best for your students anytime, anywhere. The McGraw-Hill My Math Learning Solution provides an easy and flexible way to diagnose and fill gaps in understanding so that all students can meet grade-level expectations – and accelerate beyond:

Strong, equitable core instruction with actionable data
Best-in-class resources and targeted instructional strategies
Personalized, student-driven learning