Transitional Kindergarten
Transitional Kindergarten
The Transitional Kindergarten program is intended to be a two year kindergarten program as per the California Department of Education (CDE). Students who enter into transitional kindergarten will participate in activities related to the vision/mission of YES Charter Academy and based on a modified Kindergarten curriculum as well as the Preschool Learning Foundations developed by the CDE. As with all K-8 students, TK students will participate in the development of Individualized Learning Plans, experience their curriculum through project based learning, and focus on environmental science and the scientific process as a medium through which to learn other subjects. Students entering Transitional Kindergarten will not be advanced to first grade before completing the full two years of Kindergarten.
YES will follow the minimum and maximum age limitations that the state requires and will offer the grades and programs required by the state each year (e.g. Transitional Kindergarten). If the state requires Transitional Kindergarten, then YES Charter Academy will provide at least 240 minutes of daily instruction by a qualified credentialed teacher according to the regular school year calendar, as required by the CDE. All immunizations and health and wellness regulations that apply to Kindergarten will also apply to Transitional Kindergarten. The TK program will be a part of a blended classroom with the Kindergarten program so that each student’s academic and social needs are met within a continuum that allows each learner to progress at their own developmental pace, with special attention given to a rigorous course of study that encourages the development of positive lifelong learning habits.
In order to educate Transitional Kindergarten students in an educationally appropriate manner that is unique from and complimentary to the Kindergarten program, YES Charter Academy will focus on providing structured opportunities for these young learners to experience and develop:
• empathy and understanding of others
• appropriate interactions and responsibility with peers and adults
• beginning reading skills
• vocabulary development
• recognition of concepts of print and alphabet and word recognition
• literacy interest and response
• beginning writing skills such as grasp, body position, and use of a range of tools
• listening and following directions
• communication with others
• develop beginning number sense
• sort and classify objects, identify patterns
• beginning measurement concepts
• construct and identify shapes
• begin to develop problem solving strategies
• practice and develop movement, balance, sense of space, direction, and body awareness
• notice, respond, and engage with visual arts, music, drama, and dance
• practice and learn about basic hygiene, oral health, wellness and nutrition habits, and safety