Kindergarten

WHERE A STRONG ACADEMIC FOUNDATION MEETS ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILLS.

Kindergarten students gather to read a book.

Far Hills Country Day School’s Kindergarten program is designed to create an optimal environment for children that supports, encourages, develops, and extends each child’s curiosity, enthusiasm, and passion. In Kindergarten, we intentionally cultivate a genuine and lifelong love of learning. Students build strong academic foundations to blend with relevant life skill principles in relationship building and social problem solving, balanced with accountability and responsibility. We strive to empower students to become independent thinkers and problem-solvers—socially, emotionally, and academically. We balance our engaging curriculum through small group, whole group, and 1:1 opportunities. We tailor differentiated instruction to each child’s needs, incorporating tactile learning into all aspects of the child’s day— tangible learning is a great way to engage students!

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Your Child's Kindergarten Experience

DURING THEIR TIME IN FAR HILLS COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL'S KINDERGARTEN, YOUR CHILD WILL......BUILD COMMUNITY.

Kindergarten students partner with Grade 4 “Reading Buddies” to practice reading skills.

...HAVE LOTS OF SPACE TO GROW.

Children joyfully explore Far Hills Country Day School's expansive 54-acre campus through nature walks with seasonal observations. Intentionally small class sizes allow more space for academic and social-emotional play.

...GAIN PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS.

Orton Gillingham trained teachers help children build comprehension, sequencing, and summarizing skills alongside decoding.

...GAIN LEADERSHIP SKILLS.

Kindergarten students are empowered to feel confident in their abilities and themselves as not only learners but good, ethical members of the community.

...USE INQUIRY SKILLS.

Kindergarten students use inquiry skills to create their Capstone Learning Experience. They use Thinking Maps, models, interviews, mixed-media models, and more.

Kindergarten In Action

Gingerbread Boat Building

Kindergarten students create boats to get their gingerbread cookies across the water.

Kindergarten students explore myriad stories from around the world inspired by the classic tale, "The Gingerbread Man," and practice identifying, comparing, and contrasting story elements. As a culminating challenge, they work in groups to design, build, and test boats carrying a gingerbread cookie across the water successfully. STEAM skills acquired during the school year help students plan, engineer, launch, revise, and problem-solve during the project.

Kindergarten Playwrights

Kindergarten students perform their play for loved ones.

Kindergarten students write and perform their very own play! They employ their understanding of character, setting, plot, and sequencing to create an original script. The students are in charge of everything from plot to costumes, setting to lines. Cross-curricular connections are interwoven as they learn musical numbers and create sets and props during music and art specials classes. After lots of hard work and preparation, the students perform in front of their families, teachers, and members of the Far Hills Country Day School community.

Mathland

A Kindergarten student plays a math game with a family member.

Kindergarten students demonstrate their newly acquired math skills and strategies with loved ones during Mathland. Stations are set up throughout our Lower School Piazza space, where families are challenged to learn from their kindergarten students as they participate in math-inspired activities and games. Stations are based on various grade-level objectives, including skip counting, estimation, addition and subtraction, and number bonds.

The Wonder Project

A Kindergarten student interviews a Far Hills faculty member for their Wonder project.

The Kindergarten capstone “Wonder Project” Expo celebrates the curiosity and enthusiasm of Kindergarten students while bringing together research and interview skills, art and creativity, and public speaking and presentation skills.

The Wonder Projects are a multi-curricular effort that begins with inquiry and culminates with students proudly taking to the podium to share their research project slideshows and circle map posters with the school community.

See the Far Hills Difference for Yourself

Now that you've read all about our Kindergarten, we invite you to request a viewbook, visit us, and apply today!

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HOW TO APPLY

Frequently Asked Questions About Kindergarten

How old does my child have to be to apply for Kindergarten?

How long is the Kindergarten school day?

How do I know if my child is ready for Kindergarten?

We understand and recognize that children develop at different rates. At the Preschool level, there is a vast range of what's "normal." Therefore, children entering Kindergarten have different skill levels. Our expertly trained teachers are prepared and ready to work with all of our students using various methods and approaches to fit varied skill sets and learning styles.

While knowing letters and numbers are important skills, many other things also contribute to a successful Kindergarten year. Children entering Kindergarten at Far Hills are generally able to do most of the things listed below:

Identify most letters in the alphabet and provide sounds for many of the letters of the alphabet.
Engage in language play (manipulate, separate, blend, and repeat sounds).
Identify words that rhyme and provide a rhyming word for a given word.
Retell a familiar event or story and communicate feelings, thoughts, and simple stories.
Comment on characters, predict what will happen next, act out familiar stories.
Create a story.
Listen attentively to a story.
Ask questions and make comments about a story.
Connect information from text to personal life experiences.
Demonstrate engagement during read-aloud exercises with eye contact, body language, and facial expressions.
Identify the common signs and symbols in the environment (e.g., an exit sign, center labels, computer icons, rebus).
Identify own name and write own first name using all or mostly upper case letters.
Pretend to read own writing.
Produce letters using a variety of materials (e.g., play dough).
“Write” as part of play and other activities.
Follow oral directions that may involve multi-step actions.
Participate in singing, finger-plays, chanting, retelling, creating stories, and in “show-and-tell” activities.
Participate in conversations with peers and adults by taking turns and generally staying on topic.
Express ideas, negotiate with peers, describe, express feelings, initiate play, obtain information.
Write numbers to represent quantities.
Identify numerals 1 to 10.
Count to 30.
Understand that NUMBER represents a specific group of objects and refers to quantity.
Show when you join objects, you add, and when you take objects away, you subtract.
Show quantities 1 to 10, using objects, pictures and numerals.
Compare quantities of groups up to 10 objects, using terms such as more/less and same.
Speak in full sentences.
Share with others.
Make choices, take turns, show concern for others.

What can I do to help my child with the transition to Kindergarten?

At Far Hills Country Day School, independence lies upon the strong foundation provided by our Five Pillars of kindness, honesty, respect, responsibility, and leadership. Independence is a mindset; it’s the ability to do for oneself, think for oneself, and advocate for oneself. Children who learn self-control and responsibility early in life are much better equipped to face adulthood's challenges and have the skills to innovate and think creatively. Truly independent children can cope with adversity, setbacks, and boredom—all unavoidable aspects of life. They feel in control even when things around them are in chaos.

Every time we do something for a child when they are fully capable of doing it for themself, we disempower them. Children need to have every opportunity to grow and learn. These opportunities create scaffolding to believe in themself, so they’re willing to try new things. When a child accomplishes a task they thought was impossible, it creates a sense of independence and increases self-confidence. Independence becomes a mindset for a child to believe in themself and will then continue to challenge themself.

What special classes do Kindergarten students have?

Do Kindergarteners speak publicly?

Far Hills Country Day School takes great pride in the many opportunities students have to speak publicly during their time here—in fact, there are over 86 public speaking opportunities between Preschool and Grade 8! In Kindergarten, students perform in the Kindergarten play and students proudly take to the podium to share their Wonder research project slideshows and circle map posters with the school community.