About Us
Our Kindergarten Classroom at ECDC-ND
The ECDC Kindergarten program, which began in 1978, was the first full day kindergarten in the South Bend Community. Located at ECDC-Notre Dame, the kindergarten is taught by a teaching team composed of three early childhood educators. The lead teacher and assistant teacher have been teaching at ECDC for twenty five years.
The kindergarten serves up to twenty six children. Children must be 5 years old by September 1st to enroll in kindergarten.
Kindergarten Curriculum
The kindergarten curriculum is designed to meet the Indiana State Learning Standards while providing the children with rich, developmentally appropriate learning engagements across the subject areas. We implement a literacy program grounded in the science of reading research. The program consists of phonics instruction, independent and small group reading lessons, story time, writer’s workshop, poetry and song study, and oral language activities.
Our math program implements the tenets of the Math Their Way program. Kindergarten math skills and content as defined by the Indiana State Standards are taught through the use of hands-on manipulatives and learning activities.
The Project Approach functions at the heart of the kindergarten curriculum. The children conduct in depth investigations of topics of study, including, farms, markets, fairy tales, architecture and our school and its neighborhood. Project work involves interactive field trips in the local community to places such as the farmer’s market and the Golden Dome at the University of Notre Dame.