Students’ Academic Goals
Upon the completion of each year, and besides learning Mandarin, our program encourages each child to achieve the following age appropriate academic goals:
Age 3 – GOALS
Reading
Demonstrates Concepts of Print
Understands top to bottom progression
Understands left to right page sequence
Knows front and back of book
Knows how to turn pages in a book
Recognizes that print rather than pictures carries the message
Recognizes a word as a unit of print, an awareness that letters are grouped to form words and that words are separated by spaces
Knows the first word of a sentence and the first letter of a word.
Demonstrates Alphabet Knowledge
Identifies symbols/signs/labels/logos
Shows progress in associating the names of letters with their shape and sounds
Identifies at least 10 letters of the alphabet, especially those in their own name
Uses Language Effectively
Uses language to describe personally meaningful experiences when talking with others
Demonstrates clarity of pronunciation when speaking in sentences of increasing length and complexity
Uses a variety of sources to build vocabulary
Vocabulary
Uses a variety of sources to build vocabulary
Shows an understanding of words and their meanings
Uses category labels (fruit, vegetable, animal, transportation, tools)
Has mastery of classroom language and objects in the classroom (same and different, in front of and behind, next to, opposite, below)
Listening, Speaking and Conversation
Gains meaning by listening
Follows one or more directions
Uses language to express needs and feeling
Uses language to describe personally meaningful experiences when talking with others
Starts to demonstrates clarity of pronunciation when speaking in sentences of increasing length and complexity without contextual clues
Follows another’s conversational lead, appropriately initiates or terminates conversations, or appropriately introduces new content
Demonstrates knowledge of nonverbal conversational rules (eye contact, facial expressions, appropriate distance in conversations
Recites 15-20 songs and nursery rhymes or poems (in English and Mandarin)
Sentences and Structure
Connects phrases and sentences to build ideas
Uses sentences with more than one phrase
Starts to pay attention to tense and other subject-verb agreement
Writing
Supports Topic with Details
Communicates thoughts and experiences through various forms of representation (e.g. clay, drawings, blocks, pictures, dictation, writing)
Uses Conventions
Demonstrates fine motor control through the use of writing implements (e.g. chalk, markers, crayons, pencils, computers)
Relates models, pictures, symbols and photographs to real places and things
Creates models out of clay, blocks and other materials
Participates in shared reading and shared writing in which concepts of print are modeled
Develops an awareness of the connection between spoken and written language
Recognizes that writing and drawing are forms of communication
Progresses from drawing, scribbling shapes or pictures to represent ideas, to using letter-like symbols, to copying or writing familiar words such as their own name
Organizes to Communicate in Writing
Chooses to participate in writing activities
Contributes ideas during shared writing process activities
Develops an awareness of the connection between spoken and written language
Recognizes that writing and drawing are forms of communication
Shows motivation to engage in written expression (intentionally uses scribbles/writing to convey communication)
Begins to write letters independently
Mathematics/Science
Collection, Graphing, Statistics, and Probability
Explores and describes similarities, differences and the attributes of objects
Sorts and matches by color, size and shape
Holds more than one attribute in mind at a time
Distinguishes between “some” , “half” and “all”
Geometry and Spatial Sense
Fits objects together and takes them apart
Changes the shape and arrangement of objects (e.g. wrapping, twisting, stacking, stretching, enclosing)
Describes distance, positions and directions using words such as up, down, over, under, top, bottom, inside, outside, in front and behind
Distinguishes between and describes shapes (circle, square, triangle and rectangle)
Measurement
Compares attributes (longer, shorter, bigger, smaller)
Starts and stops an action on signal
Describes rates of movement
Compares time intervals
Anticipates, remembers and describes sequence of events
Uses standard (rules, yard stick) and non-standard (block, string) measures for length and area of objects
Number Sense and Operations
Compares the number of objects in two sets to determine “more”, “less”, “same number” or “how many”
Arranges two sets of objects in one-to-one correspondence
Counts objects 1-20 and beyond
Knows 10-frame card
Patterning, Reasoning, and Pre-Algebraic Concepts
Arranges several items one after another in a series or pattern and verbally describes the relationship, (big/bigger/biggest, red/blue, etc.)
Fits one ordered set of objects to another through trial and error (e.g. small cup/small saucer, medium cup/medium saucer, big cup/big saucer, etc.)
Scientific Thinking
Explores common objects and living things
Uses tools for investigation
Uses language to comment and ask questions about materials and living things in the environment
Age 4 – GOALS
Reading
Concepts of Print
Recognizes that print rather than pictures carries the message in classrooms, home and community
Phonological Awareness
Combines onset and rhyme to form a familiar one-syllable word with pictorial support
Combines words to make a compound word and deletes a word from a compound word
Combines syllables into words
Can delete a syllable from a word
Alphabetic Knowledge
Identifies letters in their own name
Spells their own names
Recognizes uppercase and lowercase letters
Shows progress in associating the names of letters with their shape and sounds
Recognizes all letters by its letter name (can identify when asked to find a certain letter)
Names most letters (when shown a letter, can accurately say the letter)
Recognizes letter sounds (can identify the letter of the sound given)
Names some letter sounds (can say the sound the letter makes)
Vocabulary
Uses a variety of sources to build vocabulary
Demonstrates a wide variety of words within each category
Uses an expanded vocabulary to describe objects, actions and events
Sentences and Structure
Typically uses complete sentences, with subject, verb and object order
Uses age appropriate grammar in conversations and increasingly complex phrases and sentences
Combines more than one idea using complex sentences
Combines sentences that give lots of detail, stick to the topic and clearly communicate intended meaning
Uses regular and irregular plurals, regular past tense, personal and possessive pronouns and subject-verb agreement
Listening, Speaking and Conversation
Follows three or more step-by-step directions
Demonstrates use of varied language (requesting, commenting, manner words, problem solving)
Initiates, asks questions, and responds to adults and peers in a variety of settings
Demonstrates clarity of pronunciation when speaking in sentences of increasing length and complexity without contextual clues
Provides appropriate information to the setting (introduces him/herself; asks for help; answers questions such as providing name and address to appropriate person)
Matches language to social contexts (uses volumes appropriate to context, addresses adults more formally than he or she addresses other children)
Recites 15-20 songs and nursery rhymes or poems (in English and Mandarin)
Emergent Writing
Relates models, pictures, symbols, and photographs to real places and things
Communicates thoughts and experiences through various forms of representation (e.g. clay, drawings, blocks, pictures, dictation, writings)
Progresses from drawing, scribbling shapes or pictures to represent ideas, to using letters to copy or write familiar words such as their own name
Contributes ideas during shared writing process activities
Is able to write most of the letters independently on request
Shows knowledge of structure of written composition (when writing or dictating, uses appropriate writing conventions – a letter starts with “Dear” or the idea that a story has a beginning, middle and end)
Mathematics/Science
Collection, Graphing, Statistics, and Probability
Interprets and compares the relationship between items/objects represented by charts and graphs
Uses data collection results to make predictions
Geometry and Spatial Sense
Fits objects together and takes them apart
Understands objects remain the same in different orientations (e.g. slide, flip, rotate)
Anticipates, remembers and describes sequence of events including position
Recognizes and describes the difference between horizontal, diagonal and vertical orientations
Constructs two dimensional shapes
Recognizes and sorts three-dimensional shapes (sphere, cube, cone, cylinder and pyramid)
Identifies various three dimensional shapes
Measurement
Uses standard and non-standard materials to measure and compare the length and height of objects
Uses standard and non-standard materials to measure and compare the weight of objects
Uses measurement vocabulary (e.g. length, height, and weight) to compare (e.g. more, less, shorter, longer, heaviest, lightest) objects
Number Sense and Operations
Uses 10-frame method to solve some simple questions
Writes 0-10 or beyond
Arranges two sets of objects in one-to-one correspondence up to 15 objects
Counts objects 1-50 and beyond
Assigns and relates a numerical to a set of objects and tells how many, in range from 1 to 10
Adds and subtracts within 10
Patterning, Reasoning, and Pre-Algebraic Concepts
Fits one ordered set of objects to another (e.g. small cup/small saucer, medium cup/medium saucer, big cup/big saucer, etc.)
Arranges, orders and compares several items one after another in a series or pattern and verbally describes the relationship (big/bigger/biggest, red/blue, etc.)
Age 5 – GOALS
Reading
Phonological Awareness
Pronounces words clearly
Sentences and Structure
Speaks in complex and compound sentences
Uses correct grammar: future, past and present tense, subject-verb agreement, singular and plural form of nouns.
Knows simple prefixes and suffixes: un-, -less, -ness, -ful, etc.
Vocabulary
Has developed a good-sized vocabulary that continues to grow
Knows basic sight words such as: the, a, an, etc.
Alphabetic Knowledge
Recognizes uppercase and lowercase letters
Names all letters (when shown a letter can accurately say letter name)
Names letter sounds (can say the sound the letter makes)
Recognizes and identifies vowels and consonants
Match vowels and consonants with letters
Applies knowledge of how print works and to decode unfamiliar words
Writing
Writes name correctly
Writes stories, notes and descriptions, combining drawings and letter-like symbols
Spells simple words phonetically
Mathematics/Science
Number Sense and Operations
Counts from 1-100 and beyond by ones, fives, and tens
Counts forward beginning with any given number
Counts by even and odd numbers
Understands the meaning of 0
Writes 0-20 or beyond
Adds and subtracts within 20
Geometry
Analyzes and compares two- and three- dimensional shapes, in different sizes and orientations, using informal language to describe their similarities, differences, and parts (number corners and sides)
Composes simple shapes to form larger shapes (joining two triangles to make a rectangle)