Early Childhood
Fundamental skills and whole child development
At YCIS, our early childhood program immerses students in a supportive, bilingual learning environment where our highly qualified teachers work with parents to nurture confident, caring, and curious young learners. The focus in these early years is on whole-child development and the personal and social values that will support students for life.
Philosophy and Objectives
At YCIS, our bilingually focused, research-based, and holistic approach to education helps students build a strong foundation and a range of skills from an early age. In our Early Childhood Education program, our students view themselves as competent learners who know they are valued. As part of our philosophy, we encourage the active involvement of families on campus and in our school community.
Co-Teachers
Co-teaching facilitates a bilingual learning environment in which both Chinese and English are equally valued. ECE Co-Teachers provide an environment where children interact naturally, feel comfortable about their own identities, and begin to move easily between cultures.
Inspiring Curiosity, Creativity and Discovery
Curiosity, wonder and exploration abound in our classrooms, where English and Mandarin teachers work in teams to create a joyful, experiential learning environment.
In our inquiry-based approach to learning, children actively participate, investigate and experiment to find out about the world. Teachers support children's interests through meaningful and authentic experiences. With a wide variety of multi-sensory learning resources and open-ended materials, children’s imaginations soar while they build skills and knowledge across all learning areas. Our outdoor play areas and indoor gym provide ample space for getting out, moving around and exploring.
Nurturing the Whole Child
Our whole child approach fosters children’s confidence and independence in all areas of development, providing students with a strong foundation for a lifetime of learning and future participation as citizens of the world. As children’s minds grow, so do their hearts. Young learners learn what it means to be a friend, to include others, to share and to collaborate. Through modeling, guidance, discussion and giving students opportunities to practice, teachers support children to grow in empathy and gain appropriate skills to negotiate conflicts and to manage their own feelings and actions. Children also gain autonomy and independence by learning to manage age-appropriate tasks on a daily basis.
Typical Day in Preschool (2 years-4 years old)
The preschool is open from 8:00am to 6:00pm.
Preschool children are grouped together by age. The daily schedule is modified and flexible to meet the needs of the class age with a longer nap time for our youngest students. Our classrooms and Co-Teachers allow for an abundance of opportunities daily for children to grow and explore. Children are provided with extended periods of play in order to follow their own interests and curiosities in a safe school setting. The learning environments that our classrooms provide are intentionally prepared to develop knowledge and respond to children's own interests as they enquire about the world in which they live. A typical preschool day will include a mix of free choice exploration time, outdoor play and small group activities as well as whole group gathering times. The afternoon includes various Enrichment classes for all children such as music and dance. Two nutritious snacks are provided daily. Parents send lunch with their child or purchase lunch through the school’s designated catering service.
Preschool Program Overview
Our bilingual preschool program takes place in a nurturing environment that enables children to exercise initiative, make decisions and construct a hands-on understanding of the world through two languages, English and Mandarin. An integrated curriculum based on children’s interests comprises learning activities covering a range of areas rather than isolated subjects to further children’s learning and development. Learning experiences are carefully planned to be culturally, developmentally, educationally and individually appropriate. The best of Western and Eastern teaching approaches are combined with a focus on the process of learning rather than the product. Developing creativity, cooperative learning, investigation and problem-solving skills is an important component of the program. Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage of the United Kingdom and the California Preschool Learning Foundations provide practice guidance for our preschool teachers.
The Yew Chung Approach
YCIS Silicon Valley’s preschool program follows the model developed by the Yew Chung organization over the past few decades. The Yew Chung Approach is a unique educational practice that supports multicultural learners within a multilingual learning context. It is an approach that thoughtfully and intentionally bridges the sociocultural values in Hong Kong and Progressive educational philosophies developed in European and American contexts. The Yew Chung Approach is exemplified by Twelve Values which places a conception of children as highly capable and active agents in their own learning at the center while supporting multilingualism and promoting interaction. The Twelve Values are:
- Children are worthy of our respect and admiration.
- Children are capable and can be trusted.
- Members of the teaching team work together as equals.
- Strong relationships must be developed between teachers and children.
- Teachers support relationships between children.
- Children learn through an emergent curriculum.
- Teachers and children construct learning together.
- Children initiate and lead activities.
- Children are supported in the use of their home language.
- Children are supported as emergent multilinguals.
- Children use language to solve academic and social problems.
- Teachers make intentional connections to academic skills within child-led experiences.
Our Co-Teaching Model
YCIS’s Co-Teaching Model is a unique feature in our educational approach. English and Mandarin co-teachers work together to create a joyful, nurturing and engaging bilingual learning environment for children. Co-teaching effectively facilitates the bilingual learning environment where both Chinese and English languages are equally valued. Through close collaboration, co-teachers build welcoming and inclusive classrooms where diversity is respected and everyone is a friend. Each preschool classroom has a Co-Teaching Team with one English-speaking teacher and one Mandarin-speaking teacher, and is supported by a fully qualified assistant teacher. Teachers each speak their native language with their students. YCIS Silicon Valley’s preschool teachers are all experienced, professionally trained early childhood educators. They are passionate about teaching and engage in regular professional development. Working as a team, the preschool teachers’ enthusiasm, care and warmth shine through in their classrooms and in their relationships with the children and families they serve.
Inquiry-Based Learning
Our inquiry-based learning approach starts with children’s interests and natural curiosity about the world around them. Young learners love to ask questions, problem solve and discuss. Teachers pay close attention to the questions children ask. They have conversations and discussions. They watch and engage with children as they play and explore. Then, they design activities and experiences to help children dig deeper into their interests and challenge their learning. It is not unusual to see a classroom learning areas transform into a jungle, a doctor’s office or a pizza parlor. Teachers may organize field trips to extend learning beyond the classroom with a visit to a zoo or even invite an expert such as a NASA astronaut to visit.
Seven Areas of Learning
With a whole child approach, learning activities are designed around nurturing children in seven areas of learning:
- Personal, Social, and Emotional Development
- Physical Development
- Communication and Language
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Teachers constantly monitor each child’s individual progress. They collaborate to document this progress in an individual student portfolio as well as through reports for parents twice annually.
Bilingualism: Learning in Two Languages
Preschoolers develop literacy and communication skills in both English and Mandarin through natural daily exposure in a dual-immersion learning environment. All children develop literacy skills at their own rates and in their own unique ways. Preschool teachers provide many opportunities and activities for children:
- to have continuous exposure to print
- to develop an interest in books and stories
- to develop an awareness of the sounds, letters and symbols of language
- to gain an understanding that words have meaning
Children build their vocabularies and confidence in speaking through play and exploration while also building the fine motor skills they need to use writing tools effectively. By being challenged at their own level, children gain confidence in their growing abilities and build a strong foundation for the formal language instruction they will encounter in Kindergarten.
Importance of Play and Exploration
We believe playful learning is how young children learn best. YCIS preschoolers are encouraged to direct their own play as well as engage in guided play activities with their teachers. Through play, children:
- make sense of the world and consolidate every kind of learning
- put their ideas into action
- learn to communicate effectively
- discover how to get along with other children
- make things happen and enjoy a sense of mastery
- experiment and try things out
- learn to focus attention and concentrate for long periods of time
- work out their feelings in acceptable ways
- grow their imaginations and creativity
Homeschool Connections
For young children, school is their home away from home. We communicate with parents about their children’s school experiences in many ways. Teachers provide bi-weekly newsletters with photos and stories about class activities, create individual student portfolios to track each child’s development throughout the year, send home two student progress reports annually, and meet parents for parent-teacher conferences. Parents are also welcome to volunteer as room parents and chaperones for field trips, participate in class and school events, and support the community-building efforts of the YCIS Parent Organization.
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Inspiring Curiosity, Creativity and Discovery
Curiosity, wonder and exploration abound in our classrooms, where English and Mandarin teachers work in teams to create a joyful, experiential learning environment.
In our inquiry-based approach to learning, children actively participate, investigate and experiment to find out about the world. Teachers support children's interests through meaningful and authentic experiences. With a wide variety of multi-sensory learning resources and open-ended materials, children’s imaginations soar while they build skills and knowledge across all learning areas. Our outdoor play areas and indoor gym provide ample space for getting out, moving around and exploring.
Nurturing the Whole Child
Our whole child approach fosters children’s confidence and independence in all areas of development, providing students with a strong foundation for a lifetime of learning and future participation as citizens of the world. As children’s minds grow, so do their hearts. Young learners learn what it means to be a friend, to include others, to share and to collaborate. Through modeling, guidance, discussion and giving students opportunities to practice, teachers support children to grow in empathy and gain appropriate skills to negotiate conflicts and to manage their own feelings and actions.
Typical Day in Preschool (2 years-4 years old)
The preschool is open from 8:00am to 6:00pm.
Preschool children are grouped together by age. The daily schedule is modified and flexible to meet the needs of the class age with a longer nap time for our youngest students. Our classrooms and Co-Teachers allow for an abundance of opportunities daily for children to grow and explore. Children are provided with extended periods of play in order to follow their own interests and curiosities in a safe school setting. The learning environments that our classrooms provide are intentionally prepared to develop knowledge and respond to children's own interests as they enquire about the world in which they live. A typical preschool day will include a mix of free choice exploration time, outdoor play and small group activities as well as whole group gathering times. The afternoon includes various Enrichment classes for all children such as music and dance. Two nutritious snacks are provided daily. Parents send lunch with their child or purchase lunch through the school’s designated catering service.
Preschool Program Overview
Our bilingual preschool program takes place in a nurturing environment that enables children to exercise initiative, make decisions and construct a hands-on understanding of the world through two languages, English and Mandarin. An integrated curriculum based on children’s interests comprises learning activities covering a range of areas rather than isolated subjects to further children’s learning and development. Learning experiences are carefully planned to be culturally, developmentally, educationally and individually appropriate. The best of Western and Eastern teaching approaches are combined with a focus on the process of learning rather than the product. Developing creativity, cooperative learning, investigation and problem-solving skills is an important component of the program. Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage of the United Kingdom and the California Preschool Learning Foundations provide practice guidance for our preschool teachers.
The Yew Chung Approach
YCIS Silicon Valley’s preschool program follows the model developed by the Yew Chung organization over the past few decades. The Yew Chung Approach is a unique educational practice that supports multicultural learners within a multilingual learning context. It is an approach that thoughtfully and intentionally bridges the sociocultural values in Hong Kong and Progressive educational philosophies developed in European and American contexts. The Yew Chung Approach is exemplified by Twelve Values which places a conception of children as highly capable and active agents in their own learning at the center while supporting multilingualism and promoting interaction. The Twelve Values are:
- Children are worthy of our respect and admiration.
- Children are capable and can be trusted.
- Members of the teaching team work together as equals.
- Strong relationships must be developed between teachers and children.
- Teachers support relationships between children.
- Children learn through an emergent curriculum.
- Teachers and children construct learning together.
- Children initiate and lead activities.
- Children are supported in the use of their home language.
- Children are supported as emergent multilinguals.
- Children use language to solve academic and social problems.
- Teachers make intentional connections to academic skills within child-led experiences.
Our Co-Teaching Model
YCIS’s Co-Teaching Model is a unique feature in our educational approach. English and Mandarin co-teachers work together to create a joyful, nurturing and engaging bilingual learning environment for children. Co-teaching effectively facilitates the bilingual learning environment where both Chinese and English languages are equally valued. Through close collaboration, co-teachers build welcoming and inclusive classrooms where diversity is respected and everyone is a friend. Each preschool classroom has a Co-Teaching Team with one English-speaking teacher and one Mandarin-speaking teacher, and is supported by a fully qualified assistant teacher. Teachers each speak their native language with their students. YCIS Silicon Valley’s preschool teachers are all experienced, professionally trained early childhood educators. They are passionate about teaching and engage in regular professional development. Working as a team, the preschool teachers’ enthusiasm, care and warmth shine through in their classrooms and in their relationships with the children and families they serve.
Inquiry-Based Learning
Our inquiry-based learning approach starts with children’s interests and natural curiosity about the world around them. Young learners love to ask questions, problem solve and discuss. Teachers pay close attention to the questions children ask. They have conversations and discussions. They watch and engage with children as they play and explore. Then, they design activities and experiences to help children dig deeper into their interests and challenge their learning. It is not unusual to see a classroom learning areas transform into a jungle, a doctor’s office or a pizza parlor. Teachers may organize field trips to extend learning beyond the classroom with a visit to a zoo or even invite an expert such as a NASA astronaut to visit.
Seven Areas of Learning
With a whole child approach, learning activities are designed around nurturing children in seven areas of learning:
- Personal, Social, and Emotional Development
- Physical Development
- Communication and Language
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Teachers constantly monitor each child’s individual progress. They collaborate to document this progress in an individual student portfolio as well as through reports for parents twice annually.
Bilingualism: Learning in Two Languages
Preschoolers develop literacy and communication skills in both English and Mandarin through natural daily exposure in a dual-immersion learning environment. All children develop literacy skills at their own rates and in their own unique ways. Preschool teachers provide many opportunities and activities for children:
- to have continuous exposure to print
- to develop an interest in books and stories
- to develop an awareness of the sounds, letters and symbols of language
- to gain an understanding that words have meaning
Children build their vocabularies and confidence in speaking through play and exploration while also building the fine motor skills they need to use writing tools effectively. By being challenged at their own level, children gain confidence in their growing abilities and build a strong foundation for the formal language instruction they will encounter in Kindergarten.
Importance of Play and Exploration
We believe playful learning is how young children learn best. YCIS preschoolers are encouraged to direct their own play as well as engage in guided play activities with their teachers. Through play, children:
- make sense of the world and consolidate every kind of learning
- put their ideas into action
- learn to communicate effectively
- discover how to get along with other children
- make things happen and enjoy a sense of mastery
- experiment and try things out
- learn to focus attention and concentrate for long periods of time
- work out their feelings in acceptable ways
- grow their imaginations and creativity
Homeschool Connections
For young children, school is their home away from home. We communicate with parents about their children’s school experiences in many ways. Teachers provide bi-weekly newsletters with photos and stories about class activities, create individual student portfolios to track each child’s development throughout the year, send home two student progress reports annually, and meet parents for parent-teacher conferences. Parents are also welcome to volunteer as room parents and chaperones for field trips, participate in class and school events, and support the community-building efforts of the YCIS Parent Organization.
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Transitional Kindergarten can help your child ease into the more challenging content and expectations of kindergarten, preparing them academically and socially for success in elementary school.
A Bridge Between Preschool and Kindergarten
As a parent, deciding if and when your child is ready for the structure and content of a kindergarten classroom can be intimidating. Transitional Kindergarten gives students ages 4-5 developmentally appropriate opportunities to learn and grow, setting them up for a successful kindergarten experience. It helps your child ease into the more challenging content and expectations of kindergarten, preparing them academically and socially for success in elementary school.
Transitional Kindergarten Overview
The Yew Chung International School TK program provides an intentional, progressive transition from preschool learning to elementary expectations.
The YCIS TK program continues to use an inquiry-based learning approach, evolving from the emergent learning of preschool to more structured project-based learning. Our curriculum is designed around three key concepts: relationships, systems/structures, and change. These units help connect children with the world they live in, encouraging them to identify and solve real-life problems. This approach lays a strong academic and social foundation, preparing them for a successful transition to elementary school.
Many events are arranged throughout the year for our TK students to build relationships with Kinder students and become part of the larger community at the K-8 campus. These activities include visiting Kindergarten, the House System and shared learning events. During the last six weeks of the school year (June-July), TK children will join the K-8 campus for summer camp, helping them become familiar with the campus and get ready for their transition to Kindergarten the following year.
Transitional Kindergarten Curriculum Guidance
The TK curriculum focuses on the following 7 Areas of Learning from the Early Years Foundation Stage that align with both the Yew Chung Approach to Early Childhood Education and the California Preschool/Transitional Kindergarten Learning Foundations:
- Expressive Arts and Design – exploring and using media and materials, being imaginative
- Literacy – reading and writing
- Mathematics – numbers, shapes, space, and measurements
- Physical Development – moving and handling, health, and self-care
- Understanding the World – people and communities, the world, and technology
- Communication & Language – listening and attention, understanding, speaking
- Personal, Social, & Emotional Development – making relationships, self-confidence and self-awareness, managing feelings and behavior
An Introduction to the Bilingual Learning Experience
At the TK level, students receive daily instruction from English and Mandarin-speaking teachers in a co-teaching environment, which provides an effective introduction to the bilingual learning experience. Gathering, meeting, exploration, and activity times are communicated in both Mandarin and English, with additional bilingual instruction woven throughout the day.
Besides being naturally immersed in a bilingual learning environment with each teacher speaking their native languages, students will listen to Chinese & English stories and learn to sing Chinese & English songs. They’re introduced to some simple Chinese characters and learn about Chinese culture by celebrating traditional Chinese festivals. They begin to become familiar with letter sounds, rhyming, and word structure. Students participate in various activities, such as art, science, language, and mathematics. Students further explore and learn about the topics in which they’ve expressed interest. Lessons target social and emotional development, language, literacy, and mathematics. The teacher demonstrates projects they’ll be working on during activity time.
- Students do not need to have any previous knowledge of Mandarin before starting Transitional Kindergarten at YCIS.
A Typical Day in TK (4-5 years old)
Morning Meeting
Students and teachers greet each other, share news, and focus on social-emotional learning and character development before starting the day. They share class goals, reminders, and announcements, and set the expectations for the day.
Indoor Exploration
Students play and practice investigative learning through their choice of hands-on experiences. Teachers observe to identify student interests, which sets the stage for inquiry-based learning. Students will practice regulating their emotions and being aware of other people’s feelings, while developing conflict resolution skills and learning to take turns. They’re able to be creative, think critically, and enhance their communication skills, all while having fun.
Interactive Whole Group & Small Group Time
Daily whole group time provides a structured routine, it helps in developing social skills as students learn to listen, take turns, and respect others' opinions during group discussions. Additionally, whole group sessions ensure that everyone receives the same information and participates in shared activities, providing consistency in learning. On the other hand, small group time offers personalized instruction, allowing teachers to meet the individual needs of students and provide more targeted support and enrichment. Group time encourages teamwork and collaboration, helping students develop important social and cooperative skills.
Outdoor Exploration & Indoor Gym Time
We know how important physical development is for a child’s developing mind and body. TK students enjoy two outdoor periods every day (1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon) and one indoor gym time daily. Our playground is equipped with some classic favorites, including hula hoops, tricycles and balance bikes, blocks for building, a large sandbox, and a play structure. Our indoor gym features a cozy reading area, a climbing wall, and imagination blocks for building.
Specialty Classes
Art and Music classes will be provided weekly to our TK students, taught by our dedicated Art and Music teachers from the YCIS Elementary/Middle School Campus. These lessons offer a wonderful opportunity to strengthen the connection between our campuses and will also prepare our students to learn the violin and continue their art education at YCIS Kindergarten next year.
Snack & Lunch Time
YCIS provides two snacks during the day (one in the morning and one in the afternoon). TK students may bring a lunch from home or order a meal from our catering service.
Naptime/Quiet Time
Naptime is optional for our TK students. This rest period is 1 hour (1:30-2:30pm). If the child is a non-napper, they will spend this time in a separate room participating in quiet activities such as listening to stories, looking at books with peers, and other quiet independent activities (such as drawing and puzzles).
Closing Meeting
Before transitioning to the after-school program and Enrichment activities, the students will end their day with a meeting, highlighting and reflecting on some of the fun and learning that happened that day, reminders and announcements, questions, and more.
After School Enrichment (3:30pm-6:00pm)
Our Assistant Teachers and Afternoon Team will close out the day with our children, engaging them in various activities focusing on all areas of development. The students will also participate in different enrichment classes such as Music and Dance.
Field Trips
Field trips bring learning to life. After exploring a variety of topics and concepts, field trips help support the learning that has taken place and give children the opportunity to dive even deeper and express and use their newly gained knowledge and skills. Previous field trips include: CA Academy of Sciences, Ardenwood Farm, the Tech Museum, and more.
3Teachers in Each Classroom + 1 Afternoon Program Teacher
22Students Maximum in Each Classroom
8-6 pmMonday - Friday
AllEnrichment & Specialty Classes Included
2+Field Trips
Summerat K-8 Campus Included
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Kindergartners embark on a bilingual adventure as they learn with joy, grow with empathy and explore with confidence.
The Magic of Kindergarten
Walk into a Kindergarten classroom and you will discover smiling, laughing curious children asking questions, actively exploring, collaborating and solving problems as they learn to read, write, and express themselves. At YCIS, the magic happens in two languages. From the moment children walk into class, they are greeted by warm, caring English and Chinese co-teachers who jointly foster their students’ growth and serve as role models for cross-cultural collaboration.
Whether engaged in learning center activities, planning their first bilingual character education assembly, sharing during a class meeting or playing on the playground, Kindergartners know they can count on their teachers to guide them as they embark on their elementary school journey.
Empowering Learners
Kindergarten is full of amazing opportunities for children to grow. And, boy, do they grow! A child who starts the year knowing their alphabet proudly writes a story by the end of the year. A child who is learning Mandarin for the first time is able to have conversations and is well on the way to reading and writing. A child who has never picked up an instrument can play a short melody on a violin. Most importantly, though, kindergartners have learned to work together as a team, resolve conflicts, respect differing opinions, grow in empathy towards others and become more self-directed and independent learners.
Meet a Few of Our Kindergarten Teachers
“Children sometimes need someone to look up to and to aspire to be like. A teacher can help guide a child down the right path in life—one that will lead to the greatest successes.”
– Milly Cao, Kindergarten Chinese Teacher
“What I love about teaching my students is the relationships I have with them: the sparkle in the children’s eyes while teaching them, their laughter while playing, dancing and singing with them, and teaching students to have empathy and be outstanding human beings.”
– Amy Lai, Kindergarten Chinese Teacher
“I want my students to be confident, assertive, and thoughtful people. I want them to think ‘we’ before ‘me.’”
– Aaron Wheatley, Kindergarten English Teacher
“Our co-teaching approach provides a rich language environment for all learners. I also believe it models (for the students) how collaboration and problem solving between two individuals is powerful and encourages them to do the same with their peers and even teachers. Teamwork and collaboration are more important than ever in today’s society.”
– Stephanie Woodcox, Kindergarten English Teacher
Kindergarten Program Overview
The Kindergarten program is designed to support children’s transition to elementary school from a preschool environment. Classrooms are set up as early childhood learning environments that feel comfortable and familiar to new students. At the beginning of the year, teachers focus on relationship-building, teamwork, practicing routines, and setting clear expectations as children settle into school life.
When children feel supported socially and emotionally, they grow confident in themselves and their abilities.Academically, new Kindergartners come to school with a wide range of knowledge and skills. Teachers take time to get to know each child and plan lessons that can be differentiated or adapted to support children at their level of development. By the end of Kindergarten, students are well on their way to becoming accomplished readers and writers ready to leap into first grade.
Social-Emotional Learning and Character Education
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is at the heart of the Kindergarten experience. Young children have big emotions. In school, children learn to identify their emotions, practice ways to manage their feelings, and gain skills to listen, communicate, and work with others to solve problems that arise. Teachers guide students through one-on-one interactions and group discussions and ensure children have many opportunities to exercise choice and learn through play.
Each day starts with a bilingual Responsive Classrooms Morning Meeting where English and Chinese teachers facilitate community building games and exercises, discussions, and group sharing.
Students also have opportunities to lead class discussions. Once a week, students have a special bilingual class devoted to learning SEL skills with the Second Step curriculum which uses picture cards, puppets, and scenarios to guide class discussions. Schoolwide, students also celebrate a character trait each month and demonstrate how to put that character trait into action during monthly bilingual character education assemblies or service projects. Kindergartners proudly plan and present their very first assembly for the whole school with a bilingual skit.
English Language Arts: Reading
Connecting to stories (fiction and nonfiction) is the essential first step in becoming a lifelong reader. Reading is a regular part of the school day and daily reading at home with parents is encouraged. The Reading and Writing Project from Columbia University is our primary curriculum along with other supplementary programs and resources. In class, each student is able to work at an individualized level and pace through small group and individual activities. As a whole group, children listen to picture books and chapter books during teacher read alouds. Students also retell stories via reader’s theater, puppets, and other mediums. Phonics and sight words instruction with the Words Their Way program, learning centers and games provides a strong foundation for learning to read.
English Language Arts: Writing
Kindergartners are budding authors. Children love to tell stories and when they learn to capture their ideas in writing, illustrate those stories and “publish” them for others to read, they feel empowered. The Reading and Writing Project from Columbia University emphasizes daily writing. Handwriting practice, phonics, and word study also support writing development. Kindergartners learn the writing process from brainstorming ideas, to writing drafts, to publishing a final “book” which they proudly share with parents during celebratory “publishing parties.” Students practice writing both fiction and non-fiction through activities such as weekend news, letters, class books, personal narratives, free choice plans, games, and more.
Mathematics
In Kindergarten, the Singapore Math program centers around children’s natural curiosities about numerical and geometric relationships. Math is everywhere–in sharing supplies, drawing pictures, board games, and on the calendar. Students work collaboratively and individually to discover, explore, and learn mathematical concepts. They work in small groups during math centers and as a whole class during calendar activities. Students also take turns leading the group in these activities.
Science
Kindergartners are natural scientists, full of curiosity, questions, and the desire to know more about the world around them. The FOSS Science program promotes learning science by doing science. Students learn observation and comparison skills, as well as how to form theories and conclusions. When learning about trees, the class goes out to the fields to observe trees, collect leaves, make comparisons, and draw sketches or write notes. To observe the butterfly life cycle, they keep caterpillars in class and watch them transform over time. Parents are welcome to volunteer with science activities as well, often sharing their own knowledge from their professional careers.
Social Studies
Social studies centers on our families, our community and ourselves. Kindergartners learn about being members of a classroom and about the responsibilities of school citizenship. Students develop an awareness of the diversity of their families and community through books, discussions, activities with third grade buddies and YCIS House families, art and hands-on projects.
Chinese Language and Culture Studies
While some Kindergartners join YCIS with little or no Mandarin language background, other students – both heritage and non-heritage speakers – began their bilingual education in preschool. Having heritage and proficient Chinese speakers in a class allows for an immersion environment to be created in which beginners are able to learn the language more naturally and benefit from the support of their peers. Children with stronger language skills can become leaders in the class encouraging their classmates.
The Kindergarten curriculum is theme-based, introducing topics that are meaningful to young children such as family, holidays, seasons, animals, foods, and parts of the body, as well as the most important cultural events: Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, Chinese New Year and the Dragon Boat Festival. Teachers use a variety of teaching methods to engage all the senses including learning centers, games, songs, digital apps, cooking and art projects, as well as individual and group instruction.
Kindergartners have Chinese language and culture classes twice daily in the morning and afternoon. Students begin to learn stroke order and reading in traditional characters, along with strengthening listening and speaking skills. Kindergartners learn about the origin and evolution of Chinese characters while being introduced to theme-related traditional characters. For first grade, parents will have the opportunity to choose whether their child will learn traditional or simplified characters from then on.
East Meets West
East and West unite in this fun, project-based class co-taught by Chinese and English teachers. Projects and activities compare and contrast cultural traditions, value systems, and perspectives and may tie into social studies or social-emotional learning goals. Projects are often developed from the interests of the students themselves.
Music, Violin, Art and PE
Through the arts, students grow creatively and explore traditions from around the world. All YCIS students begin to learn violin in Kindergarten and enjoy singing and other musical activities. Learning the violin benefits brain growth and language acquisition while helping children develop coordination, concentration, and collaboration skills.
In Kindergarten Violin, students develop bow and plucking skills, as well as basic rhythm and note-reading. Students proudly share their newfound skills performing for parents during winter and spring recital concerts.
While Kindergartners do many arts and crafts projects with their lessons, their specialist Art class introduces them to art techniques and concepts through creative mixed media projects. Play and movement are also key to whole child development.
In PE, Kindergartners develop their coordination, balance, agility, and teamwork skills with games and sports.
Field Trips
Field trips bring learning to life. Whether on a visit to learn about community helpers at the local fire station, all about technology at Google or animals at Hidden Villa Farm, kindergartners love exploring beyond the classroom.
Building a Bright Future for Humanity
Yew Chung International School of Silicon Valley
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