Spotlight: Register Your Child For Kindergarten

By Kara Colynuck

“Kindergarten, your child’s first step to education.”

Starting Kindergarten is an exciting adventure for children and their families. It is a new beginning for you and your child. Children will develop relationships, independence, confidence, and the behaviours and attitudes that will ensure their success in school.

All of our elementary schools offer a Full-Day Kindergarten experience that provides a safe, caring and inclusive learning environment for all children.

Kindergarten is a two-year bilingual program consisting of 50% English instruction and 50% French instruction. It is available to any child turning 4 years old on or before December 31. Therefore if your child will be 4 years old by December 31st, 2019, they are eligible to start Kindergarten in September. Register Now.

Every child develops at their own pace and the Kindergarten program is designed to reflect that. The two-year Kindergarten program is optional. Students must start school in the year they turn age 6. They can however start in the first year or the second year of Kindergarten. You decide what is best for your child. 

Our Extended Day Program is an integral part of the Full-Day -Kindergarten program. It completes a seamless program for full-day learning for 4 and 5 year olds. To learn about the Extended Day Program please visit the Extended Day Program webpage

Play-based Learning

Children are full of natural curiosity and they explore this curiosity through play. In our full-day kindergarten program, teachers and early childhood educators structure play to create learning moments. Our Kindergarten program provides children with educational activities appropriate for young learners, taking into account their physical, intellectual, social and emotional needs. Their world is one of curiosity, exploration and imagination. Children investigate and develop an understanding of their world through play. Educators observe the children's social, emotional, physical and intellectual interactions within a classroom setting, assessing their stages of development aligned with the curriculum, and supports and encourages experiences to further their growth.

Our French program

All of our kindergarten classes incorporate 50% French language instruction. This means that children will experience the program equally in French and in English, providing a rich exposure to both of Canada's official languages. Our program is designed for children of all languages.

A Team Approach

A team composed of a teacher and an Early Childhood Educator (ECE) leads each kindergarten class. The team works together to plan for and provide meaningful learning opportunities for the children and to create a positive, welcoming and safe learning environment.

The program aims to provide every child with the support they need in order to develop self-regulation; health, well-being and sense of security; emotional and social competence; curiosity and confidence in learning; respect for diversity of his or her peers.

Transportation

School bus transportation is available to all kindergarten students who live more than 0.8 km from their school. Information is available at your school or from the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority.

Family Reception Centre

If you are new to Canada, have a school-aged child, and English is not your first language, the OCDSB's Family Reception Centre can assist you with enrolling your child in school. The Centre's staff will provide student assessment and guidance for English language learners and their families. Please call 613-239-2416 for assistance.

Great Beginnings Start with Caring Staff

All Kindergarten classes include a caring team of teachers and early childhood educators. These Early Years Educator Teams have a genuine love for young learners and model patience, kindness and empathy toward the needs of young children. They understand that Kindergarten is the child’s first introduction to formal schooling. The transition from home to school requires that the classroom provide a warm, safe, caring and nurturing environment, essentially, an extension of the home, in order for the child to fully develop in the areas outlined above. Our staff is dedicated to assisting your child in developing self-regulation, emotional and social competence, curiosity and confidence in learning, respect for the diversity of his or her classmates, health, well-being and a sense of security.

Your Child’s Introduction to Kindergarten

Once your child is registered in kindergarten, you will be notified regarding school entry procedures. You and your child will have an opportunity to meet your child’s educator(s) alone, prior to regular attendance of all children. This meeting will occur during the first week of school. Its primary focus is to share information about your child including preschool and health history including allergies, developmental milestones, and pertinent details relating to your child’s history in your family. At this time, there is no attempt by the educator to assess your child’s academic readiness for formal learning. Rather, the emphasis is on creating a relaxed, joyful transition from home to school. In order to foster a climate of warmth and comfort, the entry of kindergarten children is staggered over several days. This means each child enters school for the first time as one of a smaller group, whose needs can better be met by the educators during the first busy days of school.

The Learning Environment

The Kindergarten program is designed to ensure that the strengths, needs and interests of the child are addressed. The Kindergarten schedule is flexible and open-ended, allowing for extension or revisiting of an activity, educator-team and child initiated activities, daily blocks of time dedicated to planned, purposeful play, as well as literacy and numeracy instruction, which may take place in large or small groups and at learning centers. Learning centers may include water, sand, crafts, blocks and other building tools, nature, puppets, dramatic play, library, puzzles, climbing and computers. The focus of the centers is inquiry based and modified to accommodate the changing needs and interests of the students. During play, the Educator Teams observe, monitor, document and  assess children’s progress towards the achievement of the learning expectations and feedback is provided on an ongoing basis. Further learning opportunities are then planned to enhance future growth and development.

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