Early Years Program

The Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic District School Board celebrates the uniqueness of every child. Early and on-going identification of learning needs is an important first step to ensuring success for children's learning and in helping them develop their individual talents.

Our Board follows an early and on-going identification procedure that identifies each child's level of development, learning abilities and needs. This process, based on continuous assessment and program planning, is initiated for all students uponearly school entry and continues throughout a child's school life.

Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting In Kindergarten

• Kindergarten Assessment Handbook

In 1998, the Ministry of Education released The Kindergarten Program, a policy document that serves as a basis for Kindergarten programming across Ontario. It outlines the knowledge and skills that children should have by the end of Kindergarten. The arrival of this document has necessitated a review of current policies and practices in Kindergarten especially in the assessment, evaluation and reporting of student progress.

The new Kindergarten Progress Report meets the reporting requirements outlined in The Kindergarten Program, and was adapted from the one developed by the Toronto Catholic DSB. It will replace all Kindergarten report cards currently in use thereby providing a consistent progress report for all Kindergarten children in the Nipissing-Parry Sound Catholic District School Board.

The Kindergarten Progress Report and the Junior Kindergarten Conference Form are also part of the Board's newly revised process for early and on-going identification. Since 1982, all school boards have been required to establish a policy on early and on-going identification of learning abilities (PPM#11). This early identification of children's strengths and needs is intended to assist teachers to recognize what children already know and to plan developmentally appropriate programs so they will develop to their full potential.

Children's early learning experiences have a profound effect on their development. In Kindergarten, children's receptivity to new influences and capacity to learn are at their peak. During this period, they acquire a variety of important skills, knowledge, and attitudes that will affect their ability to learn, their personal development, their relationship with others, and their future participation in society. - The Kindergarten Program, 1998, pg. 3

Ready To Learn

In the 1995-1996 school year the Board implemented the "Ready to Learn" program which was developed by teachers in association with Bill McMaster from Sagonaska Provincial School. This Board-wide Kindergarten program is based on brain research and focuses on gross and fine motor (kinesthetic) development, visual, and auditory perception. The activities help teachers identify children who experience difficulties in their perceptual motor development and may have reading difficulties later. The exercises that follow help prevent or reduce learning problems as these strategies are provided to ensure optimal academic success.