Early Childhood Program
Engaging Exploration in Grades PK-1
The Early Childhood Program within Gilman Lower School promotes exploration and discovery, resulting in a lifelong spirit of inquiry and learning. We believe our younger boys learn best when they have positive and nurturing relationships with adults and other children. We are passionate about providing a research-based, boy-centered, high-quality education in a diverse and inclusive community. We are proud of our holistic approach to early childhood education and understand the importance of paying special attention to our boys' social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. We welcome and embrace the many strengths and individual qualities of our youngest boys.
Gilman's Early Childhood Program embodies joy, happiness, and excitement. Our program provides in-depth, interconnected learning that helps prepare our boys for future academic and lifelong success.
To best prepare boys for Gilman Lower School's Elementary Program (grades 2-5) and beyond, we build capable, independent learners within a group. The learning environment in our Early Childhood Program challenges each boy to reach his true academic potential. We celebrate the uniqueness and talent each boy and his family bring to our community. Our program stresses the importance of exploration, imagination, and curiosity and encourages each boy to grow these qualities. We believe that play and a natural environment for learning are essential to the physical, social-emotional, cognitive, and language development of young boys. At Gilman, boys learn to take risks confidently and have the stamina to persevere in all they do. Our core school values of honor, integrity, humility, and excellence help us to shape boys of promise into young men of character, kindness, and empathy.
Program Values
- We celebrate the uniqueness and potential that each boy and family bring to the Gilman community.
- Our Early Childhood Program emphasizes the importance of exploration, imagination, and curiosity.
- We believe that play and a natural environment for learning are essential to the physical, social-emotional, cognitive, and language development of young boys.
- Our core values of honor, integrity, respect, humility, and excellence help to shape boys of promise into young men of character.
- Boys confidently take risks and have the stamina to persevere.
- To best prepare boys for our Elementary Program and beyond, we build capable, independent learners within a group. The learning environment in our Early Childhood Program challenges each boy to reach his true academic potential.
CURRICULUM: PRE-KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE ONE
Pre-Kindergarten
At Gilman, we believe that children at age four learn best when they have positive and nurturing relationships with adults and other children. Therefore, our skilled teachers develop an enriching curriculum, provide intentional guidance and support, and foster an environment in which our youngest Hounds can safely explore, discover, inquire, and learn. We welcome and embrace the many strengths and individual qualities of our youngest boys.
Our pre-kindergarten curriculum encompasses developmentally appropriate practices for our youngest Hounds to grow in mind, body, and spirit. In the classroom, our boys spend their days in a nurturing environment that conveys a positive message that this is a good place to be, you belong here, this is a place you can trust, you can do many things on your own here, there are places where you can be by yourself when you want, and this is a safe place to explore and try new ideas.
Two teachers provide multi-sensory lessons for every type of beginning learner. Teachers are active observers and make thoughtful decisions to ask open-ended questions and make suggestions that extend and support learning. The skills taught help build the foundation for academic success and positive mental growth, as well as foster meaningful relationships with peers. Our pre-kindergarten boys also get to experience Gilman to the fullest throughout the year as they interact with older boys outdoors, in assemblies, and at convocations. Building a life-long, positive relationship with our school and community begins in pre-kindergarten!
In pre-kindergarten, your son will learn:
Language Arts
Our pre-k boys work in small groups that introduce a new concept or new materials, teach a specific skill, encourage conversations and the sharing of ideas, and extend the boy's thinking during academic times. Language Arts is comprised of reading, speaking, and listening. Readiness and early reading combine not only phonemic awareness but also poetry, songs, plays, and listening to and reading a variety of books. These ensure that concrete comprehension develops along with understanding the mechanics of our alphabet. Additionally, our boys are encouraged to speak in detail during one-on-one conversations and class discussions to expand their conversational proficiency.
Writing
Our pre-k boys use multi-sensory tools to develop their fine motor muscles used in handwriting. Along with direct instruction for writing letters and numerals, using a variety of manipulatives in our hands-on approach to learning will allow their skills to strengthen. Throughout the day, the boys will have many opportunities to write, paint, illustrate, cut, and assemble as well.
Mathematics
Our pre-k boys begin exploring mathematical concepts and develop number sense by using real objects that they explore, manipulate, and organize for counting, making sets, and sorting. The boys learn about and use their knowledge of two and three-dimensional shapes when they draw, paint, sort blocks and identify shapes outdoors. In becoming aware of themselves in relation to other people and things, the boys learn location and position, direction, and distance. All sorts of games, data collecting, and recording will strengthen their math skills to be ready for kindergarten and beyond.
Science
Our pre-k program fosters each boy's inquisitive nature to learn by doing, experimenting, observing, questioning, and predicting. Our science lab and outdoor classrooms, in addition to our nature trails, are the ideal places for our little budding scientists to explore, enjoy, appreciate, discover and understand their surroundings and the bigger world.
Social Studies
Children are inherently social and thrive in this environment of all boys. In our pre-k, the boys will share about themselves and learn how they fit into their family, class, and community. As they navigate making friends, playing cooperatively, and caring for their classroom and belongings they will develop positive lifelong social skills.
Creative Arts
From drawing and painting, singing and dancing, running, throwing a ball, and participating in a game, our creative arts and physical education curriculum support every area of learning. It develops an appreciation of music and how the body works, supports oral language, allows the expression of ideas and feelings, and provides an understanding of the world. Our unique curriculum helps to develop gross motor muscles and balance, and it gives the boys opportunities to move independently as well as within a group and to gain spatial sense. The pre-k classroom environment is designed to stimulate all of the senses and inspire each student's imagination.
A Day in Pre-K | |
---|---|
7:30 a.m. | Drop-Off, Classroom Stations |
8 a.m. | Outside Recess |
8:30 a.m. | Morning Meeting |
9 a.m. | Language Arts Centers |
10 a.m. | Snack and Recess |
10:30 a.m. | Physical Education |
11 a.m. | Read Aloud |
11:30 a.m. | Lunch |
12 p.m. | Math Centers |
1 p.m. | Recess |
1:30 p.m. | Resource Class* |
2 p.m. | Rest Time |
3 p.m. | Pickup |
*Resource classes include music, art, library, science, and makerspace. The boys will be introduced to Spanish and French. |
Kindergarten
Five-year-old boys are wonderful bundles of curiosity and creativity, energy and enterprise, imagination and ingenuity. Gilman's kindergarten program bridges the pre-school/pre-kindergarten and upper elementary school years, engaging young boys in an enriching and age-appropriate academic program that meets their specific developmental and educational needs. We welcome these young members of our community to a special wing of Henry H. Callard Hall, home to the Lower School that is dedicated solely to kindergarten. Thoughtfully designed with the young boy in mind, the space includes two classrooms, a multipurpose room, and planning and meeting areas for teachers.
Our curriculum is tailored to boys' interests, strengths, and learning styles and helping them "learn how to learn." Led by nurturing teachers in a small classroom setting, Gilman kindergartners will start to understand numbers and begin to read. They will discover foreign languages, plant gardens, wonder, paint self-portraits, laugh, play ball, create, make friends, sing and dance, write stories, explore books, run, share ideas, climb, use computers, conduct experiments, imagine, take risks, count, treasure the environment, and develop character.
In kindergarten, your son will learn:
- Language Arts
- Mathematics
- Science
- Music
- Art
- Physical Education
- Modern Languages: French and Spanish
- Library
- Signature Events
Language Arts
Kindergarten boys focus on:
- Listening and speaking skills
- Alphabet letter recognition
- Handwriting
- Phonological and Phonemic Awareness based on Project Read
- Personal Journal Writing
- "Just Right" leveled guided reading books
- Author Studies: Mo Willems, Lio Lionni, Eric Carle, Robert McCloskey, Kevin Henkes
Mathematics
Science
Kindergarten boys explore their five senses and learn about the health of their bodies. They look at trees, seeds, and plants in earth science and explore forces and interactions with magnets in physical science. The boys end the year with a unit on mechanics and looking at basic cause and effect as they explore cars, racing, and the "Kindy 500."
Music
The music curriculum in the kindergarten consists of songs, games, and dances to aid in the development of pitch, rhythm, and musical expression. Listening skills are enhanced by singing echo songs and repeat clapping. The boys are introduced to the musical "opposites" of tempo (fast/slow), dynamics (loud/soft), pitch (high/low), and rhythm (long/short). Students are also exposed to different styles of music and the families of instruments: brass, woodwinds, percussion, and strings.
Art
The kindergarten art program explores a range of modern artists in addition to traditionally well-known artists, such as celebrated American painter Jackson Pollock, Russian abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky, and glass sculptor Dale Chihuly. Projects include three-dimensional penguin sculptures, large-scale figures in motion, sculpture flower reliefs, pinch pots, and watercolor portraits.
Physical Education
Kindergarten physical education classes meet eight days out of 10 for 30-minute sessions. Individual skill development and cooperative interaction are the main emphases of the physical education program. The students explore and refine basic movement patterns and are exposed to exploratory and discovery experiences involving body awareness, spatial orientation, basic body actions, eye-hand and eye-foot coordination, and rhythmic movement.
Modern Languages: French and Spanish
Kindergarten boys are given exposure to both French and Spanish through activities that develop listening comprehension and conversational skills in classes that meet once during the ten-day cycle. The boys will continue with either French or Spanish depending on whether they enter prep-one or first grade the following year.
Library
In weekly classes with the librarian, kindergarten boys explore books for building their reading skills and discover the scope of an author's work through in-depth studies of writers. To support and enhance literacy skills, the students study sight words that are found in their books and shared conversations.
Signature Events
Prep-One
In 1989 Gilman added a rather novel new grade: a "pre-first grade" for boys who had completed kindergarten and needed a year to boost independence and academic readiness before first grade. Though the concept gained traction in the independent school educational community, the idea was, at the time, relatively new to Baltimore.
Today, prep-one thrives at Gilman and remains a viable option for those boys who would benefit from the time to develop academic, social, and emotional skills necessary for success in future grades. Hands-on exploration, outdoor experiences, and methods to build independence are integral parts of the program. Boys leave the prep-one year better prepared to handle the challenges and academic elements of the school day.
In prep-one, your son will learn:
- Language Arts
- Mathematics
- Social Studies
- Science
- Music
- Art
- Physical Education
- Modern Languages: French and Spanish
- Library
- Design & Woodworking
- Signature Events
Language Arts
Prep-one boys focus on a continuation of the reading comprehension strategies and phonemic awareness lessons of kindergarten. They build fluency in reading through a variety of methods including leveled readers, Explode the Code, and Raz-Kids. Boys build listening skills, predicting skills, and practice story-retelling. Prep-one boys complete research projects on bears, the rainforest, and the African savannah during the year.
Mathematics
The prep-one curriculum builds on the kindergarten program and emphasizes counting, skip-counting, sets/sorting, basic number theory, patterns, attributes, ordinal numbers, use of the number line, whole number computation, measurement, money, time, and problem-solving strategies. Games are often used to build collaborative and problem-solving skills.
Social Studies
Prep-one students focus on answering the question "who am I?" by looking at relationships with self, family, and friends. How we work as a community is examined with emphasis on building character, resolving conflict, and recognizing qualities in others. Boys in prep-one explore other communities and cultures through books, guest speakers, and hands-on projects. Specific units of study include bears, rainforest, the African savannah, and the outside habitat of Gilman School.
Science
During the course of the year, prep-one boys explore forces and motion, learn about trees and forests, the importance of recycling, adaptation and habitats, and boat-building and buoyancy. They learn the scientific method of posing a question, forming and testing a hypothesis, collecting data, and developing a conclusion. Projects include building a car out of recycled materials, creating a snake that can adapt to sunlight, and making tinfoil boats.
Music
The music curriculum in prep-one builds upon the kindergarten program and consists of songs, games, and dances to aid in the development of pitch, rhythm, and musical expression. Listening skills are enhanced by singing echo songs and repeat clapping. The boys are introduced to the musical "opposites" of tempo (fast/slow), dynamics (loud/soft), pitch (high/low), and rhythm (long/short). Students are also exposed to different styles of music and the families of instruments: brass, woodwinds, percussion, and strings.
Art
The prep-one art program explores themes that correlate with classroom studies: for example, paper mache tropical snake sculptures correlate to classroom studies on rainforests. Students learn about French master painter, Claude Monet, by creating their own version of his famous water lilies series. They learn about clay sculpture while creating a colorful clay snake. Each year the prep-one boys visit the Baltimore Museum of Art as part of their studies. "The Thinker" by sculptor Auguste Rodin is always a big hit!
Physical Education
Prep-one physical education classes meet eight days out of 10 for 45-minute sessions. Individual skill development and cooperative interaction are the main emphases of the physical education program. The students explore and refine basic movement patterns and are exposed to exploratory and discovery experiences involving body awareness, spatial orientation, basic body actions, eye-hand and eye-foot coordination, and rhythmic movement.
Boys also receive swimming lessons every four days. The aquatic component stresses water safety, coordination, and skill development.
Modern Languages: French and Spanish
Library
Design & Woodworking
Signature Events
Grade One
Grade one brings together boys from either our kindergarten or prep-one programs and outside schools. The skills necessary to form good relationships — how to solve conflict, find positive ways to communicate ideas, and build respect for everyone's diverse interests — weave into all subject areas. Boys leave first grade with the communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed to succeed in Lower School and beyond.
In first grade, your son will learn:
- Language Arts
- Mathematics
- Social Studies
- Science
- Music
- Art
- Physical Education
- Design and Woodworking
- Modern Languages: French and Spanish
- Library
- Signature Events
Language Arts
Grade one boys focus on increasing phonemic awareness necessary for sounding out new words, building reading fluency with a guided reading program, increasing comprehension skills through discussion and reader's workshop strategies, and developing communication skills through the writing process.
Handwriting is taught and practiced daily.
Mathematics
During the first grade year, the emphasis is on building a strong foundation in numeration and number theory. Units for the year include sorting/patterns/attributes, addition and addition strategies, subtraction and subtraction strategies, addition and subtraction relationships, tangrams, place value/skip counting, two digit addition, greater than/less than, basic fractions, time, money, and measurement.
Problem-solving and critical thinking are large parts of the first grade curriculum.
Social Studies
The idea of what it means to be a community is expanded upon from the prep-one and kindergarten years. The boys explore their own campus and learn about the individuals that make it function. They learn about goods and services while exploring the community beyond Gilman in Roland Park.
Holidays and religions that our community values are discussed and celebrated. Units of study include American presidents, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ruby Bridges. A unit on "Tall Tales" is followed by an interdisciplinary unit on "Westward Expansion." This unit builds on the themes of geography — location, place, and movement — culminates in a day-long celebration of learning known as "Pioneer Day."
Science
First grade boys explore waves and sound as they use drums, tuning forks, prisms, boxes, and other tools to create various waves they can see and feel. They study seven basic habitats and use technology and recycled supplies to create their own planet complete with herbivores, carnivores, and decomposers, similar to habitats found on Earth. Another unit takes them from space to earth. They explore the atmosphere, weather, water cycle, and plants along the way. The unit concludes with a recycling project which focuses on how to be better stewards of our world.
Music
Students learn to differentiate between high and low sounds and identify the difference between beat and rhythm. They are introduced to several solfège notes throughout the year, including so, mi, la, and do. The students begin to read this limited note set on a five-line staff and use the "do clef" to begin to discover the different placements of the home note, do. Additionally, the note values of quarter notes, quarter rests, and eighth notes are an integral part of their music literacy throughout grade one.
Art
The first grade art program explores a variety of artists and mediums. The boys begin the year expanding their art vocabulary to include the term "highlight." Shape, form, and color are then introduced as aspects of good sculpture. The boys create a mixed-media monster sculpture in paper mache. A study of French painter, Henri Rousseau, provides inspiration for the boys' winter project.
The first grade boys use craft paper and tempera paint to create their own dramatic tropical landscapes. The boys continue working in mixed media to create "Jasper Johns-like" American flags. To introduce the boys to working with clay, they work on simple hand-building techniques and create a "pinch pot" with a lid. Dazzling colors are used to glaze the artwork before it is taken home.
Physical Education
Design and Woodworking
First grade boys become acclimated to the shop. They learn to follow pattern designs; shape and texture wood with rasps, hammers, and nails; and join wood pieces. Keeping physical balance while accomplishing tasks with manipulation tools like a hand saw, file, and abrasive paper is practiced. Examples of projects include making a small log cabin.
Modern Languages: French and Spanish
The Lower School's foreign language courses are taught using activities that will develop listening comprehension and conversational skills. Culture is used to deliver the content of different curricular units, and exposure to a variety of cultures that speak Spanish or French is an integral part of the program.
The program's goals are to expose the students to the language, help them develop basic conversational skills, and introduce them to the language used in its cultural context. The class environment is one of neutrality and at no moment is there a preference for one culture or another.
Library
Signature Events
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LOWER SCHOOL CO-CURRICULARS
All Lower School students participate in the following co-curriculars at designated days and times throughout the school day and week. Each year, the curriculum builds upon the previous year's and introduces students to more advanced but age-appropriate concepts, skills, and subjects.
Art
Art is a personal experience that encourages the student to express himself creatively. Art makes sense to children when they experience it as a basic form of expression and as a response to life. One of the Lower School art curriculum's primary goals is to foster each student's creative growth. Personal fulfillment through art experiences is the first and foremost purpose of the Art Program. Through systematic instruction, children learn through all four aspects of the art subject: perceiving, performing, appreciating, and criticizing.
The Lower School Art Program is concept-oriented, stressing the learning and use of the art elements. Students have the opportunity to think, plan and experiment with the use of line, shape, color, texture, space, and pattern through drawing, painting, collage, constructing, printmaking, and ceramics.
Another program goal is to introduce material directly related to other curriculum areas. Art is much more meaningful for children when incorporated into their daily work and interests. Vocabulary is interwoven into each lesson. A most meaningful function of the Art Program is to teach the appreciation of artistic heritage and understanding of art's role in society. Gaining an understanding of cultures past and present can help students appreciate and gain sensitivity and respect for our diverse Gilman community.
Learn More About the Visual Arts and Design and Woodworking at Gilman
Design and Woodworking
Shop class at Gilman? The Design and Woodworking program, one of the School's most unique and venerable offerings (dating from the late 1940s), gives students everyday skills they will carry throughout life. From their earliest school days, students learn the basic skills of woodworking with hand tools and machines and study the elements and principles of design through individual instruction, demonstrations, critiques, and the use of the department's reference library.
At the Lower School level, the Design and Woodworking program is designed to include hands-on instruction and learning. The program's objective is to expose the students to the art of craftsmanship, teaching them how to use basic tools and follow a specific set of instructions to produce both functional and beautiful objects. Projects build sequentially based on students' age and skill. As the ability to manipulate tools gets better, the projects increase in degree of difficulty. This program further builds skills such as perseverance and patience. Safety is a top priority and is emphasized in every class.
Learn More About the Visual Arts and Design and Woodworking at Gilman
Music
Music instruction begins with the very youngest boys. The Lower School Music Program is designed to be sensitive to child development with particular attention to the emerging understanding of boys' learning styles, natural strengths, and preferences. They begin to take music classes in pre-k, kindergarten, and prep-one. In the fifth grade, all boys study a band instrument and sing in the chorus. All grades participate in two concerts a year, and a select group of fourth and fifth graders participates in a singing group: the Treble T's. In addition to their own personal skills and performance, all students are exposed yearly to a concert with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
The philosophy and work of Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer and music educator, provide the foundation for the Lower School Music Program. The boys develop musical skills in pitch, rhythm, form, and harmony and grow in competency in performance, literacy, and appreciation of folk and classical music. Folk dancing and children's musical games are also important components of the program.
Library
With over 18,000 books, and access to multiple databases and digital content the Lower School's William Passano Library, offers the boys a rich, global collection of contemporary materials to explore. Students enjoy the library daily, as a space to research and for reading. Weekly classes with the librarian allow the boys to delve into research, explore what makes an award-winning story or illustration, and learn about genres that may expand their reading experiences.
Additionally, the librarian collaborates with the classroom teachers to support and enrich studies covered throughout the academic year. Building curious, confident, and avid readers who love reading is the goal of Gilman Libraries.
Modern Languages: French and Spanish
The Lower School Modern Language Program includes French and Spanish. All boys in a grade study the same language. After kindergarten, they study that assigned language for the rest of their Lower School years. Classes meet six times during a ten-day cycle.
The Lower School's modern language courses are taught using activities that will develop listening comprehension and conversational skills. Culture is used to deliver the content of different curricular units, and exposure to a variety of cultures that speak Spanish or French is an integral part of the program. The goals of the program are to expose the students to the language, to help them develop basic conversational skills, and to introduce them to the language used in its cultural context. The class environment is one of neutrality and at no moment is there a preference for one culture or another.
Physical Education
The Lower School Physical Education emphasizes skill development through a series of sports and athletic activities. Sportsmanship, cooperation, and safe play are highly prioritized at all levels. The organization, focus, and specific content of the physical education classes differ in the primary (prep-one through first) grades and upper elementary (second through fifth) grades to address age-appropriate needs.
Swimming is a required part of the Physical Education Program starting in prep-one or first grade. Our goal is for every Lower School boy to become a confident swimmer.
The Lower School curriculum helps boys develop the foundational knowledge, learning skills, and personality traits to prepare them for success in school and beyond. Boys learn specific content, how to think about what they have learned, and how to apply what they have learned in new situations. Boys learn to collaborate and communicate with others; think critically and creatively; and develop habits of mind that will last a lifetime.