Thursday, July 06, 2000
Health studies in kindergarten heralds changes
By Sue Kiesewetter
Enquirer Contributor
MASON — One of the biggest changes in the science curriculum for the Mason Schools will come in the lower grades next month, when children begin studying health in kindergarten.
The changes come following a yearlong look at how science is taught here. Educators studied Mason's curriculum and aligned it with national standards, and material that students are expected to know to pass the science section of Ohio's proficiency tests. The revisions were approved recently by the Mason Board of Education.
Five- and 6-year-olds will begin their study of health by learning about their bodies. In first grade they will move on to nutrition, and the study of germs will be added in third grade. In kindergarten and first grade, pupils will learn their material not from textbooks but from guides their teachers will receive along with literature, books, photo cards and hands-on projects, said Kathy Weber, kindergarten coordinator, who worked on the committee.
“We'll be teaching fewer units, but going more in depth in grades kindergarten through 4,” Ms. Weber said. “There will be more variety in the sciences and less duplication from grade to grade.”
The material will be presented in units that also include instruction in other subjects such as reading and math. Much of the material selected for the lower grades and some of the other grades was selected from recom mendations by the National Science Foundation.
It will be on display at Mason Central before the school board adopts the textbooks and related materials later this month.
“We tried to make a useable document that was aligned with national standards and Ohio proficiencies,” said Linda Sutphin, a science curriculum leader who sat on the committee.
Other changes include reducing the number of topics studied to allow students to explore each in more depth.
Some topics are being moved from one grade to another so those students learn about them before they are tested on them on proficiency tests.
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