It's your child's first official year of school, an exciting time for parents and children alike, and an amazing period to develop your child's curiosity and innate love of learning.
The ISF Kindergarten and Preschool provides a wonderful introduction to learning and socialization within a warm and friendly international environment. Located in an independent section of the school campus, students enjoy the space to learn, play, and discover the world around them.
Each group of students has dedicated Kindergarten teachers and Kindergarten assistants. After a settling-in period, children start to feel comfortable in the group, learning new concepts every day through free play, as well as socializing with the other children and learning to respect others.
The ISF Kindergarten and Pre-School sets the stage for children’s next years at school, ensuring a strong educational foundation upon which their future learning is built. Reading, phonics, language, mathematics, and German form the basis of the ISF Kindergarten and Pre-School curriculum. Children also enjoy art, music, and P.E. as well as circle time each morning.
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Curriculum
The ISF Kindergarten and Preschool follows the Bildungs-und Erziehungsplan (BEP) in Hesse as well the SABIS® Educational System™. Students learn traditional German songs and celebrations in addition to receiving a global prospective that can only be found at ISF!
English
The English program at this age is intended to provide students with the support, knowledge, and skills to understand the basic features of handwriting; develop phonological awareness, blending sounds, and decoding words; as well as read age-appropriate texts with fluency and understanding. Songs, stories, and pictures are used to help stimulate imagination and spark curiosity. The goal of the program is to help children develop into confident learners who are able to express their needs and communicate effectively with their teacher and peers.
Mathematics
The math program at ISF works to provide students with the basic terminology of math. Children start to practice writing skills and techniques, learn to read, count, and write numbers up to 20, relate shapes to real-life objects, identify and name benchmark colors and their common shades, and understand patterns.
German
Language instruction in German either as a foreign language or as a native tongue completes the main focus of the ISF Kindergarten and Pre-School curriculum. Reinforcing what is taught in English and math, the German curriculum teaches colors, numbers, letters, and sounds. In celebration of our local culture, the ISF Kindergarten and Pre-School German program also incorporates traditional songs, rhymes, games, and festivals.
Visual Arts
The ISF visual ART curriculum allows children to take their own experiences of the world and transform them into artistic forms. Children will learn to explore and recognize visual elements of art—point, line, shape, color, space, movement— and experiment with different forms of artistic expression—drawing, painting, collage, paper folding, sculpture, among others. They will create visual arts individually, collectively, and collaboratively, exploring different spaces of the school and the community.
Music
The ISF Music Department offers students in Kindergarten through Grade 12 a context within which to develop their understanding and love of music.
The Kindergarten to Grade 4 music curriculum follows the American elementary music textbook series, “Share the Music.” Music classes meet at least once per week in these grades and cover age-appropriate musical concepts. Students sing and play rhythm instruments as well as learn the basics of music reading.
All students in Kindergarten to Grade 4 perform in concerts twice annually.
The ISF Music Department also offers a number of music ensembles as part of SABIS Student Life Organization® (SLO®) as well as additional private instrumental or vocal instruction for interested students.
The Kindergarten and Preschool School Day
Kindergarten and Preschool starts at 08:00 and all children should arrive by 08:20. Kindergarten finishes at 15:05 and Preschool at 15:25. There are various breaks as well as a lunch break. Kindergarten children have a nap after lunch.
ISF offers an Extended Day program for children from Kindergarten to Grade 4 until 18:00. This is included in the fees. Children also have the opportunity to participate in activities such as crafts, music, language and sports.
Learn more about our Kindergarten & Preschool program here.
