• Kindergarten Physical Education focuses on the physical, mental and social domains of 5 year old children. The approach to the curriculum involves a variety of activities that provide meaning for students and responds to students' interests and abilities. The activities focus on the development of gross and fine motor skills of the growing child. The program is flexible in approach so as to meet diverse student needs and recognizes that schools exist in different contexts.

• Kindergarten Health is focused on the child and the environment in which they live. The students will gain new knowledge and skills as they engage in play, song movement and other fun interactive activities.

• Kindergarten Science builds on children's natural curiosity and sense of wonder. Students learn about the physical properties of materials by exploring water and soil and about living things and ways of caring for them; to use simple machines such as ramps and how to follow through with a simple plan or procedure; about weather and the important role that it plays in our province; and about the environment and why it is important to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Like scientists, they will be observing and sometimes recording their observations, making predictions, asking questions, making comparisons, investigating, drawing conclusions, and applying problem-solving skills.

• Grade 1 Religious Education engages students in an exploration of a variety of sacred symbols and places in eight living belief systems. The content is presented through first-person narratives by fictional grade 1 students from Newfoundland and Labrador. Student will discuss the similarities and unique qualities of the belief systems associated with each character. Recognizing that all belief systems and faith communities value sacred places and symbols is the focus for the Grade 1 program in Religious Education.

• Grade 1 Health maintains a focus on the child and the environment in which he/she lives. Grade 1 Health curriculum creates learning experiences that will engage the young learner and encompasses a range of health issues from nutrition, growth and development, positive mental health to the promotion of a healthy environment.

• Grade 3 Mathematics curriculum promotes active exploration of a variety of mathematical ideas in the context of meaningful learning experiences. Students will represent, describe, compare and order numbers to 1000. Addition and subtraction to 1000 will be explored. There is a focus on mental math strategies for 2-digit numbers and facts to 18. Multiplication to 5 x 5, as well as the corresponding division facts, will be studied. Students will explore patterns and relations through increasing and decreasing patterns. They will also solve one-step addition and subtraction equations. Work with measurement and 3D objects and 2D shapes provide opportunities to develop students' sense of shape and space. Students will collect and organize first-hand data. They will also construct, label and interpret bar graphs to solve problems.

2009-10 Program Implementations (Primary)

• Grades 2, 5 and 8 Mathematics Program
  The 2009-2010 school year marks the second year of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador's three-year plan of new program implementation for mathematics. This year's implementation is scheduled for Grades 2, 5 and 8. Similar to the programs previously implemented for Grades K, 1, 4 and 7 last year, the new Grade 2 , 5 and 8 mathematics programs are modeled after a conceptual framework based on the Western and Northern Canadian Protocol (WNCP).

2008-09 Program Implementations (Primary)

• Mathematics (K-1)
  In September 2008, new mathematics curriculum is being implemented in Kindergarten and Grade one. Implementation will follow in September 2009 in Grade 2 and Grade 3 in 2010. This new curriculum has been adopted from the Western and Northern Canadian Protocol's (WNCP) common curriculum framework for K-9 mathematics. New textbooks and resources accompany the new program and professional development for teachers will continue as the program is implemented.

  The learning outcomes in the program are organized into four strands across the grades K - 9. The strands include Number, Patterns and Relations, Shape and Space, and Statistics and Probability. In addition to the strands, the philosophy of the program identifies seven interrelated mathematical processes that children need to be engaged in to develop deep mathematical understanding. These include: communication, connections, mental mathematics and estimation, problem solving, reasoning, technology and visualization.

• Religious Education (K-3)
  In September 2008, new religion programs will be implemented in Kindergarten and Grade 3. These programs are designed to celebrate and promote diversity through an exploration of multicultural faith communities, both locally and globally. Students in Kindergarten will explore, using puppets and engaging teaching strategies, several special days, festivals, and celebrations from several living belief systems throughout the world. The Grade 3 program, a revision from the previous curriculum, consists of several engaging narrative and informative stories about significant leaders and participants of various living belief systems.

• Art (Grades 2-3)
  Art in grades2 &3 is a continuation of last year's implementation at K-1.The curriculum focuses on three equally important aspects of art: making ,creating ,looking and reflecting. Many of the looking at and reflecting activities carried out in art classes support the development of visual, media and critical literacies. This focus allows teachers and students opportunities to make connections and support learning in other subject areas.