In the United States, one of the most important goals of most kindergarten classes in the public school system is to ensure that students begin to read and understand English communication. With this goal in mind, teachers introduce students to the alphabet, have students form upper and lower-case letters of their own, help students understand that these letters make words and teach them to read simple words. In addition, frequent story sessions allow students to follow stories from beginning to end as a foundation for reading comprehension.
Understanding the scientific process and the basis for standard science courses are two common kindergarten goals in U.S. public schools. Teachers often use hands-on experiences while instructing students to observe, predict and describe the results of these experiments. This is the basis for the scientific method. Teachers also may introduce specific science concepts to students, such as the idea that objects have noticeable properties for physical science, that living things have needs and cycles for living sciences and that weather changes daily for earth science.
Public school systems often intend for kindergarten courses to teach simple math concepts and functions to students. Counting, recognizing and writing numeric symbols, recognizing geometrical shapes and even understanding of addition and subtraction may be taught to kindergarten students. Other concepts that teachers could introduce include patterns, graphs, the value and recognition of money, and telling time using analog and digital clocks.
The goals of kindergarten social studies classes often are not to teach about specific dates or history topics; rather, public school kindergarten classes tend to focus on strengthening a student's understanding of her personal link to the rest of the world. Each student learns about her own family, community and the United States. In addition, she is taught basic responsibility and about certain rules and laws that she is expected to obey. Teachers often also try to teach each student to respect those from different communities and backgrounds.
Because technology continues to play a larger role in our lives, many kindergarten classes now seek to give students a foundation in technology comprehension as well. This often means putting young students in front of computers and teaching them about the different computer parts and about how to manipulate them. Teachers may teach students to use a mouse and keyboard and also may have students use educational software to strengthen this tie to technology.
One of the most important goals of any public kindergarten classrooms is to teach students how to express themselves and how to communicate effectively with peers and authority figures. Teachers give students time to socialize and also encourage students to speak publicly as part of a class with activities such as show and tell or art class. Many teachers encourage students to express themselves while also teaching students to follow simple directions and to behave appropriately.