Kindergarten is required for all students living in the state of Maryland. According to COMAR 13A.08.01.02, Age of School Attendance, a child is eligible to enroll in Kindergarten when he/she turns 5 years old on or before September 1 of the year in which the child is seeking enrollment.
Parents should contact their neighborhood elementary school to register their child for Kindergarten. Schools begin registering students for Kindergarten in the spring, and continue to accept registrations throughout the summer.
Early Admission to Kindergarten (students born between September 2 and October 14)
Kindergarten Volunteers Wanted!
Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) has formed a partnership with Baltimore County Volunteers (BCV) to help place volunteers in Baltimore County elementary schools. These volunteers assist students in kindergarten through their first year of public school. Please click here to visit the BCV Kindergarten Classroom Volunteers Initiative web page for more information and to obtain a registration form!
Kindergarten Curriculum
Students will listen to, and discuss, a variety of literary and informational texts while using three guiding questions to explore the essential question for each unit.
Unit 1: Take a New Step
Essential question - What can we learn when we try new things?
Three guiding questions used to answer the essential question:
- How can we get along with new friends?
- How do baby animals move?
- How can your sense help you learn?
Unit 2: Let’s Explore
Essential question - What can you find out when you explore?
Three guiding questions used to answer the essential question:
- How do tools help us explore?
- What shapes do you see around you?
- What kind of bugs do you know about?
Unit 3: Going Places
Essential question - What can you learn by going to different places?
Three guiding questions used to answer the essential question:
- What rules do we follow in different places?
- What are the different sounds we hear?
- What places do you go during the week?
Unit 4: Around the Neighborhood
Essential question - What do you know about the people and the places in your neighborhood?
Three guiding questions used to answer the essential question:
- What do people use to do their jobs?
- Who are your neighbors?
- How can people help to make your community better?
Unit 5: Wonders of Nature
Essential question - What kinds of things can you find growing in nature?
Three guiding questions used to answer the essential question:
- What do living things need to grow?
- How do living things change as they grow?
- What kinds of things grow on a farm?
Unit 6: Weather for All Seasons
Essential question - How do weather and seasons affect us?
Three guiding questions used to answer the essential question:
- How are seasons different?
- What happens in different kinds of weather?
- How can you be safe in bad weather?
Unit 7: The Animal Kingdom
Essential question - What are different kinds of animals?
Three guiding questions used to answer the essential question:
- How are some animals alike and some different?
- How do you take care of different types of pets?
- Where do animals live?
Unit 8: From Here to There
Essential question - Where can you go that is near and far?
Three guiding questions used to answer the essential question:
- What can help you go from here to there?
- What do you know about our country?
- What do you see in the sky?
Unit 9: How Things Change
Essential question - How do things change?
Three guiding questions used to answer the essential question:
- How can you help out at home?
- How can you be a good citizen?
- How can things in nature be used to make things new?
Unit 10: Thinking Outside the Box
Essential question - How can new ideas help us?
Three guiding questions used to answer the essential question:
- What can happen when we work together?
- How are things alike and different?
- What ideas can you suggest to protect the environment?
Click here to view the Kindergarten Year at a Glance document
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