Understanding the world begins with self and family, so in a sense children are natural learners of social studies. At each stage of early development, children try to make sense of their social and physical environments. With a sensitive, respectful approach that sets the tone for broader social learning, young children gradually learn more about themselves, others, and their expanding community. 

Social studies content in the primary grades is organized around big ideas that come from topics related to self, family, community, and the world. Questions that invite inquiry and discovery in a holistic way lead to these big ideas.

NOW MORE THAN EVER, students need the intellectual power to recognize societal problems; ask good questions and develop robust investigations into them; consider possible solutions and consequences; separate evidence-based claims from parochial opinions; and communicate and act upon what they learn. And most importantly, they must possess the capability and commitment to repeat that process as long as is necessary. Young people need strong tools for, and methods of, clear and disciplined thinking in order to traverse successfully the worlds of college, career, and civic life.

In Kindergarten, the Social Studies instruction will focus on awareness of self in the world (identity, family, school, classroom) and will be taught throughout the year in three units. The four core disciplines within social studies provide the intellectual context for studying how humans have interacted with each other and the environment over time. Each of these disciplines - civics, economics, geography and history offer a unique way of thinking and organizing knowledge.

• My School and School Community
• Self and Others: Individual Development and Cultural Development
• Geography, People, and the Environment

In the first unit, My School and School Community, the essential question, What does it mean to be a part of a school community?  was developed by carefully considering the big ideas of the unit. In the second unt, Self and Others: Individual Development and Cultural Identity, students will be guided by the essential question, How are people the same and different?  Lastly, in unit three, Geography, People and the Environment, students will answer the question, What makes a community?