Social Studies

Social Studies centers around understanding how the world works on a social level. Students in the elementary grades are taught how to interact with the community, society, and the world around them. Social Studies instruction includes fundamental concepts of history, culture, economics, and political skills to produce responsible and productive citizens, and allows your child to develop critical thinking, research, and writing skills. Below you will find what your child will learn within each domain.

The Kindergarten Student:

In history,

• develop an understanding of how to use and create a timeline
• develop an awareness of a primary source
• compare children and families of today with those in the past
• recognize the importance of celebrations and national holidays as a way of remembering and honoring people, events, and our nation’s ethnic heritage
• compare our nation’s holidays with holidays of other cultures
• listen to and retell stories about people in the past who have shown character ideals and principles including honesty, courage, and responsibility
• recognize the importance of U.S. symbols
• use words and phrases related to chronology and time to explain how things change and to sequentially order events that have occurred in school
• explain that calendars represent days of the week and months of the year

In geography,

• describe the relative location of people, places, and things by using positional words
• explain that maps and globes help to locate different places and that globes are a model of the Earth
• identify cardinal directions
• differentiate land and water features on simple maps and globes
• locate and describe places in the school and community
• know one’s own phone number, street address, city or town and that Florida is the state in which the student lives
• identify basic landforms
• identify basic bodies of water
• describe and give examples of seasonal weather changes, and illustrate how weather affects people and the environment

 In economics,

• describe different kinds of jobs that people do and the tools or equipment used
• recognize that United States currency comes in different forms
• recognize that people work to earn money to buy things they need or want
• identify the difference between basic needs and wants

 In civics and government,

• define and give examples of rules and laws, and why they are important
• explain the purpose and necessity of rules and laws at home, school, and community
• explain the rights and responsibility students’ have in the school community
• demonstrate the characteristics of being a good citizen
• demonstrate that conflicts among friends can be resolved in ways that are consistent with being a good citizen
• describe fair ways for groups to make decisions