Moving and feeling good
Alberta combined physical education with health and wellness into one subject. In Kindergarten it covers the body, feelings, relationships, food, personal boundaries, and, slightly unexpectedly, Canadian money.
What Alberta asks for by the end of Kindergarten
The subject: Physical education and wellness
- Do physical activities that are actually enjoyable.
- Move safely around other people — spatial awareness.
- Healthy relationships, and how they support how you feel.
- Explore foods that help the body grow.
- Personal boundaries, and saying them in words and actions.
- Explore what Canadian coins and bills are worth.
Personal boundaries and consent appear here from Kindergarten onwards, in age-appropriate form: what you are comfortable with, how to say it, and that other people's answers count too.
The words, first
These are the terms a teacher will use at a parent interview, defined before anything below uses them.
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Spatial awareness | Knowing where your body is and what is around it, so you can run in a crowded space without crashing into someone. |
| Personal space | The space around a person that is theirs. Different people want different amounts, and asking is allowed. |
| Personal boundary | What a person is and is not comfortable with. “I don't want a hug right now” is a boundary, and it is a complete reason on its own. |
| Consent | Asking, and accepting the answer. At five this is about hugs, tickling, sharing toys and borrowing things. |
| Coin and bill | Canada's coins are the nickel (5¢), dime (10¢), quarter (25¢), loonie ($1) and toonie ($2). The bills start at $5. Note the dime: smallest coin, more than the nickel. |
Nickel
5¢
Dime
10¢
Quarter
25¢
Loonie
$1
Toonie
$2
What to do at home
- Move because it is fun — The outcome says personal enjoyment. Dancing in the kitchen counts; nothing has to be a sport.
- Play a stopping game — Freeze dance, musical statues, red light green light. Stopping your body on purpose in a room full of people is the spatial-awareness outcome.
- Ask before you tickle — And stop the first time they say stop, every time. That is what makes the word work later.
- Let them say no to a hug — Offer a wave or a high five instead. Boundaries are learnt by having one respected.
- Name the coins in the change — Which is bigger? Which is worth more? The two answers are different for the nickel and the dime, and that surprise is worth noticing.
Sheets you can print for this
- Canadian coins — match each coin to what it is worth
The expectations above are paraphrased from Alberta Education's New K–6 curriculum fact sheets, which publish a snapshot of each grade rather than the complete program of studies. Alberta's full programs are at alberta.ca/curriculum.