EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM-
RELIGION: The teaching of God's love and care for us is not limited to religion class. We read Bible stories, and learn about creation, the gift of our 5 senses, baptism, the life, the death, and resurrection of Jesus. We learn how much God loves us and how we can show love to others. We have prayers daily.
READING READINESS: We concentrate on letter recognition, both capital and lower case, and the sounds these letters make. This phonetic approach is aided by the use of "Alphafriends" who come "visit" our class and help us to remember the letter sounds. We learn to recognize the beginning sounds of words, rhyming sounds, a number of sight words, and eventually sound out words and begin simple reading. Our text is literature based with concepts being introduced through age appropriate stories.
HANDWRITING: We use the D'Nealian form of handwriting to first practice the capital letters and later the lower case letters. We begin by writing our names correctly. Eventually we will copy words and short sentences from the whiteboard.
MATH CONCEPTS: We cover areas of shape, size, position, order, patterns, more and less, measurement, time, counting to 100, number recognition, addition and subtraction. We also learn to write the numbers correctly and play math games on the computer.
SCIENCE: Our text covers the 5 senses and we concentrate on that the first half of the year. We also do units on other areas including animals, plants, weather, seasons, dinosaurs, tadpoles, butterflies, etc. We attend presentations by speakers invited to our school that cover a wide range of scientific topics.
MUSIC: Once a week Kindergarten has a music class with Mrs. Sienkiewicz, our music teacher.
ART: Art class is a weekly activity. We often do projects that tie in with what we are currently learning in the classroom.
LIBRARY: Once a week our class has library time with a volunteer parent. They are read a book and then may check a library book out for the week.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: On nice days we go outside to use our wonderful playground facility. During bad weather we can exercise or dance to videos, tapes, or records or do other movement activities indoors.
COMPUTER CLASS: We have weekly computer classes in the computer lab with Mrs. Shaw.
DISCIPLINE
I use a positive approach to discipline, which encourages self-direction and self-esteem. I have found much success with rewarding good behavior and letting it be known that in our classroom any behavior whre a child could hurt themselves, others, or school property is inappropriate and not allowed. Any serious misbehavior that continues will be brought to the attention of the parent. I find that generally children of this age are eager to please their teacher if they know what is expected of them. I try to promote an environment that is loving and forgiving and encourage these traits in my students.
DRESS CODE: Kindergarten is expected to follow the school dress code but they do not need to bring gym shoes. Boys at this age are not required to wear belts.
PARTIES: Birthdays are exciting events and Kindergarteners may bring a treat to share with their classmates on their birthday. Please don't send invitations to be passed out in class if the whole class is not invited to the party. This will save on hurt feelings.
We have classroom parties at Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter. You will be informed in advance and may be asked to help provide treats, etc.
FIELD TRIPS: Kindergarten goes on an outdoor field trip in the fall and spring. Our class may go on other trips during the year, either on our own or as part of the school. Parents are asked to drive and you will be notified in advance.
OUR KINDERGARTEN DAY
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8:30
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8:50
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Self chosen activities
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8:50
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9:00
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Attendance, calendar, devotions |
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9:00
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9:20
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Religion class (chapel with the rest of the school on Wednesdays) |
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9:20
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10:00
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Language Arts |
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Reading readiness |
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Handwriting |
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10:00
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10:30
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Bathroom break and snack time |
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Physical activity |
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10:30
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10:45
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Story time and/or Show and Tell |
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10:45
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11:15
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Math Concepts
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11:15
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11:35
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Science or theme activity |
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11:35
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11:45
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Clean up, prayer, dismissal of morning friends |
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11:45
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12:00
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Bathroom break |
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12:00
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12:20
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Lunch (bring your own or buy hot lunch) |
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12:20
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1:00
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Recess (when the weather is nice we will be outside with the 1st to 4th grade classes) |
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1:00
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1:45
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Bathroom break and rest time (each child will have their own cot in the quiet area of the
church narthex) |
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1:45
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2:00
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Story time |
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2:00
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2:30
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Review or game based on a morning activity |
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2:30
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3:15
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Enrichment activity (may include activities such as art, cooking or baking a snack once
a week, structured physical activity, story writing and illustrating, drama, educational
videos, learning centers, extra computer time, seasonal activities) |
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3:15
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3:30
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Clean up, bus riders leave, prayer and dismissal of our all-day friends |
Included in the morning will be weekly classes of Art, Music, Computer and Library.
Our classroom door will not be open until 8:15 a.m. Morning friends will meet their parents for dismissal at 11:45 a.m.
All day friends will be dismissed to their parents' cars from the church porch with the rest of the school at 3:30. Any student not picked up by 3:40 p.m. will be taken to Peace Plus, our after school care program.
GETTING READY
All students are given a screening test for Kindergarten readiness. Scores range from 1 to 100 and we request a score of 75 or above. Test results are given the same day and after that you may enroll.
HOW CAN YOU HELP YOUR CHILD TO GET OFF TO A GOOD START IN KINDERGARTEN?
HAVE YOUR CHILD:
- Practice writing their name with only the first letter capital
- Write numbers 1 to 10
- Count while pointing to objects
- Say the alphabet one letter at a time
- Use scissors and glue
- Hold pencil and crayons with the correct grasp
- Practice using buttons, zippers, etc.
- Give two or three step directions for them to follow without constantly repeating it for them
SCHOOL SUPPLIES
- A large glue stick or several small ones
- A box of crayons - 24 is enough
- A paint shirt - any oversized shirt will do
- Scissors - round tipped Fiskars are safe and make cutting easier
- Plastic school box or shoe box to keep supplies in with your name on it
- Elmer's School Glue
- Large box of tissues
- 2 or 3 regular pencils - sharpened
- School bag or backpack - please send this every day
- Your child may bring a juice box every day or sign up to have a daily carton of milk through our school milk program
Dear Lord,
We ask your blessing on each of us as we work, learn and grow during the school year. Grant us guidance and wisdom as, together, we teach these little ones your ways.
Amen.