Kindergarten
Kindergarten is a year of phenomenal growth and transition. Children come from the world of Pre-K where learning is mainly through play, and now they need to learn “how to do school.” It is a year of moving from depending entirely on teacher direction to being able to work independently and cooperatively. Kindergarten is the link for children to become able learners and sets the foundation for the remainder of their educational experiences. Scriptural connections are integrated into all of our disciplines as the children are taught to recognize and pursue what is "good, the true and the beautiful."
Language lessons incorporate phonemic awareness (the blending of sounds into words), rhyming patterns and other reading strategies to move the children from being non-readers to becoming emergent and early readers. In Writer’s Workshop, students learn to organize topics and combine words using “sound” or inventive spelling to write stories. Activities with manipulatives in math teach the children that all math concepts are based on grouping. Beginning with sorting, one-to-one correspondence and simple patterns, children go on to build their understanding of graphs, quantity of numbers, time, money, addition and subtraction.
Beyond the three "Rs," the kindergarten curriculum offers opportunities for science exploration and experimentation of our senses, the seasons, weather, plants, magnets and flight. Our rich history curriculum includes studies of Native Americans, particularly the Wampanoags, as well as American Presidents and symbols including the Presidents of Mount Rushmore, the current President and the White House, the flag and the Statue of Liberty. The students also learn about their place in history and how all of history relates to the time line that had its beginning at creation.
Our kindergarten students act out stories especially in language and Bible, engage in role playing activities in the classroom dramatic play center which includes the use of puppets, and attend live performances. Our core curriculum lessons in history and science may also lend themselves to creative dramatics such as students becoming water droplets in a cloud (hula hoop) that fall out as rain. The kindergarten students also perform a play about the historical Thanksgiving story in November of each year.
That theme is carried through our Bible lessons as we see the continuum of "God's Story" from creation through the reign of King David and into the life of Christ.
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