The Elementary School Journey Begins
Kindergarten is the beginning of your child’s elementary school journey. Our full-day program offers a warm and personal environment with high academic goals in reading and mathematics. Children receive individualized lessons, allowing them to develop specific academic abilities and interests while progressing at a comfortable pace. Our teachers form a personal bond with each student to provide social, emotional and academic support through this exciting time.
The Kindergarten curriculum covers the following areas:
Practical Life
These activities help children develop a sense of order, concentration, coordination, and independence. By learning skills such as cleaning, plant care, tying shoes, transferring solids and liquids and sorting, the child learns care of self and their environment. They develop self-esteem based on accomplishing tasks that they see adults perform.
Sensorial
Specialized materials challenge a child’s acute senses. Exercises in identification, matching, and gradation help define and refine sensory awareness. This acuity helps prepare the child for success in reading and math.
Language
Pre-reading exercises develop the fundamental skills necessary for proficient reading and spelling. These include matching, rhyming, opposites, visual closure, sequencing, categorizing and patterning. Reading is learned using phonics, initially matching letter symbols and sounds. Then children naturally learn to combine sounds to make (write) and read words. An environment that is language rich and shares a love of the written word alternating between books and materials, gives children a strong foundation for strength in reading and spelling.
Math
The use of incredible Montessori materials provides an enjoyable approach to building a solid math foundation. Children move naturally from concrete to abstraction at their own pace using materials to ensure number and symbol recognition through thousands. Once the concept of numeration is learned, exercises introduce a variety of math concepts including: addition and subtraction, inequalities, measuring, fractions, odd / even, geometry, skip counting, squaring and the decimal system.
Geography
This is a great example of our integrated approach to learning. This area touches on physical geography, biomes, geo/political organization and world culture. The curriculum begins by building an awareness of the components land, water, and air. An overview of the earth is next and exploration of the physical and cultural aspects of each continent. Exercises include readings of stories and factual books, art projects, photographs and map work.
Zoology
In another area of integrated learning, children first learn the classifications: living and non-living, plant and animal and vertebrate and invertebrate. Next is an in-depth study of invertebrates and vertebrates. Focus is on familiar insects, sea life, and the five classifications of vertebrates. Classroom pets provide real life experience with a range of animals.
Botany
Initial exercises focus on learning the parts of plants and their purpose and the life cycle of plants. The next investigation is the relationship of plants and humans, what plants need and what we need from them. Finally, children gain an appreciation for the outside environment by planting seeds and tending a garden.
History
This area uses clocks, calendars and a personal timeline to develop a sense of time and practical organization and time keeping skills.
Art and Music
Early exercises introduce basic art and music concepts. The children learn how to mix primary colors into secondary and tertiary colors. An exposure to a variety of artists and their styles with materials provided for exploration let children explore their own creativity. Composers and instruments are explored and recognized. Early introduction is provided to written music so students see how music is created. Later exercises are integrated with other areas of the curriculum so that children gain an appreciation of the role of art and music in culture and history.
Physical Science
A range of physical science topics are introduced through study of nomenclature and experimentation. The natural curiosity of the child is piqued and developed through study of simple machines, magnetism, solubility, materials, etc. By following the child’s interests, new topics are explored throughout the year.
Other subjects covered include: Spanish, Health and Nutrition. These are integrated into the school day to provide students with a solid exposure for future study and the ability to integrate them into their everyday lives.