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Start them Off Well

Kindergarten

The goal of the Kindergarten program is to promote the total well-being of the child, academically, socially and spiritually.

Curriculum that exceeds all standards.

Religion

Structure and Method – The Kindergarten students learn about God and their Catholic Faith through a developmental program based on Scripture and rooted in the teaching of our Catholic Faith. The students participate in a variety of prayers and devotions. Religions is integrated throughout the entire curriculum.

Book – RCL Benziger – Stories of God’s Love
The Kindergarten students learn about God’s love for them by learning about the Creation and defining all life and creation as gifts of God to be respected; the creation of people who love each other and ways of showing Christian behavior; the Church and Jesus’ friends who gather together to thank God; the Sacraments; Baptism, as we become friends of Jesus and members of the church; We celebrate the Eucharist by praying the Gospel responses. We learn about the Bible as God’s storybook. We listen to bible stories, learn prayers, learn about good choices and celebrate special days and remember the saints. We learn about Jesus as God’s sign of love to us. We learn about Jesus when he was a child and Mary his mother and Joseph his father. Jesus teaches us to love God, ourselves, and others.

Science

Structure and Method – The students will learn the science concepts through a balance of hands-on activities, solid content knowledge, technology, critical thinking skills, collecting, recording, and analyzing data.

Book – Scott Foresman Science
The Kindergarten students will develop a deep understanding of: Life Science – The process of life; the characteristics of living and non-living things; basic needs and stages of growth of living things; body parts; the identification of internal and external body parts; the functions of different body parts. Physical Science – Using the senses to make observations; grouping objects by their physical characteristics. Forces and motion; the different ways things move; pushes and pulls; surfaces; directional motion. Earth Science- Looking at the Earth and the Sky; defining the structure of the earth; landforms; daytime sky and the sun; changing seasons and the weather; the moon and the stars; recycling, and pollution.

Structure and method that enhances critical thinking.

Social Studies

Structure and Method- The students will learn the social studies concepts through literature based lessons, integrated curriculum ideas, discussions and technology.

Weekly Magazine – American Legacy Publishing Co. Kindergarten Studies Weekly. The Kindergarten students will be able to understand, identify and compare everyday life in different places and times, and understand that people, places and things change; understand that history tells the story of people and events of other times and places; understand rules and citizenship; individual rights and responsibilities; basic needs of families; jobs people do; holiday celebrations of cultures and countries; patriotism and presidents; monuments.

Literature

Structure and Method – The students are exposed to increasingly complex selections of literature during the school year. The gradual, stair step approach helps students become more proficient readers and listeners by keeping them challenged and engaged. Prior knowledge discussions, critical thinking, reading and listening for enjoyment are the most important components of the literature curriculum.

*The students in Kindergarten are exposed to a literature-based curriculum integrated throughout all the subject areas and as a major component of the Reading program. The Kindergarten students will be able to identify characteristics of major genres; identify story elements of plot, characters, problem and solution/resolution; use personal perspective in responding to literature; and recognize rhymes, rhythm, and patterned structure.

Language Arts

Structure and Method – The students will able to become early readers through multiple exposures to critical thinking skills, oral language development, phonics, writing, and technology.

Book – Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt– Journeys
The Kindergarten students will be able to develop comprehension skills by: predicting, summarizing, understanding cause and effect, drawing conclusions, identifying the main idea, comparing and contrasting, and sequencing. The Kindergarten students will develop vocabulary skills from: context clues, vocabulary strategies, and graphic organizers. The Kindergarten students will develop phonics and word study skills from: letter-sound relationships, word identification, and basic decoding skills. The Kindergarten students will develop oral Language skills by practicing speaking, listening strategies, presentations and discussions. The Kindergarten students will develop early writing skills through journal writing, daily writing. The students are also introduced to early descriptive writing and narrative writing.

Math

Structure and Method – The students will be able to learn Math through daily lessons, hands -on activities, literature, real-world connections, multi-media and technology resources.

Book – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt – Go Math!
The Kindergarten students will be able to identify, represent and read numbers between 0 and 100; skip count, group and use pace value with whole numbers; select and compute proper operations for problem solving, apply estimation in problem solving and compute basic addition and subtraction facts through twelve. The Kindergarten students will be able to demonstrate understanding of classification, positions, measurements, compare sets, data, graphing, plane shapes, solid shapes, length, weight and capacity.

FORMING WHOLE PEOPLE

Social and Emotional Development

The goal of the Kindergarten program is to promote the total well-being of the child, academically, socially and spiritually. Kindergarten is the age when a child begins to grow in the appreciation of the world around him/her. Each child begins to recognize things beyond themselves. They learn about God’s love and how to model that love.

Social and emotional skills are developed in Kindergarten by the opportunities that are provided. They become acquainted with other children and other adults (teachers), they discover physical, multicultural and ethnic differences, and in very natural ways, they begin to develop a sense of values and acceptance.

The Kindergartener learns to develop good social skills with peers, and others, through activities that promote social development such as: role modeling, centers, free play and guided interaction. Socialization becomes active in a rich environment that promotes Catholic, Christian values and appropriate interactions with others.