Kindergarten

writing readiness

Episcopal Day utilizes the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, which develops and refines strategies for writing from the Units of Study in Narrative, Informational and Opinion writing. (Handwriting is taught using FUNdations and the Handwriting Without Tears program.) Students are engaged in activities that will help them grow in the writing process.

Writing Workshops empower students to draft personal stories, develop and share their personal opinions, create illustrations, and eventually write how-to books that teach their peers how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or how to scoop ice cream. Writing Workshop begins with a group lesson, followed by an individual assignment. 

Each student has one-on-one conferences with their teachers to ensure that they are being met at their level and receive individual coaching to advance their skills. We strike a wonderful balance between meeting children at individual levels and providing ample opportunities to shine and be challenged. 

Throughout the year, skills grow from sounding out words and illustrating scenes to forming full sentences and writing stories that are shared with their classmates.

Math

Episcopal Day practices Everday Mathematics, a hands-on, exploratory program designed to help children begin to make a gradual transition from concrete to abstract concepts through the use of manipulatives and mental mathematics. To reinforce the skills taught, students count collections in a variety of ways, play daily math games and puzzles, and participate in calendar routines and activities.

Small class sizes enable our faculty to ensure children have a foundation and a comprehensive understanding of mathematics including geometry, numeracy, number sense, operations, money sense, and more. Open-ended exploration inspires students to not just memorize how to arrive at an answer but to also understand why, explain their thinking and reasoning, and discover the numerous ways of arriving at an answer. Students are challenged from a solid place of understanding. 

World Languages

The Spanish kindergarten curriculum is designed to give students a fun, dynamic, and meaningful introduction to the Spanish language. Students are introduced to basic vocabulary and phrases through games, songs, and art projects. Communication is emphasized as students learn to answer basic questions, which they will develop into short dialogues. Repetitions and enacting the words are the keys to learning at this age.

Religion

Religion lessons embrace diversity of beliefs while teaching core values of respect, compassion, and service. We cultivate wonder, inquiry, togetherness and adventure through sharing the stories of love and compassion from the Bible and in spiritual narratives found in popular culture. Stories of faith, hope, and love reassure our students that they walk with good company in the journey of life. Students sing songs with Reverend Jay and his popular ukulele while building a foundational language for spiritual depth and resilience. Along with singing, prayers, and developmentally appropriate storytelling, the students are introduced to basic theological concepts of religion, prayer, spirituality, and morality, all while reinforcing reflective and listening skills. 

Music

Kindergarteners will learn everything and anything about the percussion instrument family including shakers, tambourines, hand drums, bells, rhythm sticks, maracas, triangles, and more. Various clapping games are also included to familiarize students with basic rhythmic values and notations — quarter notes are introduced as “walking” notes and eighth notes as “running” notes. Kindergarteners use manipulatives, such as popsicle sticks and writing utensils for designing their own rhythmic patterns. Students also learn the proper music notations for writing down their rhythmic creations, as real composers would do! Toward the end of the rhythm chapter, students perform their rhythm compositions for their classmates.