Kindergarten
Excitement illuminates the creative minds of kindergarteners as they embark on an elevated academic journey, complete with “big kid” notebooks and age-appropriate lessons and activities.
Learning opportunities are designed to advance intellectual skills and nurture curiosity while promoting positive self-esteem. Lessons are based on hands-on activities throughout the day that stimulate children to think and learn about themselves and the world around them. Small class sizes enable our exceptional faculty to assess and support each student’s academic needs while providing ample opportunities to excel and be challenged.
A Day in the Life of Pre-K & Kindergarten
Mustang Afterschool Program (MAP)
We provide after-school activities Monday through Friday.
School Day Schedule
| Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri: | Wed (late start): | |
|---|---|---|
| Arrival | 8:05 a.m. | 8:50 a.m. |
| Dismissal | 2:50 p.m. | 2:50 p.m. |
Core Curriculum
Kindergarten dives into Writing Workshop to share and illustrate stories.
reading readiness
Episcopal Day utilizes the Teachers College Units of Study, which moves students along a continuum from beginner to more advanced reading at an age-appropriate level. This includes independent reading, one-on-one conferencing, and guided reading. Students learn phonemic awareness, phonics, and sight word vocabulary through the Wilson Learning FUNdations program (multisensory, hands-on, systematic - alphabet, sounds, hand-writing component).
Reading Workshops are a powerful way for students to learn reading skills together as a group, followed by the opportunity to choose a book and practice reading skills at their individual level. Small class sizes empower each child to be assessed and supported one-on-one through ongoing reading conferences with their teachers.
Throughout the year, students learn and practice “Reading Super Powers” including First Sound Power, Picture Power, Pattern Power, and more. As students reach optimal levels of reading by the end of Kindergarten, the class enjoys a special celebration to share their skills with their peers in first through fourth grade.
Can you write a story? Kindergarten students bring characters to life in Writing Workshop.
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.
Students build habitats for arctic animals including a seal, snowy owl, and an arctic fox.
Science
Kindergarten scientists are thrilled to obtain their first “big kid science workbook” for observing, drawing, and describing the world around them. Science curriculum is taught through hands-on activities that include FOSS science kits, literature, field trips, and writing. Students learn how scientists observe, predict, experiment, and draw conclusions. We embark on many exciting projects including learning the life cycle of a pumpkin, designing animal habitats, building trains to evaluate push and pull factors of forces and collisions, exploring pollinators and butterflies, planting seeds, and more!
Kindergarten shared their 2D shape monsters and jack-o-lanterns and named the shapes they used to make them at the ‘Lower School Loves Math’ assembly.
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.
Kindergarten students participated in the Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day, and wrote about what made Ruby Bridges brave and why we honored her by walking to school.
Kindergarten students participated in the Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day, and wrote about what made Ruby Bridges brave and why we honored her by walking to school.
Social Studies
Students are taught to explore their classroom community, school community, and greater communities, both locally and globally, in which we belong. Cooperative group work and field study units support the learning objectives of the social studies program. Exploring the community and the world around us is an essential part of students’ daily lives. Through literature and hands-on activities students are learning to explore multiple perspectives to help develop into compassionate, informed, and engaged citizens of the world.
Specialty Curriculum
Physical Education
In PE class, students develop large and small muscle coordination through strength building activities, endurance, balance, and hand-eye coordination. Cooperation and teamwork are practiced both in PE class and during free play.
Los orejas, los manos, los brazos! Students name their body parts with Señora Graña. Buen trabajo, Kindergarten!
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.
Happy haunts spread cackles of fun as Kindergarten reads a Halloween story with librarian Mr. Paulson.
Library
A visit to the library is a special part of each week. Arriving at the library, Mr Paulson reads with spirited animation, funny sounds, and silly gestures. Everyone especially loves the question of the week! The library visit is also a chance for students to explore the library and find books of interest, which students take back to the classroom for reading time. The Early Childhood Center shares a large selection of books in their Bear Tracks Library that are used for student check-out and classroom reading. Research has shown time and again that reading aloud to children increases the likelihood of academic success, and leads to a broader vocabulary that enhances social skills.
Students discuss the meaning of ‘loving your neighbor’ with Reverend Jay.
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.
Kindergarten fabricates self-portraits out of colored paper and watercolor with Ms. Scarpace.
Visual Arts
The Art Program in kindergarten is focused on building a foundation for children to explore and create their own art and discover inspiration from artists around the world. There is an emphasis on diverse and contemporary artists that students can be inspired by and relate to while being provided the freedom to explore different kinds of materials when creating art.
Kindergarten sang to their valentine pals with Ms. Samta as they swayed to the ukulele.
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.
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