St. Matthew's Episcopal Day School

Kindergarten Program

Reading and Language Arts is a combination of phonics and whole language approach is used to teach reading and to build skills in listening, writing, and speaking. The Saxon "Phonics and Spelling" program is used daily. This series is only one tool used in helping children learn to read and communicate effectively. The children are encouraged to write their "own stories" and express their feelings in their personal journals or special books. Creative expression is also encouraged in the form of dramatics, puppetry and various other "role-play" situations.

Mathematics - The MacMillan "Mathematics" program and the "Everyday Mathematics" curriculum created by The University of Chicago School Mathematics Projects is used in the Kindergarten. This curriculum guides the children to develop various math concepts through the use of games, manipulative and other hands-on activities. Manipulative are used to teach all math concepts from sorting and patterning to the more difficult concepts of addition and subtraction. Other skills that are part of the curriculum are measurement, graphing, prediction, money recognition and classification. Toys and games are used in many ways to help children learn to reason, learn numeration, work with numbers and problem solve. The goal of this curriculum is to help the children learn to apply their reasoning and computation skills to everyday situations.

Social Studies and Science - These two units of studies set the theme for the class activities in art, the play centers, display table, in the library corner and for special discussions and field trips. The following themes are included for the current year: All About Me, Nocturnal Creatures, Fall, Native Americans, Pioneer Christmas, Bears, Hawaii, Rocks and Fossils, Castle Times, Plants and Insects, and Mexico.

Specials - Our Kindergarten curriculum is enriched with additional teachers in the following academic goals:

• Spanish - this class provides a multi-sensory method of introducing the Spanish language and culture to young children.

• Sign Language - during this time the children learn another way of communicating many words, phrases, and songs through the use of the "silent language". Our Kindergartners have the privilege of leading all of the students in the signing of the Creed during Chapel.

• Music - this special class is held in our music room in the basement of the Sanctuary. During this class, the children learn to create sounds with a steady beat, play rhythm instruments, dance, clap patterns, sing songs related to the unit themes and learn new chapel songs. Our Kindergartners play the part of the main characters in the Nativity Story at Christmastime and present a mini opera during the spring semester.

• Motor Skills - Our Kindergarten children attend a Motor Skills class which we designed just for them! Work becomes play as we target growth by Moving' & Groovin' our bodies through a variety of developmentally appropriate and FUN tasks designed to stimulate and challenge their gross motor skills. We begin the year working on bilateral movement, then progress to unilateral movement, and eventually cross lateral movement. This process is crucial to not just making our bodies stronger and more efficient, but to developing pre-reading skills as well. Each class period, we address core strength to promote better stamina for seated desk work, as well as stabilization of shoulder, wrist, and hand for increased fine motor ability. Class begins with a short period of stretching which increases our tone and gives us a change to develop focus and listening skills. We then progress through a series of stations, which target particular abilities, including increasing success for completion of multi-step tasks. Kindergartners also play numerous games designed to increase their social and spatial skills necessary for working in a large group.

All "Special" classes are taught twice a week.

Computers - Computers are available in the classroom as an additional learning tool. The children are given the opportunity to become familiar with the keyboard and to work the developmentally appropriate software. The computers are used within the framework of a learn center choice option.

Outdoor Fun - Children have the options to participate in structured as well as unstructured outdoor play. The time on the playground is exclusive to the two kindergarten classes, providing group building/sharing time between the two classes. Each class provides a "break time" in or outside the classroom for specific skill or game instruction.