KINDERGARTEN HIGHLIGHTS 

The St. Michael Kindergarten Program integrates new learning with past experiences through cooperative, hands-on learning.  We strive to instill a love of learning and Christian values that will last throughout your child’s years of schooling.  We have half and full day options available.  Reading, math and religion are covered in the morning.  The afternoon includes lunch (hot lunch tickets can be purchased through the school or the child can bring his/her own lunch), rest time, story time, journaling, learning centers, social studies, science, and choice time.

     The following is a summary of the Kindergarten curriculum at St. Michael School.

OPENING: The opening includes prayer, announcements, morning songs, ‘The Pledge of Allegiance’, morning meeting, calendar activities, phonics (This is where a poem and letter of the week is discussed), and counting the number of days we have been in school.

RELIGION: Our religion series is called Christ Our Life: God is Good. The program is designed to open children to God’s love through a discovery of the many good things God has placed in their world. They reflect on God’s goodness in creation, in the wonder of their own unique selves, and in the love of the people around them.  We attend school masses, prayer services, and Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd program weaves the truths of our Catholic faith into children through the sacraments and other elements of the Mass.

ART: Kindergarten offers the opportunity for children to experience a wide variety of media and techniques including crayons, paint, markers, chalk, collage, paper, and clay.  Children will develop an awareness of line, color, shape, texture, value, space, and pattern in art and in the world around them.  The students will use imagination in the creation and communication of their products, which are related to the theme for the week.

COMPUTER: St. Michael’s has a computer lab with iMac computers.  Starting the first week of school, kindergarten students learn the parts of the computer (screen, keyboard, and mouse), how to operate it, and respect others while they are working on it.  The students will practice basic skills by using typing programs and other programs such as ‘Thinkin Things’ and ‘Kid Pix’.

MATH: The Math Program used at St. Michael’s is Saxon Math.  The program emphasizes individual hands-on discovery that introduces a topic to a student and then allows the student to build upon that concept as they learn new ones. Pattern blocks, tangrams, linking cubes, geoboards, teddy bear counters, scales, geometric shapes, dice, playing cards, and money help teach concepts of patterning, sorting and classifying, graphing, measuring, number, probability, problem solving (addition and subtraction) and place value.
MUSIC: St. Michael’s has a Music specialist who introduces the children to musical enjoyment by exposing them to a wide variety of songs and singing games. The children perform in three programs throughout the year, the final being their kindergarten graduation.  In the classroom, the children have opportunity to sing and dance to familiar songs that help them with their reading skills.

READING/LANGUAGE ARTS: Our Kindergarten reading program, Houghton Mifflin, integrates explicit phonics instruction, direct reading instruction, guided reading strategies, and assessment opportunities that help reach all learners at their own level.  We at St. Michael’s believe children learn best by:
     … teachers and children talking together about new words and ideas.
     … being immersed in text through daily read aloud time.
     … weaving letters into a wide variety of activities, including big books, doing ABC coloring pages, and by learning letter poems.  Kindergartners should also work on                                learning some commonly used words such as ‘the’ and ‘you’.
     … being expected to read and write.
     … gaining a basic understanding of the way print works and how to write.
     … practicing.
     … positive reinforcement from parents and other readers.
Regular activities include read aloud, individual book choice time, journal writing, shared reading of poems, big books, recipes and songs, and U.R.U. (You are Unique).  Students will visit the school library once a week and check out books to bring home.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION: St. Michael’s has a Physical Education specialist that works with the children twice a week.  The kindergartners will practice and develop coordination, balance, strength, flexibility, and endurance by playing games and participating in various activities.  The children will develop spatial awareness by throwing, catching, and practicing safety skills.  The children will participate in cooperative games and perform basic stunts and tumbling activities.

SCIENCE: At St. Michael’s, our kindergarten science program is Foss, Animals Two by Two and Fabric. Our science curriculum introduces the students to observation, communication, comparison, organization, inference, prediction, data collection, and application.  In Animals Two by Two, the children are provided with close and personal interaction with some common land and water animals.  The animals observed are goldfish, guppies, snails, red worms, earthworms, pillbugs, and sowbugs.  In Fabric, students are introduced to a wide variety of fabrics such as burlap, muslin, wool, yarn, and thread.  The children will become familiar with the fabrics’ properties, discover what happens when they are tested, and discover how they interact with other materials, including water.