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Kindergarten

Kindergarten
Our Kindergarten program provides the foundation for your child’s educational journey of personal, spiritual, and academic growth. ASB students develop critical thinking skills and express their insights in new ways, as they experience what it means to be part of a faith community. Throughout their years at ASB, students build on the skills they begin to develop in Kindergarten. They explore their own strengths and talents, and develop an understanding of themselves as learners. Students develop effective study habits and gain the knowledge and skills that they need to succeed beyond ASB.
 
To cultivate a love of reading and writing from a young age, we want all of our students to experience the best in curriculum and instructional approaches in the area of literacy, and to feel and experience success in their early attempts at reading and writing. To accomplish these goals our staff use the Slingerland® Approach beginning in Kindergarten.  With the Slingerland® Approach, students experience the foundational skills necessary for reading and writing: oral language, phonemic awareness, phonemic segmentation, sound/ symbol relations of the alphabetic principles. This explicit instruction guides the students towards handwriting and reading as their kindergarten year unfolds.

Kindergarten Key Facts

  • Full-day program from 8:30am to 3:00pm, with 2:00pm dismissal on Mondays.
  • Teacher to student ratio is 1:12 max. Each classroom has a full-time dedicated Instructional Aide. Kindergarten also has an additional Instructional Aide that floats between the two classes.
  • Weekly learning centers allow students to work in small group activities centered around phonics, art, math, social studies, sciences, and reading.
  • Students have two recess periods each school day.
  • Kindergarten students gather with the rest of the school community for liturgies and other community celebrations and service projects.
  • Parent volunteers work in centers and assist with other classroom activities.
  • Students participate in our school-wide buddy program where each Kindergartner is paired with an older ASB student, who serves as a year-long mentor.

Literacy

Students are immersed in a language and print-rich environment, emphasizing phonics and phonemic awareness, letter recognition, sounds, sight words and emergent readers’ text. Students read developmentally appropriate reading books and add to their skillset as their reading progresses.  They are encouraged to use phonetic, or invented spelling to communicate ideas in journals and responses to literature.  The Slingerland method, a multi-sensory approach, is the basis for printing and early literacy instruction.  

 

Math

Kindergarten math is a hands-on program based on Common Core State Standards, emphasizing math vocabulary and problem solving.  Kindergarten math instruction is focused on building a strong foundation of number sense. Number sense is the ability to play, manipulate, and quickly identify the quantity of a number. For example, recognizing that “5” means 5 ants, 5 blocks, 5 on a ten frame, or 5 on a die. “5” also means 3 red dots + 2 blue dots. Number sense involves many tools! Kindergarteners use manipulatives, number lines, grids, ten frames, rek and reks, and SO much more! Students learn sorting and classifying, patterns, shapes, exploration of numbers to twenty, measurement, and introductory addition and subtraction.

 

Science

The science program is an inquiry-based approach that introduces the stduents to the steps of the scientific method: observation, hypothesis-formation, prediction, data gathering, and experimentation.  FOSS science kits are used to teach these science skills.  Many of the classroom themes integrate science topics as well.

 

Social Studies

The context for social studies learning in kindergarten is the student’s interaction with classroom and school.  The classroom serves as an environment in which decisions are made with respect to rights, rules and responsibilities.  They begin to learn the basic concepts of fairness and respect for the rights and opinions of others. Units of study also focus on identity, diversity, justice, and action. Students learn culture, geography, literature and music of specific cultures where they celebrate through games, art, cooking, music and holidays. 

Religion

Kindergarten uses the We Believe religion text & follows the Archdiocese of Seattle Religion Standards.  This series focuses on the Catholic faith, including traditional prayers, scripture readings and the lives of the saints.  The students participate in Zones of Regulation, which helps children navigate their emotions and making positive, healthy choices towards themselves and others.  Through their religion classes, prayer and their experiences in this strong faith community, students have the opportunity to develop their relationships with God.

 

Drama

The goal of the Kindergarten drama program is to give students a positive artistic experience. Most drama classes start with a multi-cultural story. The stories are connected to activities and creative play that enhance learning. We also focus on specific performance skills with various games, projects and activities.

 

Music

In Kindergarten music, the focus is on exploring each element of music with an emphasis on rhythm and melody.  Students explore music through movement and rhythmic instruments, as they develop skills to read music. Discovering the joy of music is the primary objective.

 

Physical Education

In Kindergarten physical education instruction is focused on the fundamental concepts of loco-motor movements, body and spatial awareness, and safe play.  These concepts are taught through warm-up activities and group play. Kindergartners have P.E. twice a week.

Field Trips

  • Seattle Children's Theatre
  • St. Bridget Church
  • Rocky Beach at Golden Gardens

 

Spring Tea

The Kindergarteners perform songs they have learned throughout the year for their families.