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Updated: 6/10/2008

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Holy Spirit KINDERGARTEN

 Philosophy:  The Kindergartners at Holy Spirit learn Math, Reading and Language Arts through a variety of methods including but not limited to experimentation (cause and effect), playing, exploration, singing, praying, reading and writing, computer technology, real life application, listening, and graphing.  Our goal is to have the Kindergartners writing proficiently and reading at least at a first grade level by the end of the school year.  The children master appropriate grade level math vocabulary and are introduced to and practice many basic math concepts throughout the year.  They attend Mass once a week and are introduced to our Catholic faith primarily by modeling life as Christians.  They are also offered P.E. and Music.  We make it our goal to develop and nurture the whole person at Holy Spirit starting at the very earliest age.  The following areas are the main focus of our FULL day Kindergarten program:

 

  • Language Arts
  • Literacy
  • Math Concepts        
  • Cooking
  • Span of Time
  • Manipulatives
  • Comparative Language
  • Counting
  • Math Models
  • Computer Technology
  • Social Development
  • Code of Conduct
  • Prayer

In Language Arts, the children thoroughly explore and learn how to speak and write the alphabet, numbers, words and sentences.  For Literacy, Holy Spirit has set a goal to have the Kindergartners reading and writing at least at the first grade level by the end of the year.  In order to meet this goal, the students practice rhyming, syllable break down, sounds and sound combinations, vowels, consonants, creative writing and illustration, and punctuation.  We occasionally even give the children simple homework to take home and do with their parents or families.  It’s a great way to involve the caregivers and build the children’s self esteem. 

The Kindergartners are introduced to Math Concepts using fun games and various methods as follows:  

  • They practice Cooking and baking with an introductory emphasis on counting, measurement and fractions. 
  • They are taught about the Span of Time doing daily activities with their calendars. 
  • They use Manipulatives to discover patterns and are then asked to find and explore patterns in real life. 
  • They can identify, name and count all the U.S. coins and use appropriate Comparative Language with regards to money and numbers. 
  • The children learn to Count in whole numbers to 100, as well as backwards and forwards by 5’s and 10’s. 
  • Using dice and other concrete, pictorial and symbolic Math Models, they are introduced to addition and subtraction.  The Kindergartners can recognize and reproduce the basic geometric shapes and play games that require them to organize data in graph form. 
  • Finally, the children are taught math, basic Computer Technology and use, and other components of the curriculum on their state of the art, internet accessible computers in a supervised setting

The way in which the Kindergartners are taught is in a positive and “hands on” learning environment.  In addition to the academics we stress in the Kindergarten curriculum, we believe it is necessary to develop the whole person.   We strive to create a sense of community that nurtures and treasures each and every individual as Christ would have us do.  So for their Social development, the Kindergartners learn how to play and get along together in a group, how to follow instructions, how to treat others with the respect and dignity that humanity deserves, and how to serve the community.

We have had great success introducing our positive reinforcement discipline program to the Kindergartners. At Holy Spirit, this constructive form of discipline in which we work at “catching” students doing good things, is our primary form of regulation.  Further, we have a school Code of Conduct that we expect every child to adhere to.  This expectation brings out the utmost respect, honesty, responsibility, and service in each student.

The Kindergartners join the rest of the school community for Mass at least once weekly.  They are taught some traditional Catholic prayers and how to conduct themselves respectfully in church.  They pray together daily in class.  We teach the children Christian concepts such as giving thanks, patience, celebrating our differences, and that all life is a gift from God.  We teach these concepts through prayer, communion with God, and modeling life as Christians.