Religion:
Students learn to identify God as the Creator, Jesus as God’s son, and the Holy Spirit. They learn prayers and Mass responses. They participate in classroom worship and school worship through monthly prayer services or liturgies. The students also attend one morning Mass each week. They also listen to and retell familiar Bible stories.
Language Arts:
We have adopted the California Common Core Standards. We focus on Language, Writing, Speaking, and Reading standards for literature, informational texts, and foundational skills. Students participate in group reading activities and retell familiar stories, main ideas and key details in texts. They also learn to follow words from left to right, top to bottom, that words are represented by specific sequences of letters, and that words are separated by spaces. They will recognize and name all upper and lowercase letters of the alphabet, recognize and produce rhyming words, learn the vowels (short and long), and read, by sight, common high- frequency words. Using drawings, dictation, and writing, students will learn to write opinion, explanatory, and narrative texts. They will also participate in research and writing projects. One way the students do this is with the annual Young Authors Fair. Every week students participate in “Sharing”. They bring an item to share and learn to speak audibly and clearly in front of their peers. Learning to express ideas and following and understanding conversations is done every day with the morning “chat time” as well as during the various learning times in the day.
Math:
We use the California Common Core Standards which focus on Counting and Cardinality, Operations and Algebraic Thinking, Measurement and Data, Geometry, and Number and Operations in base 10. Students learn to count to 100 by ones and tens. They will solve addition and subtraction problems with a variety of manipulatives and fluently add and subtract within 5. Describing several attributes of a single object, such as length and weight, classifying objects, and counting the number of objects in each category is part of the Math curriculum. Students learn the names of two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes and their attributes. They also create larger shapes and drawings using shapes. Students will compose and decompose numbers from 11 to 19 into tens and ones.
Science:
The students develop a beginning understanding of physical science, life science, and earth science. They participate in investigations and experiments that are generated by the teacher. The Kindergarteners also have an opportunity to collaborate with junior high students to perform scientific experiments. The class also has an opportunity to participate in the annual school Science Fair.
_JPG.jpg)
Social Studies:
The students demonstrate a beginning understanding of geography, citizenship and the influence of people and events now and long ago, such as Johnny Appleseed. The students also learn about American and Californian symbols and historical people who contributed to the progress of the United States.
Fine Arts:
The homeroom teacher generates projects. A variety of media including crayons, colored pencils, markers, and paint are used. Some projects are used to enrich the curriculum and others have holiday/seasonal themes. The projects encourage the students to practice fine motor skills, listening skills and following directions. There is a weekly music class taught by the school music teacher and two annual music concerts.
Technology:
There are 2 weekly classes using iPads and laptops. Websites and Apps reinforcing curricula concepts are used. Laptops, iPads, and apps are also used by the teacher, across the curriculum to further students’ knowledge.