We are professional early childhood educators, intent on bringing an understanding of faith in God and knowledge of our Catholic Church to kindergarteners. With a focus on educating the whole child, we address academics with a developmentally appropriate approach as we nurture the spiritual, social and emotional growth and well being of the kindergarten children of Blessed Pope John XXIII Catholic School Community. As Catholic educators, we work to develop a partnership with parents to assure the success of our students and provide continuity between school and home.
In our Religion program, our studies are based on the five strands of the Diocesan Religion Curriculum: What We Believe, How We Celebrate, How We Live, How We Pray, and Introductory Scripture Knowledge. Our kinder students also learn and actively participate in many prayer forms: rote prayers, Adoration, the Scriptural Rosary, Mass responses, and spontaneous prayer. Our kindergarteners attend weekly Mass with our older Buddies, weekly Adoration, and receive instruction in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (Atrium). Kindergarteners show and share their faith to the community through Faith in Action projects.
In a whole group setting, our kindergarteners will learn phonics, develop phonemic awareness, use core vocabulary, and learn comprehension skills and strategies while building knowledge through theme-based literature units. Our unit studies also integrate writing project using the 6+1 Traits format, handwriting instruction, and fine motor development. Science and social studies concepts are incorporated within the theme studies. These themes include Self-Awareness, the Five Senses, Family and Friends, Neighborhood and Government, Transportation, Nutrition, Seasons and Weather, Animals, Plants. Additionally, our kindergarteners receive literacy instruction in small group settings to practice fluency, review high frequency words, and apply comprehension strategies and skills.
In kindergarten, hands-on exploration and the use of manipulatives is our instructional model. Kindergarteners move from concrete experiences to abstract/symbolic knowledge. These concepts include pattern development and recognition, numeral writing, set formation, counting in a variety of ways, geometry, graphing, and simple addition and subtraction.
Lots of Learning AND lots of Fun!
Kindergarten is a very active first year at Blessed Pope John XXIII. We have many visitors to our rooms: the firefighter, Mother Goose, St. Nicholas, and representatives from the religious community. We often combine classes to share our knowledge and to celebrate our learning: the Living Litany of Saints, Thanksgiving program, Christmas concert, and Pajamarama! We also go on curriculum related field trips!