Early Childhood (Ages 2-5)

The Reading and Technology Lab provides students with weekly guided instruction in small groups. Using desktop computers, a SMARTBoard, iPads and a SMART Table, students practice literacy skills, phonemic awareness, rhyming and concepts about print, as well as build their skills identifying sight words, decoding and practice reading. Kindergarten students receive computer instruction and enjoy drawing pictures using KidPix, reading stories on the iPad, and playing interactive games on the SMARTBoard. They also use several subscription websites that allow them to complete self-paced activities at home and at school. Our Reading Resource Teacher meets weekly with students in small groups. The purpose of this program is to provide additional activities and strategies for children as they progress from an early emergent reader to an early fluent reader and beyond. Materials of various reading skill levels are used to enhance the student’s phonics skills, reading comprehension, vocabulary growth and love of reading.

As Mathematicians, students investigate mathematical ideas and engage in meaningful, hands-on activities. They sort and classify blocks at clean-up time or they might record the number of monarch butterflies emerging from chrysalises for another activity. They are challenged as they count the number of rings on a tree slice or the number of steps from point A to point B in the Outdoor Classroom.

As an Episcopal school, the community affirms the beliefs and traditions of the Episcopal Church while also celebrating religious diversity. Our students and teachers come together in joyful fellowship to worship and to learn about the Living God. In weekly chapel, we are able to pause and dwell within the wonder, curiosity, and awe that characterize the spirits of young children. Early Childhood students attend religion class once a week. Our religion program is designed to foster respect, tolerance and understanding of the faith traditions, beliefs and customs practiced both by members of our school community and people around the world. As we learn together about God’s great love for us through the lively telling of biblical stories, our hope is that children will learn not only about God, Jesus, and all of God’s people, but also about their own hearts of worship.

Students enjoy a wide variety of art projects which frequently intersect with the language arts, science and social studies curriculum. Toddlers through Kindergarten students have a lesson in the Art Lab once a week. Students learn important skills such as listening, expressing themselves, working independently, and behaving responsibly. Through art activities, students begin to develop skills such as line, shape, form, pattern, space, and color. The art experience is well integrated with the curriculum in the classroom and also in the Outdoor Classroom.

STEAM in Early Childhood harnesses the natural curiosity of our youngest students by guiding them through the processes of inquiry and discovery. The Tinker Lab is a dedicated space for hands-on experiential learning and is equipped with a variety of age-appropriate tools and materials to support collaborative problem-solving. STEAM lessons are student-centered and are intended to be open-ended. The role of the teacher during a STEAM-focused lesson is to promote verbal communication by encouraging students to think out loud as well as to guide students to explore ideas and materials in new ways by asking guiding questions. The goal of the STEAM program at this age is to inspire creative thinking and problem-solving through collaborative play and open-ended questioning.