Kindergarten Readiness Program

In Religion, we will pray using spontaneous prayers and the Sign of the Cross.  We will celebrate the liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter.  We will show gratitude to and love and care for others.  We will show respect and care for all living things.  We will celebrate mass every Wednesday beginning in January.

•  Pray, using spontaneous prayers and the Sign of the Cross
•  Celebrate the liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter
•  Pray and worship with others
•  Show gratitude to and love and care for others
•  Show respect and care for all living things

Physical Development and Health: St. Hugo’s Kindergarten Readiness program  has a variety of indoor and outdoor equipment that enhance physical development throughout the day. Children can participate in the following activities:

• Climbing, swinging and sliding on our outdoor play structure
• Hand/Eye coordination activities such as throwing basketballs in hoops, catching, and kicking balls
• Basic yoga and stretching to help the children wind down at the end of the day

•  Gross Motor Skills
•  Fine Motor Skills
•  Personal Care
•  Healthy Behavior

Math  concepts are critical to help children understand the world around them.  Children are surrounded by math from primacy: How old are you? We’ll be home in 15 minutes. Today is October 2nd. Just 3 more bites and then you can play.    We try to take advantage of these every day situations as learning opportunities to teach math. Some sample activities include:

• One-to-one correspondence
• Daily calendar
• Comparing and sorting
• Number recognition and counting
• Telling time
• Estimating
• Basic addition and subtraction
• Measurements and weighing
• Patterning
•  Number Words and Symbols
•  Counting
• Part-Whole Relationships
• Shapes
• Spatial Awareness

In Social Studies we will learn about diversity, community roles, geography, history, and ecology.

By exploring areas of the school community and its culture. The children will  begin to assimilate into the community and understand what it means to be a productive citizen of that community.

Science:  Insects and seeds and water — oh my!   Everything in the environment is fair game for a Kindergarten Readiness child’s curiosity and that curiosity is the root of all science. Science takes the form of specific thematic experiments and follow-up on child-driven questions about nature and the world. Kindergarten Readiness children observe, classify, predict and draw conclusions, while using various tools and technology.

 In Social and Emotional Development;  As students progress through the year,  we will focus   self-identity, empathy, community, building relationships, cooperative play, moral development, and conflict resolution are addressed in a developmentally appropriate and engaging way. The year culminates with expressing gratitude and performing acts of kindness, leading into constructive activities to take mindful action in the world and improve the lives of others.

Technology: Children have an intuitive relationship with technology and new research shows that incorporating technology at the Kindergarten Readiness level improves math and literacy outcomes. Our technology class allows children to supplement classroom learning with fun follow-on educational activities using ipads and computers. Our computer curriculum includes:

• Programs in which children work on recognizing colors, numbers, and shapes.
• Games in which students have to match objects.
• Games which develop fine motor skills by requiring children to move and click the mouse.

Language, Literacy and Communication: In order for children to be kindergarten-ready, literacy is a core component of St. Hugo’s Kindergarten Readiness curriculum. Children are provided with a print-rich environment and exposed to a variety of language experiences. Circle times are filled with posing questions and opportunities for children to freely express themselves. The language and reading concepts that children participate in are comprehension, speaking, vocabulary, phonological awareness, alphabetic knowledge, reading, concepts of print, book knowledge, and writing.

All children are musical, and music as a part of the student’s day makes full use of its impact on young children. We’re all sound-makers and movers from birth, so moving and making music is natural to us in all our developmental activities. Programs include:

• Music & rhythmic recognition
• Singing and following the lyrics of a song with associated hand actions
• Keyboard accompanied music
• Instruction in playing the rhythm sticks, shakers, and bells
• Performing in the annual Christmas Pageant in December.

Physical activity is very important for our overall development and growth. Moving the different parts of our bodies, sitting up, rolling, crawling, walking, running, jumping, holding, and manipulating different materials or objects are examples of ways in which we use our bodies to explore our environment and learn about the world.

Students are introduced to developmentally appropriate physical activity experiences, allowing children an opportunity to accumulate 60 minutes a week of  physical activity.

Through gym activities, the students will:

• Develop a positive self-image.
• Develop skills in critical thinking and decision making.
• Develop physical skills.
• Develop personal fitness.
• Develop good safety habits.
• Develop an understanding of the rules, concepts and
strategies of games.
• Be able to perform movement patterns.

Kindergarten Readiness art classes desire to spark a positive art experience for each student as well as acquisition of the tools, skills, confidence, and fascination to explore different mediums and subject matters.

• Construction paper, mixed-media crafts
• creating art projects;  cutting, tearing, coloring, and gluing
• Explore with paints: finger painting, tempra, and water color