What to expect in Kindergarten at Our Savior Lutheran School...

Chapel: Chapel is on Monday except for special holidays and weeks where there is no school on Monday. Students will wear their chapel uniform on Monday. After the first few weeks of school, children in k-8^th grade are divided into chapel families.  From then on they will worship with their chapel family and have a special chapel buddy who can help them follow along in the service.  Chapel is conducted in the church unless the weather is bad.

Religion:  Our study of religion will include:  Old Testament stories including creation and the fall of Adam & Eve, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Ruth, Samuel, David, and the fiery furnace.  The New Testament stories include the birth of Jesus, parts of His ministry, His death & resurrection, and also important people like Peter, Paul, Tabitha, Lydia, and Timothy.

Language Arts:  Our reading, writing, and spelling curriculum is based on the Spalding Method. Students learn the 70 phonograms by sight and sound along with the practice of blending sounds and reading sight words on the Ayres List. They will participate in ear training activities and games to enhance auditory memory and to reinforce listening and pre-reading skills.  Children will learn to write sentences through formal lessons using the Ayres list of words and through journal writing activities. Children are also introduced to identifying nouns, adjectives, pronouns and verbs, the four types of a sentence, and sentence structure. Handwriting is taught according to the Spalding Method which teaches children to form their letters in a manner that best represents print found in literature making it easier for them to recognize.  They learn to write each letter as the phonogram is introduced.  Beginning in the 2^nd semester, students will be introduced to spelling journals and learn to mark their spelling word according to the spelling rules they will learn. They will also begin weekly spelling tests. 

Literature: Our children are exposed to a wide variety of traditional classical children’s literature including but not limited to:  Mother Goose nursery rhymes, Aesop’s’ fables, Grimm’s fairy tales; as well as more modern children’s literature including Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle, Jan Bret, and others. Non fiction and informational texts are also introduced as well as story structure and the elements of a narrative. Once children learn about 30 phonograms, they start the children on decodable readers, which they use in guided reading groups or teacher directed chorus reading. They will have reading centers once a week where students work in small groups on literacy activities. Students will practice their listening comprehension through our McCall-Harby and McCall-Crabbs series. These stories include fiction and non fiction texts along with comphrension questions.

Math: Saxon Math Kindergarten level is used.  Students will learn through hands-on experiences, discussion, exploration, and oral/written practice.  Students will learn about the calendar, counting, telling time, and counting money.    New concepts and skills are introduced and practiced during a formal whole-group lesson.  These lessons feature hands-on experiences that allow a child to be actively involved in learning.  Some of the concepts and skills taught in Math K are counting by 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's; acting out and finding answers for addition and subtraction story problems; identifying shapes; covering and reproducing designs; telling time to the hour; measuring and comparing objects; identifying halves; recognizing patterns and extending them, and creating and reading graphs.

History:  Lessons begin with geography, learning the names of the continents and oceans, recognizing the United Sates of America, the state of Texas, and the cardinal directions. Students will study about the Native Americans, Columbus’ voyage to the New World, Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, the Presidents of Mount Rushmore, American symbols, Texas- significant dates, people, places and symbols of our state.

Science:  Students will study the following units in science:  My Senses, Mystery of the Seed, Life Cycle of a Butterfly, Living Things, Weather Phenomenon, our Earth – geographical features, Healthy Eating, Keeping Safe, Changes – liquids, solids and gases, and Magnetic Forces.

Memory:   Students will memorize Catechetical memory in the Learn By Heart book.  This includes scripture verses as well as passages from Luther’s Small Catechism such as the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostle’s Creed, etc.

Physical Education: Kindergarteners will go to P.E. three times a week with our physical education teacher, Ms. Lunsford.  They will be introduced to many different games, ball handling skills, warm up stretching and activities that lead to the further development of their large motor skills.

Music:  Students will participate in music class once a week with our music teacher Mr. Armstrong.  During the week children will also be exposed to classical music during rest time, and teachers provide time for daily singing usually at the beginning or end of the day or at religion time or circle time.Art:  Students will experience art through Spear Art Studio Christian Art Curriculum. Weekly Scriptures are the foundation for the weekly themed art lessons. Students gain an appreciation of art through weekly exposure to art masters and their pieces of art.  This comprehensive art curriculum teaches the basic elements and designs of art through varied media.

Some exciting field trips may include:

• Main Street Theater
• Dewberry Farms
• A Museum
• Houston Zoo
• Christmas Tree Farm

• 100 day of school celebration
• Student of the Week
• Reading Buddies with 4^th Grade
• Show-n-Tell
• Early Childhood Field Day
• Special Presentations brought to the school (i.e. a puppeteer or a play, etc.)
• Grandparents or Special Visitor Day
• Spirit Week
• Christmas Program
• Go Texan Day
• Kindergarten Graduation