Kindergarten is a place where a child develops their love of life-long learning and an appreciation for their world. It is a place where social skills are developed, curiosity is sparked, creativity is encouraged and where learning is inspired. At Spring Hill we believe in each child’s unique abilities and understand that by nurturing the whole child, foundations are laid for all future academic and life successes. Every day is filled with exploration, creativity and discovery in an engaging, thought provoking cooperative environment.
Each day is spent building community and sharing information about our experiences. Through these shared conversations, children develop respect and curiosity for those around them. Spring Hill’s Kindergarten students are offered an exciting full day curriculum including Math, Science, Reading, Writing, Art, Music, Spanish, Drama, P.E., and Garden Time. It is our philosophy that learning be fun while keeping our students appropriately challenged. This safe enriching environment allows for a child’s healthy social-emotional and academic growth.
Application of ‘STEAM’ education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) has been linked to and associated with scientific leadership. Spring Hill School is a proponent of progressive education and we believe that starting a child’s early ‘STEAM’ learning aids in building the mindset necessary for the 21st century student. We begin this cognitive process in Kindergarten by building each child’s inquiry and critical thinking skills. We integrate ‘STEAM’ education across the curriculum and practice intentional teaching to effectively lay a foundation for pursuing integrated disciplines.
Science exploration is a daily occurrence in the Kindergarten classroom. Children are introduced to the world of extended inquiry and to the vocabulary of scientific methods. Children investigate, predict, hypothesize, experiment and make conclusions about their world in the life, earth and physical sciences. Building our students’ love of exploration through project based learning is a core value of our teaching method.
Our math program encourages conceptual thinking from the moment students enter school. We believe that math is a learned skill that can be attained by every child and is a cornerstone for future successful understanding. Our students are introduced to the relationships between numbers and quantities through fun hands-on activities. They learn to reason abstractly and quantitatively and relate concepts to: counting and putting things in order, algebraic functions, numbers and operations, measurement and data, geometry and logic. Our methods allow for increased understanding and practical application as we inspire the child’s innate understanding of math.
The English Language Arts curriculum is designed to enhance all literary areas including reading, writing, phonics, spelling, sentence structure, speaking, grammar, punctuation, comprehension and creative writing. Our print rich environment fosters a love of the written and spoken word as well as for storytelling and development. Through this literary immersion our Kindergartners acquire an authentic and well rounded view of language arts. With our responsive and differentiated approach, students are supported wherever they are in their language acquisition. Whether a child is learning the alphabet or already reading, all students are supported in moving forward at the right pace for them.
Students are introduced to the Spanish language and culture through stories, art, song, and conversation. Having exposure to new languages and cultures is another way to remind children that they live in a beautiful and diverse world. Rich and relevant vocabulary is introduced by teaching the alphabet, numbers, colors, animals and common phrases. Understanding is deepened by using a variety of techniques such as ‘Total Physical Response’, conversational immersion, music, art and games. The words also gain meaning as they are also complemented by learning about a variety of Spanish speaking cultures.
We spend time each week learning about the physical attributes of planet earth along with learning about the people in it. We devote time to talking about ourselves and our culture as well as the cultures of others. Students benefit from this exposure and learn first hand about their diverse world.
Creative exploration is a vital part of the Kindergarten experience at Spring Hill School. Children learn through all of their senses; it is important that they are exposed to the various avenues of expression. Our program is expansive and uses a variety of modes to teach children the importance of arts. The students will learn about rhythm and beat, how to sing, dance, clap and improvise. Our PE curriculum incorporates games and team building and focuses on the child’s gross motor development. This offers children a great way to learn about cooperative play. Art is incorporated throughout the day. The children explore many mediums. Another part of the creative arts curriculum is drama. We expose children to the world of stage and acting.
Spring Hill School’s Kindergarten program fosters the children’s love of learning and the teachers take joy in seeing each child flourish.