All About SK (age 5)
Senior Kindergarten is a place full of love, dancing, laughter, and learning. Mrs. Johnson is the Senior Kindergarten teacher, and her teacher assistant is Mrs. Brayton. Together they work hard on getting their students ready to flourish in 1st Grade. Students will graduate SK knowing how to read. Other subjects covered in SK are Language Arts, Handwriting, Math, Science, Social Studies, Technology, Library, Gross & Fine Motor Skills, Arts & Crafts, Fine Arts, Religion, and Social/Emotional.
What are some examples of what SK does in each subject?
Reading:
Reading is taught through Whole Language and Phonics. Resources used in teaching include the McGraw Hill Wonders reading program. The Wonders program includes a variety of reading components including big books, practice books, leveled readers, decodable readers, strategic intervention readers, picture cards, and phonics songs and rhymes. The curriculum is divided into four different areas: Oral Language, Shared Reading, Word Work, and Language Arts.
Language Arts:
- Recalling the beginning, middle, and end of stories
- Writing simple sentences
- Nouns, verbs, and adjectives are introduced
Handwriting:
- Capitalizing the first word in a sentence
- Punctuation at the end of a sentence
- Space between words
Math:
- Counting and Cardinality
- Operations and Algebraic thinking
- Measurement and Data
Science:
- Properties
- Solids and Liquids
- Exploration of the world of animals
- Life Cycles
Social Studies:
- Geographic thinking is introduced
- Using maps and a globe of the earth
- Introduction to directions (North, South, East, West)
Technology:
- Simple typing
- Location of keys
- Reinforcing phonics and phonemic awareness skills through the Lexia reading program and other reading support systems
Library:
Grace has a library where students are able to check books out for a one-week time period. This will give the students the chance to read books of interest, gain responsibility, and supplement the reading and language arts they are taught on a daily basis.
Gross & Fine Motor Skills:
Our gross motor program includes hopping, skipping, jumping, galloping, catching, throwing, balancing, and walking backwards. Fine motor skills taught are shoe tying, string or rope tying, buttons, snaps, zippers, knowing right & left, puzzles, and manipulatives.
Arts & Crafts:
- Coloring in the lines
- Cutting along the lines with scissors
- Doing holiday and themed projects
Fine Arts:
- Puppetry
- Music
- Dance
- Drama
Religion:
Students learn God’s love for His people through Bible stories, weekly chapel, participation in songs and prayers, and daily interactions that build understanding of God’s plan for each of us.
Social/Emotional:
- Self-Control
- Showing Empathy
- Problem-Solving
SK students have 4th grade chapel buddies. 4th graders will visit the SK classroom throughout the school year to read them stories and work on crafts. They also sit together during chapel when a Grace class is leading the service.
SK Class Schedule:
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| (8:30-8:45) Morning Meeting & Calendar |
(8:30-8:45) Morning Meeting & Calendar |
(8:30-9:00) Chapel |
(8:30-8:45) Morning Meeting & Calendar |
(8:30-8:45) Morning Meeting, Weekly Recap & Calendar |
| (8:50-10:15) Small Group Reading |
(8:50-10:15) Small Group Reading |
(9:00-9:45) Religion |
(9:00-9:45) Religion |
(9:00-10:00) Whole Group Reading |
| (10:15-10:50) Snack & Recess |
(10:15-10:50) Snack & Recess |
(9:45-10:15) Haggerty Lesson & Journal Writing |
(10:15-10:50) Snack & Recess |
(10:00-10:15) Haggerty Lesson |
| (11:00-11:50) Math |
(10:50-11:30) Math |
(10:15-10:50) Snack & Recess |
(11:00-11:30) Library |
(10:15-10:50) Snack & Recess |
| (12:00-1:00) Lunch |
(11:30-12:00) P.E. |
(11:00-11:20) Spanish |
(11:30-12:00) P.E. |
(11:00-11:30) Math |
| (1:00-1:40) Social Studies |
(12:00-1:00) Lunch |
(11:30-12:00) Music |
(12:00-1:00) Lunch |
(11:30-12:00) Music |
| (1:45-2:15) Individualized Reading Activities |
(1:00-1:45) Science |
(12:00-1:00) Lunch |
(1:00-2:00) Math |
(12:00-1:00) Lunch |
| (2:15-2:30) Recess |
(1:45-2:15) Reading Practice |
(1:15-1:45) Whole Group Reading |
(2:00-2:15) Recess |
(1:00-2:00) Art |
| (2:30-2:50) Haggerty Phonemic Lesson |
(2:15-2:30) Recess |
(1:45-2:00) Recess |
(2:20-2:40) Individualized Reading |
(2:00-2:50) Fun Friday Activities |
| (2:50-3:00) Clean-up & Dismissal |
(2:30-2:45) Haggerty Phonemic Lesson |
(2:15-2:45) Clean-up & Dismissal |
(2:40-2:50) Haggerty Lesson |
(2:50-3:00) Clean-up & Dismissal |
| (2:50-3:00) Clean-up & Dismissal |
(2:50-3:00) Clean-up & Dismissal |
After dismissal, SK students can be picked up by parents or go to Extended Day Care which is available until 6:00pm.
Senior Kindergarten had several field trips this 22-23 school year including the author book reading at Concordia University and watching The Nutcracker at Dominican University. They participated in the school Walkathon, Early Childhood Halloween Parade, Early Childhood Christmas Pageant, and received a visit over Christmas from Santa and Mrs. Claus.
There are so many special days to look forward to in SK! Applesauce day gives SK students a hands-on learning experience after learning about apples. Every Thanksgiving Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Brayton throw their class a Thanksgiving feast. The SK board is always elaborately decorated each season, and dance parties happen on a weekly basis. Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Brayton have so much love for their students and their students love them back. Mrs. Johnson reminds her class that they will always have a place in her heart and are welcome to come back to the SK class as they grow older to pay her a visit.
If you would like more information about Senior Kindergarten, please send an email to agarcia@graceriverforest.org to be connected with our Director of Enrollment and Marketing.
