Kindergarten at Holy Angels is very unique.  You DO NOT have to be 5 years old before the states cut off dates.  Many people use our kindergarten program as a “Readiness” year as well as a traditional year of kindergarten.

What is a “Readiness” year?  It means giving the children the quality early experiences they need to develop strong cognitive, social, academic and emotional skills when they are not quite ready for a full, traditional kindergarten program.   We consider multiple factors in determining kindergarten readiness—such as academic preparation, social skills, and student independence.

In the kindergarten class, we continue to focus on the emotional and social development of each child. The children are given many hands-on opportunities and interact with others while learning more about themselves.  But, the academics are highly focused upon in our classroom setting.  Each and everything the kindergarten students do has an academic value to it.

We are a play based center and the children will have the opportunity to play each day, indoors and outside. In class, they will have the opportunity to partake in various activities: dramatic play, science, arts and crafts, books, blocks, manipulative toys, music and movements and sensory play.

While doing all of these activities the children will learn many academic skills that will prepare them to enter kindergarten or First grade.  They will become secure in writing and recognizing their numbers.  They will practice their math skills such as writing numbers and their coordinating words, count by 10’s, count to 100, learn to add and subtract and develop strong skills using 10 frames. They will be introduced to reading skills such as letter sounds, blends and 100 sight words.  They will have science, dramatic play, music and movement and cooperative play opportunities. All these while building their social skills, fine and gross motor skills and building their independence.