KINDERGARTEN
Morning & Afternoon Programs
Our Kindergarten program works hand-in-hand with our 1st & 2nd grade teacher. Morning core instruction happens with Ms. Waterson. In the afternoon, kindergarten students join our 1st & 2nd grade classroom for afternoon classes, music, STEAM lab, and Spanish.
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY:
My Why: Why did I choose to become a teacher? I became a teacher because I am passionate about working with children and helping young minds grow socially, emotionally, and academically. I love creating meaningful relationships with my students to help us respect each other and use those connections to help us learn and feel safe to make mistakes. In addition, I love seeing students have light bulb moments where the concept suddenly clicks in their brains, and they start soaring with their new knowledge. I want all students to reach their light bulb moments through personalized learning goals and support to help them succeed.
Our Classroom is a Family: I strive to create an environment where every child is cared for like a family member and feels like another home to them. As a class, we try to live by the fruit of the spirit “ But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23. I want my students to feel comfortable being themselves and feel valued within the classroom family environment.
Making Learning Fun: Every year, I consistently and excitedly find new ways to make learning fun and interactive. From classroom transformations to fun learning games in various learning styles to keep students engaged. As we all have different learning styles, I try to find unique ways, from songs to visuals, to help remember the more complex concepts. We do this learning through a mixture of whole group, collaborative, and independent working time.
Social Emotional Learning: SEL is a passion of mine as it entails self-management, self-awareness, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness. These are foundational skills we use throughout our lives to help us handle life's ups and downs. Some of the ways I help teach students SEL skills are teaching them to kindly express boundaries with others, communicating with their classmates, being self-aware of what we say and how it can affect others, being a problem solver, understanding they are in control of their body, and learning to remind their friends without making it their problem.
