EARLY CHILDHOOD DEPARTMENT
GRADES K-1
Learning can be an exciting, wonderful, and fun-filled experience for the younger student. The goal of the Early Childhood Department
is to instill the joy of learning and provide the foundation for social, academic, emotional, moral and religious development.
Our Curriculum focuses on the guidelines prescribed by the Office of Catholic Schools, The Diocese of Savannah.
The Early Childhood core curriculum includes studies in religion, mathematics, language arts, science, and social studies.
Students also attend one "Special" class each day. These include Spanish, Computer, Physical Education, Music, Good Shepherd, Art and Library.
RELIGION
Kindergarten and first grade attend Mass and The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program weekly. Good Shepherd is a program provides a hands-on, experiential environment where the children can explore their relationship with God. It is rooted in the Bible and the liturgy of the Church.
Religion in kindergarten is taught throughout the day intertwined into all subjects. Our Religion instruction comes from ‘Promise’ by Pflaum Publishing, http://www.pflaum.com/pgwsample/. Every child receives a faith formation handbook called, ‘What the Church Believes and Teaches’ along with a weekly lesson based on the Sunday Gospel. These texts are in conformity with the Catechism by the Subcommittee on the Catechism of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The first graders classroom text is We Believe by Sadlier. Our program overview includes God Is Our Father, The Life of Jesus, The Church Year, The Blessed Trinity, The Mass, We Celebrate The Sacraments, Mary, Or Blessed Mother, The Saints and various Old Testament stories.
MATHEMATICS
Skills contained in the First Grade Mathematics Curriculum are as follows: addition and subtraction to 20, fact families, number order, ordinal numbers, measurement, patterns, time, money, fractions, skip counting, place value, geometry, graphing, estimation, and word problems.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Both the kindergarten and first grade language arts programs use the Scott Foresman Reading Street series. It is a comprehensive Reading and Language Arts series that delivers classic and soon-to-be classic literature, research-based instruction, and a wealth of online experiences for high student engagement. The program has a strong core emphasis on ongoing progress monitoring and an explicit plan for managing small groups of students at all reading levels.
The specific language skills covered in kindergarten include letter recognition, phonemic awareness, phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary & comprehension. We also implement the 6+1 Creative Writing framework. *
The Priority skills contained in the first grade curriculum are Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension. Additional skills include Grammar and Usage (parts of speech),
Research and Study Skills, Letter Writing, Literary Appreciation, Test Taking Skills, Spelling and Handwriting, and Creative Writing using the “6+1 Traits of Writing.” *
*The “6+1 Traits” writing model provides a common language for teachers and students to communicate about the characteristics of writing and establishes a clear vision of what good writing looks like.
SCIENCE
Early Childhood students learn about how our world grows and interacts by using ‘Time for Kids’ Magazine and thematic study. St. Mary’s goal is for its Kindergarten students to achieve the following six objectives: knowledge, instrumental skills, problem solving skills, scientific attitudes, appreciation, and interest. The students’ objectives are met using scientific inquiry into Physical Science, Life Science and Earth & Space Science. Some specific science topics that are covered are the five senses and the human body, physical and dental health, bats, spiders, frogs, butterflies, polar animals, oceans, life cycles, seasons and plants.
The first grade science text is Discover the Wonder by Scott Foresman. The text is supplemented by the Catholic Diocese of Savannah Curriculum Guide and by material introduced in our reading text. Some of the areas of study include the water cycle, dinosaurs, states of matter, plants, simple machines, outer space, health, digestion, and animal classification.
SOCIAL STUDIES
Kindergarten students learn about our world using ‘Time for Kids’ magazine and thematic study of maps and globes, peace and justice, the measurement of time using the calendar and sequencing events, community, Georgia history, family, citizenship, basic needs, goods and services, and transportation.
The first grade Social Studies Text is People and Neighborhoods by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill. The curriculum from the Catholic Diocese of Savannah is followed and is supplemented by areas introduced in the reading text. Some areas include communities, community helpers, animals in groups, the family and school communities, holidays, Native Americans, and map reading.
HIGHLIGHTS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD:
Kindergarten:
- Field trip to The Family Y’s Camp Lakeside Pumpkin Patch with kindergarten dads
- A Thanksgiving Friendship Fest
- Attending The Augusta West Dance Company’s presentation of ‘The Night Before Christmas’
- Christmas performances for our families & a Birthday Party for Baby Jesus
- Celebrating 100's Day!
- Mardi Gras Celebration
- Mother’s Day Mass & Tea
- School closing mass and end of the year program
First Grade:
- Presentation of The Native Americans reports
- Manners and the First Grade Dance
- Learning "cheers" for math problems and making pom-poms
- Kackleberry Farm field trip
- Making gingerbread houses
- Celebrating 100's Day!
- Hosting an all-school Mass
- Presenting the play Hattie and the Fox
KINDERGARTEN FACULTY
Chris Bosch, BS Early Childhood Education, 18 years experience
Heather Vinson, Assistant
Ginger Goodwin, BA Early Childhood Education, 30 years experience
Mary Jane Paul, Assistant
Kathlene Wilkinson, BA Child Growth & Development, MA Early Childhood Education, 17 years experience
Jan Simmons, Assistant
FIRST GRADE FACULTY
Susanne Beusse, BS Education, 42 years experience, Department Chair
Gina Folsom, BS Elementary Education, 29 years experience