Transitional Kindergarten

The discovery of learning: an essential first step.

We keep our earliest learners engaged in a well-integrated, nurturing environment that focuses on socialization and active learning. Our teachers enrich daily activities with stories, songs, and themed projects. They guide the children through learning centers that develop cognitive and motor skills. Spanish is a critical part of the curriculum. Spanish instruction becomes more focused, with an emphasis on functional use of the language.

As students progress into our Transitional Kindergarten (TK) classes, the nurturing environment they have come to know gradually becomes more structured. At this age, children are able to pay attention for longer periods of time, so we incorporate activities that require them to do so. We also work with them to be able to complete some of their work independently, read and write, and discover their five senses. Academic skills are further developed through phonics-based reading, hands-on math activities, spelling, and simple grammar. Music, art, and physical education play an important part in the TK curriculum.

Curriculum Highlights:

Language Arts:  The TK classes follow a phonics based program that includes the following concepts: beginning and ending sounds, blending short sounds, phonemic awareness, comprehension, vocabulary, high frequency sight words, rhyming words, sentence structure, handwriting, and reading.

Math: We follow a multi-sensory approach to teaching math. Concepts are carefully sequenced and reinforced through practice.  The children explore concepts including number recognition, counting, sorting, grouping, calendar, spatial relations, shapes, categorizing, patterning, estimation, measurement, model graphing, money, one to one correspondence, addition, and subtraction.

Social Studies: The TK students follow a theme based curriculum in social studies that includes topics like: All about Me, My Family Tree, all about Texas, Holidays around the World, Exploring our world, Celebrating America, Transportation, Community Helpers, reduce, reuse and recycling for a green Earth

Science:  Science experiments and science related themes reinforce the natural curiosity that is innate in each child.  We discuss, land, air, water, living and non living things, trees, flowers, migrating and hibernating animals, nocturnal animals, dental hygiene, digestive system, skeletal system, nutrition, dinosaurs, healthy habits, reptiles, wild animals, birds, space environments.

Fine Motor Skills: A good foundation in fine motor skills development begins with strengthening muscles used for writing.  We begin with the basics where children learn to follow the correct formation of upper and lower case letters, print their first and last names, copy date, letters, numbers and sentences from the board.  We master cutting and gluing skills learned in the Pre-K classes.  By October our TK students learn to write within the confinement of lines and take spelling tests.

Gross Motor Skills: Include following directions, waiting for turns, learning to play outdoor sports and a fitness program.  These sessions allow the children time to develop their large muscle skills and practice their social skills.

Music, Spanish, Arts and Crafts: Are an integral part of our TK curriculum conducted by professional teachers once a week.