Kindergarten in Houston, Texas

Kindergarten students are active learners who are highly engaged in the study of the world around them. Their curriculum includes a continued emphasis on the strengthening of fine motor skills as well as cooperative learning and play to further the development of social and emotional skills.

As they move away from open-ended center play to activities with an introduced purpose, students’ learning experiences are scaffolded to:

help them acquire emergent reading and numeracy skills,
provide opportunities for both self-directed and teacher-directed learning, and
include research, class projects using technology, color chemistry, dinosaurs, and all about the number 100.

Kindergarten Curriculum

Reading and Writing

Kindergarten Reading and Writing

Oral language development supports the foundations of reading in kindergarten students through participation, vocabulary building, and the use of storytelling format based upon the Rice School Literacy & Culture Program. Using the Superkids curriculum, students develop phonemic awareness that includes rhyming, letter recognition, initial consonant sounds, and emergent writing skills. Superkids includes lessons built around characters and utilizes songs, handwriting lessons, and workbook activities for listening skill practice. As part of a strong foundation for all literacy learning, students are continually exposed to quality, adult-authored literature in the classroom. Throughout the year, they interact with literature through poems, read-alouds, dramatizations, and book extension activities. Purposeful communication activities and an emphasis on "listening to learn" are woven into the day-to-day life of a kindergartener at St. Mark’s. Teachers work collaboratively to implement strategies that help students extend their vocabularies, develop print awareness, cultivate oral expression, and develop an understanding of narrative form through dictation and dramatization of their own stories. The kindergarten classroom at St. Mark’s inspires children to read and write through storytelling and other research-based early literacy activities.

Handwriting continues in kindergarten with Handwriting Without Tears. This handwriting readiness program suits students’ developmental needs and abilities, focusing on efficient grip and letter formation. Students also engage in authentic and creative writing tasks such as letters, “news” reports, captions, lists, and written pieces during dramatic play.

Learn more about language arts across the St. Mark's experience.

Learn more about social studies across the St. Mark's experience.

Learn more about science across the St. Mark's experience.

Math

Kindergarten Math

Students receive instruction and individual practice through hands-on activities that utilize concepts developed through the program Bridges in Mathematics. Throughout the year, teachers promote mathematical understanding through a variety of experiences and play, such as center games and the use of manipulatives. Students participate in group counting, sorting, and classifying activities to help strengthen their development of number sense.

Learn more about math across the St. Mark's experience.

Learning Centers

Outdoor Play

Social-Emotional Learning

Primary School Social-Emotional Learning

Helping children develop their social and emotional skills is the heart and soul of Primary School. Our teachers facilitate the development of social and emotional competence as they progress through the Primary division using key elements from Conscious Discipline for emotional regulation and Responsive Classroom for community building. Teachers intentionally support children’s social and emotional growth by using children’s books, planning activities to practice relationship building, coaching on the spot, giving effective praise, modeling appropriate behaviors, and providing cues. Primary School teachers prioritize developing children’s social and emotional skills and are richly rewarded with happy, engaged children who learn to avoid and resolve conflicts, share and take turns, and express their emotions in productive ways.

Learn more about social-emotional learning across the St. Mark's experience.

Enrichment Classes

Explorers participate in a modified version of Spanish, Religion, Music and Library classes. They will attend PE class weekly to practice and develop gross motor skills. Seekers participate in Spanish, Library, Religion, Music, and Movement.

In the fall, our Explorers and Seekers will join older students in attending Primary School Chapel.

Primary School Art

Art surrounds our youngest students throughout the school year. Students work on art projects in their classrooms throughout their time in Primary School. Formal art classes begin in kindergarten with the introduction of new art mediums, and artist studies—Renaissance for the 1st trimester, Impressionism for the 2nd trimester, and Modernism for the 3rd trimester.

Primary School Spanish

Students in Primary School are introduced to the Spanish language through play and discovery. Young learners explore Spanish through the use of songs, rhymes, games, manipulatives, and stories. The focus for early language learners is the element of repetitive, simple, and comprehensible language through the use of context. Simple words and phrases when connected with movement, music, and visuals provide an excellent means for early language learners to begin their introduction to a second language. Primary School students are provided song books, manipulatives, games, and activities. Students learn about Spanish culture, as well as many seasonal words and phrases. Spanish classes incorporate thematic vocabulary and concepts used in students’ daily classroom learning, helping to develop a cross-curricular understanding for students as they learn elements of a new language.

Primary School Religion

The Religion curriculum aims to provide a foundation in the Christian faith while recognizing the diversity of our students. As an Episcopal school we welcome students of all faiths and encourage the sharing of religious traditions. The inclusive nature of St. Mark’s creates a deeper respect for denominational differences and different religious beliefs as students share their own faith experiences. The objective of religious education at St. Mark’s is to help students experience and realize the spiritual dimension of life.

Explorers, Seekers, and Preschool 3s: Religion classes in the early childhood years use the Frolic Nursery preschool curriculum. Frolic Nursery explores faith concepts through storytelling, interactive activities, music, and prayers to nurture faith through play. Each week, lessons follow the same process with a time to gather and share, play songs, listen to stories, and engage in a creative play space. This curriculum provides an age-appropriate introduction of faith concepts and offers consistency of routine for children.

Pre-K and Kindergarten: Primary School students have religion class weekly throughout the year. The Godly Play curriculum is a creative, imaginative, Montessori-based approach to religious education that spirals over three years, allowing children to explore the mystery of God’s presence, find direction in their lives, and make meaning through story, wonder, and play. As part of the Episcopal identity of welcoming other faiths, students learn about other religious observances incorporated throughout the year.

Pre-K and Kindergarten Library

In pre-K and kindergarten, students continue to listen to stories from different genres, sing songs, retell and reenact stories, and recite rhymes and poems. Literacy skills are expanded and include group discussions about books. Students also begin to learn how to navigate the library in order to choose and check out books. In kindergarten, students begin to learn research skills by using online databases.

Kindergarten Computer Science

Students begin using iPads in kindergarten, which they learn to safely and effectively navigate, and participate in digital citizenship lessons focused on responsibility and safety. Students practice research skills through online databases and use Wixie, a creativity application, to create projects demonstrating their learning. Kindergarteners learn coding basics using Kibo Robots and apps such as Kodable. They learn programming and debugging skills using block-based puzzles, sequencing commands in a logical order, and practicing loops.

Pre-K and Kindergarten PE

Pre-K and kindergarten students continue to develop motor skills and movement patterns needed to perform various physical activities. These skills include traveling in different directions at different speeds, throwing, catching, kicking, hand-eye coordination, and sequencing movements. They also begin to learn physical fitness concepts such as stretching and elevating their heart rate. Pre-K and kindergarten students learn and play a variety of games and participate in fun obstacle courses to practice movement, experience winning and losing, setting goals, and following directions.

Primary School Music

Explorers, Seekers, Preschool 3s, and Pre-K: The music program in the first years of Primary School engages students in the earliest exploration of musical understanding, including tuneful singing, beat competency, listening skills, and instrument skills. Through organized lessons and the use of manipulative materials such as puppets, scarves, parachutes, and books, students explore music and develop their own musical abilities. They practice body awareness, self-control, and emotional regulation while singing and moving to a wide repertoire of seasonal songs. Starting in Preschool 3s, students perform in the Primary School Christmas Pageant.

Kindergarten: Kindergarten students continue their musicianship journey with further practice of tuneful singing, beat competency, listening skills, and instrument skills. The kindergarten year sets the foundation for a multi-year music curriculum that will continue throughout Lower School. During this year, students will learn to differentiate between musical opposites such as singing voice and speaking voice, loud and soft, fast and slow, high and low chanting and melodies, and beat and rhythm. Through songs, singing games, classroom activities, and the use of manipulatives, Music exposes students to a wide repertoire of seasonal songs and musical experiences. Kindergarten students perform in the Primary School Christmas Pageant.

Learn more about enrichment courses across the St. Mark's experience.