welcome to kindergarten!
Our private Kindergarten & Transitional Kinder program still holds true to our play-based philosophy while diligently following the Oregon standards of education for Kindergarteners. Our program is well-balanced, focusing on the core subjects such as reading, writing, and math with an introduction to science and social studies. At Valley, we focus on the child’s whole development, not just academic! There will be plenty of opportunity for play, discovery, and hands on-interactive activities within our curriculum.
During the pandemic, we’ve seen a big need for smaller class sizes and more focused learning environments. We are thrilled to be able to fill this need for years to come!
The teacher/student ratio is 1:10
Please note, our program is a licensed kindergarten and preschool through the Department of Early Learning & Care, but we are not accredited.
Phonics, reading & comprehension
Our early reading goals include identifying and recognizing upper and lowercase letters, the sounds they make, and understanding the connection between the two. We’ll then focus on decoding and blending, and recognition of high frequency/sight words. As their skills progress as early readers, we’ll work on fluency and comprehension, understanding concepts of print, story sequencing, etc. These skills are essential to building strong emerging readers!
writing
Our writing goals include the ability to accurately spell their first and last name using correct uppercase and lowercase letters, and correctly form all letters of the alphabet in upper and lower case. By the end of the year, students should be able to correctly spell high-frequency words, write simple words and brief sentences with correct capitalization and basic punctuation.
math & Science
Our math program goals include counting to 100, recognizing numbers 0-20, counting up to 20 objects, recognizing geometric and 3D shapes, creating and identifying patterns and sequencing, the ability to use pictures and numbers to solve story problems, and simple addition and subtraction using objects and pictures.
Fun and exciting science and social studies lessons will be introduced throughout the year! Learning about our world, cultures, history and science will be interwoven across all subjects in the curriculum.
Specials
Each afternoon we have our “specials” class for the day!
Mondays: American Sign Language (ASL) taught by Ms. Jenn
Tuesdays: Art Literacy taught by Ms. Tiffany
Wednesdays: Library and SEL (Social Emotional) with Ms. Shelby
Thursdays: STEM taught by Ms. Tiffany
Fridays: Music & Movement taught by Ms. Kylie/Ms.Tiffany
a strong foundation
In additional to teaching reading, writing, and math, our goal is to help every student become a successful learner. This looks different for each and every student, as we all learn differently! Our goal is to help each child build a strong foundation of skills and a love of learning. Listening, following directions, problem solving, team work, and responsibility are big components of our classroom!