Private Christian Kindergarten Education

“The child who creeps at an early age is not superior to the child who takes his own sweet time. Children are born when they are ready. They creep when they are ready. They walk when they are ready. They talk when they are ready. They teethe when they are ready. But they go to school …ready or not, when they are five.” 

                    Jim Grant, “I Hate School”

K1 is designed to provide children with additional time for maturation and physical, social, emotional, intellectual and spiritual development. The goal of the program is to develop confidence in their abilities by allowing them to increase their skills at their own pace. This is done in an activity-oriented environment in which they participate in large group, small group and individual learning situations. The end result is a confident, naturally maturing child that is ready for success in the next level of kindergarten.

Kindergarten Christian Education Objectives

The table below illustrates a sample of objectives and differences in each category between the two levels of kindergarten.

Subject	K1	K2
Language and Literacy Skills	Demonstrates an awareness of beginning letter sounds	Comprehension of teacher and pupil read material
Math Concepts	Recognizes numerals and understands concepts 1 – 20	Understands concepts of addition and subtraction
Physical Development	Demonstrates good eye-hand coordination	Prints name correctly; catches ball
Spiritual Development	Applies biblical character traits in work and play	Memorizes weekly verses and applies Christian principles
Social Development	Develops skills of cooperation and problem solving in play	Evaluated on 16 items of work habits and citizenship

The Process

Qualified classroom instructors conduct a kindergarten assessment profile to properly evaluate your child’s ‘developmental age.’ Based on the results of this profile, the instructor is able to advise you on the level of kindergarten that would be most appropriate for your child. The Gesell Developmental Observation is a standard procedure for evaluating behaviors for indications of physical/neurological growth, social-emotional maturity, language skills, and most importantly, adaptive development (using knowledge in action). Once classes begin, regular detailed assessment reports are conducted to keep you informed and your child on track.

“I firmly believe that neither an academic kindergarten (apparently suited to my son’s natural ability) nor a less structured developmental kindergarten could have induced such growth or had the corrective, therapeutic effect of balancing my son socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually, as did his experience in foundations. (K1)