Nothing prepares your child for success in elementary school like a strong kindergarten experience where academic and social development go hand-in-hand. A balance of individual attention with a strong emphasis on reading and math skills provides each child with a solid foundation for elementary school success. We communicate with you regularly about your child’s experiences and progress through parent-teacher conferences, monthly newsletters, and ongoing progress reports.

Peppermint Stick full day Private Kindergarten offers your child a comprehensive, literacy-based, teacher-directed curriculum that prepares your child for elementary school.

The literacy-rich environment begins with phonetic awareness, moving toward conventional reading. With these skills, children have the foundation to begin reading text fluently with comprehension.

• Reading for pleasure and information
• Writing to communicate messages, thoughts, and ideas
• Listening and following directions
• Speaking confidently and effectively

As children explore the classroom and outdoor environments, they learn about science and technology and the role each plays in our lives.

The focus is on development and comprehension through:

• Making observations and predictions
• Exploring the world around us (recycling, conservation, life cycles of plants and animals)
• Integrating technology skills into daily activities to learn basic keyboarding and computer skills to reinforce learning through individualized programs through educational software

Mathematical analysis and computation are at the core of the math program. Children use multiple tools and approaches to solve problems in meaningful ways using manipulatives, estimation, pictures, drawings and graphs, and algebraic thinking.

Key areas of study are:

Children develop a basic understanding of themselves and their place within their families, communities, and the world.

The program provides lessons in meaningful contexts such as:

• Understanding the calendar (days and dates) and important holiday/cultural differences
• Understanding that people use different languages to communicate
• Knowledge of the globe, the United States, and the Pledge of Allegiance

Children learn the basic principles of art that inspire them to express themselves. They work within a variety of mediums: watercolors, paints, chalk, and crayons.

Our music program is celebrated each day at Peppermint Stick. Children are physically engaged in music, learning creative movement, instrument identification, and song.

Children learn character traits through discussions, role-play and hands-on activities, children strengthen the basic values of honesty, fairness, and respect for others.

Our physical development program provides experiences in games and sports that help to develop eye-hand coordination, body movement, and motor skills – emphasizing teamwork and learning rules.

Children learn the basic concepts of safety, nutrition, environmental health (recycling, conservation, etc.), and personal health.

The Foreign Language program focuses on learning simple Spanish conversational phrases and vocabulary and an introduction to several other languages.