Academics: PreFirst Grade Class

The Woods offers kindergarten and pre-first grade programs to ensure that each child is placed in the appropriate learning environment. An individualized, phonetics-based reading program helps each child develop oral language, reading, and listening skills in a preparatory educational atmosphere.

An integral portion of each school day is developed to individualized reading instruction. Experienced teachers guide and encourage each child to develop critical and creative thinking skills. A superior reading, math, science, and social studies curriculum provides a cumulative educational experience for every kindergarten and pre-first student.

Our pre-first grade includes the following elements:

• Comprehensive reading/language arts program
• Hands-on mathematics curriculum
• Literature-based, multi-cultural social studies
• Science
• Physical fitness and health
• Spanish instruction
• Music and movement
• Computer technology instruction
• Manuscript
• Literature Appreciation
• Art Activities
• Time for Kids Educational Magazine
• Educational Field Trips

PreFirst Grade Curriculum

LANGUAGE ARTS

Students in pre-first have a variety of high interest material to encourage reading.  SADLIER-OXFORD PHONICS LEVEL A (GRADE 1) Level A systematically builds on children’s proficiency in manipulating sounds, generating sounds from letters, and blending sounds into words.  Decoding words with short and long vowels is the focus along with explicit instruction in phonograms and word patterns.  Children progress from single consonant blends and digraphs and form words in isolation to words in context.  Also incorporated in our pre-first curriculum are Zoo Phonics and Secret Stories.   In September, the children begin reading simple and complex take home phonetic readers and literature based books later in the year. 

MATHEMATICS

SADLIER-OXFORD PROGRESS IN MATHEMATICS is a complete basal mathematics program.  The curriculum allows the flexibility to group students according to their mathematical knowledge.  Topics include:  position, classification, comparison, number recognition to twenty, addition, subtraction (to 12), place value, time money, geometry, measurement, fractions, and graphing.  Special attention is given to the development of critical thinking and problem solving skills used in conjunction with Evan Moore.   

SCIENCE AND SOCIAL STUDIES       

Social studies and science are taught in weekly units.  Students are taught to relate the knowledge they have of themselves and their environment to the world beyond.  Studying constellations, charting weather, comparing dinosaur skeletons, preparing foods for a balanced diet, and learning about the origins of holiday celebrations are but a few of the units covered during the school year.  To meet the National Council for Social Studies and the Texas Essential knowledge and Skill Standards, we use a literature-based curriculum. 

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