Why do I teach? I love the children and their excitement to learn! What I love about teaching at St. Barbara School: The families are very caring and their children are all special to me. 

Curriculum

Religion: We begin the year with God's love for the universe, God's love makes me who I am, God's love give me people to love, God's love gives me Jesus, and the year ends with God's love teaches me to love. The Promise Magazine, a weekly extra learning tool is used to discuss the gospels as they relate to the Mass of the week.  

Math: The year begins learning to sort and then on to geometry and patterns, positions, numbers 0 to 10, numbers to 31, tables, graphs, and fractions.  Spring brings our introduction to addition readiness, money, time, measurement and numbers to 100.  Subtraction readiness ends our year.  

Language Arts: A story is read daily to the class and guest readers are welcomed to share a story with the class.  Library time once a week and units on bears and butterflies in the spring contain many reading experiences for the class.

Science: The metamorphosis of the Painted Lady Butterfly is studied in the spring and the plantes are discussed also.  Magnets, properties of water and weather is also covered.

Social Studies: Community helpers and their jobs, neighborhoods, family life and the world we live in. 

Reading: Phonics are stressed with an awareness of the alphabet.  Consonants, consonant sounds, vowels, both short/long and consonant blends.  Reading comprehension, phonics phonemic awareness, oral language, vocabulary, speaking, listening skills, viewing and writing grammar are introduced.

Superkids: A comprehensive reading and language arts program designed just for kindergarten, first, and second grades.  The program is based on scientific research that validates that phonics-based instruction is the best way to teach children to read.  The goal is to produce skillful, confident readers and writers.  The heart of the program is the Superkids characters, who keep children motivated and engaged with their adventures, songs, and gentle life lessons.