Buford Presbyterian Weekday School
Class Overview
School hours for all classes (preschool and kindergarten) are 9:30 am to 1:30 pm. Drop off is via morning carpool from 9:20 to 9:35 am and pick up is via afternoon carpool from 1:20 to 1:35 pm.
Transitional Kindergarten/Kindergarten:
Our TK/K program starts in August on the same day GCPS kindergarten classes begin, for the 2024-25 school year the first day is August 5, 2024. Our TK/K is an excellent program for those who want a small class (ratio of 12:1) and individualized attention and preparation for first grade, or for those who are looking to give their young 5 child a gift of another year to grow and mature. Our goal is to foster growth academically, socially, developmentally, and spiritually. Because of our small class size, we can differentiate instruction to each student and provide them with the small group and one to one instruction that will help them to best achieve their individual goals.
The curriculum for TK/K at BPWS was created to address every aspect (and more!) of the Gwinnett County Public Schools curriculum for kindergarten. Below is a glimpse of our approach to each curriculum subject area:
Language Arts: Our language arts curriculum is the focus of the school day. It is comprised of phonics, guided reading groups, and writing.
Phonics: For phonics instruction, we use a program called Jolly Phonics. Jolly Phonics is a multisensory phonics instruction program. Letter sounds are introduced in a particular order to help children to be able to quickly read and write many words on their own. Each letter is taught with a story and a song as well as instruction on letter formation. As students learn more sounds, they can blend letters together to form words. There is also an app that parents can download on their phone to reinforce lessons taught at school. It is a fun program that is extremely effective.
Guided Reading Groups: Each day the teacher meets with small groups (2-4 students) to read leveled books. During this time, students put the skills learned in phonics instruction to practice as well as working on fluency and comprehension. Each day students will have a response activity to the book. Books are read for 2-3 days in guided reading groups then they are either placed in the students’ independent reading boxes and/or sent home for re-reading. Reading and re-reading appropriately leveled books is critical to literacy education. It builds fluency and confidence. At least once a week, the teacher reads one on one with each student. Students also buddy read with friends to keep building confidence!
Writing: Literacy is incomplete without writing instruction. In kindergarten, we focus on 3 styles of writing: narrative, opinion, and informational. At the beginning of the year, much of our writing consists of pictures and words dictated by the student. Thanks to Jolly Phonics, students quickly move on to sounding out words and writing phonemically. This is a crucial stage of development. If the teacher can decipher what has been written phonemically it is perfect! Later in the year, more correct spelling will begin to happen, but phonemic spelling is acceptable until second or third grade.
Math: Kindergarteners love math! We work on number sense, adding and subtracting, story problems, place value, collecting and organizing data through graphs, geometry, nonstandard measurement, time, and money.
Each week, math concepts are taught in whole group (which is the size of a small group in typical public-school classes) and then worked on in centers and pencil and paper work. Often our math is integrated into other parts of the day also. For example, if the current unit is Farm Life and we are learning about apples, then students will get to weigh and measure apples and record their findings. They will sort apples according to different attributes. As a class, we might do an apple tasting and graph our favorite apples. We may have an apple stand dramatic play center where students can buy and sell apples using coins. Math is happening each day in kindergarten even when it is not during a “math lesson”.
Social Studies: Social Studies in kindergarten typically consists of holidays celebrated through the year: Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day etc. as well as learning the difference between today and long ago, families and homes, maps, and US symbols.
This piece of the curriculum is integrated into our Language Arts time throughout the year. For example, when learning about families, homes, and maps, students will listen to stories related to the topic and have writing activities with relevant prompts. We might draw a picture of your family and write about them. Students may draw their home from a bird’s eye view and label the rooms. We might walk the school and create a map to show how to get from our classroom to Chapel.
Science: Science is another subject that is integrated into the day. To name a few subjects we learn about in kindergarten: space, ocean life, polar animals, magnets, simple machines and light and shadow. An example of how this would look in the classroom would be: while studying space we create a book about the planets in the correct order. Students get to weigh and measure “moon rocks”. We use moon rocks to drop in moon dough to observe how craters are made then students record their findings with drawings and words. For creative writing, they will write about a fictional planet they would like to live on and tell why.
STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math): we love doing STEM challenges in class to encourage critical thinking and problem solving skills. An example would be: in a unit on hibernation we will learn why and how animals hibernate. For a culminating activity, they get to bring in stuffed bears and build hibernation caves with partners for their bears. They are given a variety of materials, they create a plan, and start building. These challenges are a favorite of the kids!
Art: Each week we have opportunities to create free art as well as more directed art projects to go along with our units of study. Throughout the year, students get to work with a variety of materials to create amazing works of art.
Social/Emotional Development is a key component and focus of TK/K at BPWS. We are more than a class of students and a teacher. We quickly become a team and a family. Students are encouraged to consider others’ feelings and needs. We work on communicating with each other to keep our room a happy and productive place.
Independence and confidence are bolstered in our small class size setting. Even the shyest of students learn to share their thoughts and ideas with the group once they have grown familiar and comfortable in our safe space. Kindergarteners like to have jobs and responsibilities and it is a great joy to witness their prides as they become more capable each day.
TK/K students at BPWS attend specials such as Music & Movement, Play & Pray, Literacy and Chapel. Our students perform in a Christmas program and a spring program.
Lastly and importantly, TK/K at BPWS is lots and lots of FUN! Our classroom is an exciting place full of learning and laughter. It isn’t uncommon to hear someone say on a Friday afternoon “I wish we had school tomorrow too!” and sometimes it is the teacher!
If you feel like TK/K at BPWS would be a good fit for your family, we would love for you to visit us. Please contact us to set up a private tour or email us any questions you may have. You can click here to find our kindergarten registration form: Kindergarten registration