1st Grade

6 years – 7 years old

(This program is for children older than 6 years old and younger than 7 years in June.)

First Grade Core Curriculum is introduced by the teacher through the art of storytelling using imagination, fairy tales and nature stories. The stories are based on traditional tales and multicultural resources from around the world. In the language arts and mathematics, stories are used to create characters to introduce numbers and the alphabet. Storytelling strengthens the child’s auditory memory and capacity for mental images, and stimulates a rich vocabulary and sentence formation. Storytelling creates a love of spoken and written language.

Reading

Introduction of letters of the alphabet through images and phonetics: imaginative stories and song, followed by the drawing of letters, and then writing of words and sentences. We combine artistic expressions and phonics to build a strong foundation for reading and writing.

Mathematics

All four arithmetic processes and their interconnectedness. Math instruction is brought through the use of rhythmic movement and objects such as bean bags and counting stones to solve problems using the four processes, all of which prepare the children for more rigorous problem-solving.

Speech

The children enjoy reciting and acting out poems, verses, and other speech exercises. We emphasize rhythm, clear articulation, and boldness of feeling in these early expressions of public speaking.

Form Drawing

This discipline helps form an inner foundation for geometry, one’s relationship to space, and the writing of letters and numbers. Forms are walked, run, drawn in the air and on paper. Symmetry exercises are also done to strengthen the child’s relationship to left and right.

Science

The introduction of science flows from nature stories, exploration and observation. Child appropriate theories of the earth’s natural changing of seasons enhances the ability for scientific observation. These capacities are essential for the upper grades of physics, chemistry, biology and other sciences.

Summer Camp

Sign up for summer fun at Hummingbirds’ Collaborative School as we celebrate our sunny days with outdoor water play, hikes in nature, craft-making, and cooking together. We offer movement games and songs, daily storytelling and puppet shows, and picnic lunches in the shade of our leafy trees.