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Proclaiming that the day is one the Lord has made and greeting our loved ones with a warm smile are ways to start the day well. Teachers can create the same joyful, welcoming morning environment for their students.
Proclaiming that the day is one the Lord has made, giving thanks to Him when we rise from our beds, and greeting our loved ones with a warm smile first thing in the morning are all ways to start our day well. No matter what the day ahead looks like, we can set a beautiful tone of gratitude and gentleness for ourselves and our family the moment it begins. Similarly, teachers can create a joyful and welcoming morning environment for their students, one that will positively affect the course of their day.
Children’s love of repetition and ability to memorize are God-given gifts. In the Kindergarten classical classroom, we celebrate these gifts by providing our children with prayers and catechism to memorize, math facts to recount, phonograms to review, and hymns and songs for singing and dancing. Our kindergartners get to start their day doing what they naturally know and love to do best — memorize and repeat!
These are some examples of what a morning meeting looks like in a classical Kindergarten classroom:
One - Singing the Doxology together.
Two - Properly greeting one another by looking each other in the eye and saying, “Good morning!”
Three - Praying the Lord’s Prayer from memory.
Four - Discussing the weather and reviewing the calendar.
Five - Reviewing the math board for quick math facts.
Six - Listening and reciting a short poem or nursery rhyme, which helps develop early reading and language skills.
Seven - Singing the hymn of the week/month.
Eight - Reciting the memory verse of the week/month.
Nine - Answering catechism questions.
Ten - Listening to and discussing the daily devotional.
Scripture tells us to “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” (Psalm 100:1-2). With that in mind, our children will enter their classrooms ready to glorify God with joyful singing and memory work.
To learn more about Donum Dei's pre-K/Kindergarten, we invite parents to attend an Info Session with a focus and a preview of the pre-K/Kindergarten classroom experience.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Donum Dei Classical Academy
C.S. Lewis’ The Abolition of Man (1943) is a classic of classical education. While its clunky subtitle (Reflections on education with special reference to the teaching of English in the upper forms of schools) suggests a more immediate concern.
On the heels of a successful run of Disney's The Jungle Book KIDS, I sat down with Mrs. Rebekah Kurth, our theater arts teacher and director, to hear her stories and glean wisdom about the value of a theater arts program.
When we consider creation, we are drawn into wonder and worship of the Creator. This year our students saw the glory of God through star parties, a scale model of the solar system, the San Francisco Bay, and the Hayward Fault.
DONUM DEI
CLASSICAL ACADEMY
