Kindergarten/1st Grade

Flexible Classrooms

K-1 classrooms are spacious with areas for large and small group work. Students sit at community tables and practice sharing materials. Students may be on the area rug listening to a teacher for a mini-lesson or sprawled on the floor reading. The day consists of many smaller blocks of learning and movement breaks.

Learning by Doing

Classroom instruction is organized around hands-on experiences using concrete materials rather than worksheets and workbooks. Materials are arranged in learning centers that children can access independently to build agency.  Student may work in individually or in small groups at various points through out the day. Literacy is the primary focus in any primary classroom, and it is the largest block of the day at two hours.  Math concepts are introduced through the use of manipulatives such as blocks, geo boards, tangrams, pattern and attribute blocks, dice, and counters and cubes which can be counted, measured and subtracted or compared.

The K/1 curriculum can be found in the APS Program of Studies.