Create & Perform
Show choir, visual art, and theater help children build confidence and express ideas through music, movement, and visual materials.
A Day at First Pres
A Day in
A Day in
Kindergarten
Where curiosity becomes investigation.
In Kindergarten, children strengthen reading, writing, and mathematical thinking through focused instruction, hands-on projects, creativity, and collaboration.
Learning Throughout the Day
A Rhythm That Makes Room for Ideas
A kindergarten day at First Pres has a familiar rhythm, with room for children’s questions to connect learning across subjects.
Teachers balance direct instruction and practice with time to investigate, work alongside others, and express ideas through words, drawings, models, movement, and play.
8:30–9:00 AM
Beginning Together
The Day Begins Outdoors
Kindergarten begins outside, giving children time to move, reconnect with friends, observe what has changed in the natural environment, and ease into the day through play and conversation.
These first moments are more than a transition. They create opportunities for relationships, independence, physical development, observation, and the spontaneous questions that often become part of the day's learning.
9:00–9:30 AM
Morning Community
Gathering, Talking & Thinking
Over snack and during morning circle, children gather as a community. Conversations may grow from a story, something a child noticed outdoors, a question from an ongoing investigation, or an idea the class wants to explore together.
Names, letters and sounds, counting, patterns, books, conversation, and children's observations naturally become part of this shared beginning to the day.
9:30–11:00 AM
Meaningful Learning
A Long Stretch for Learning
An extended morning block gives children time to develop an idea, work through challenges, find information, collaborate, and try a different approach.
Teachers work with children individually and in small groups while literacy, mathematics, art, construction, storytelling, writing, dramatic play, and ongoing investigations unfold throughout the classroom.
Read & Write
Stories, sounds, books, drawing and meaningful writing.
Think Mathematically
Counting, sorting, patterns, quantities and problem-solving.
Build & Create
Plans, structures, materials, art and collaborative ideas.
11:00–11:45 AM
Nature as a Classroom
Questions Travel Outdoors
Outdoors, movement and play mingle with observation, engineering, science, collaboration, and imagination. The natural environment offers new materials and new problems to solve every day.
Children might create rivers, volcanoes, or bridges and begin wondering: Where will the water go? How could we change its path? What would make our bridge stronger?
Teachers listen for these questions and help children test ideas, make predictions, notice results, and carry discoveries back into the classroom.
11:45 AM–12:30 PM
Lunch & Community
Growing in Independence
Lunch is part of the life of the classroom, too. Children practice caring for their belongings, managing daily routines, sharing conversation, helping with their environment, and becoming increasingly independent members of their community.
For Children Staying Until 3:00 PM
Creating, Moving & Going Deeper
Half-day dismissal is at 12:30 PM. Children enrolled in extended day stay until 3:00 PM, with opportunities to create, move, perform, investigate, and collaborate. Afternoon experiences vary across the week.
Move & Discover
Outdoor exploration, athletics, games, and physical challenges give children opportunities to strengthen their bodies, cooperate with others, take healthy risks, and discover new capabilities.
Make & Investigate
Cooking, art, sensory experiences, and collaborative projects invite children to work with real materials, solve problems, follow processes, and turn ideas into something tangible.
End of the Day
Reflect & Reconnect
Closing the Day Together
As the day winds down, children have time for books, games, conversation, and quieter experiences together.
These closing moments offer space to reconnect, reflect on the day's experiences, care for the classroom community, and prepare to carry today's ideas into tomorrow.
Come Visit
See Kindergarten in Action
The best way to understand learning at First Pres is to experience it. Visit our classrooms, explore our campus, and see what a day of curiosity, connection, and meaningful learning can look like.
Schedule a Tour Explore Elementary