The St. Lawrence Academy
The first step on the path to success begins in our
Kindergarten Program
The first step on the path to success begins in our
Kindergarten Program
The Pre-K and Kindergarten program at SLA utilizes the Learning Without Tears, Jump Math and Jolly Phonics curriculum. Focussed on creating readers ready for Grade 1, SLA’s Kinder program uses a hands-on learning approach while acknowledging the important of rote learning. It is through this balanced program that we build students ready for the challenges of grade 1.
Jolly Phonics
Jolly Phonics
Jolly Phonics is a comprehensive programme, based on the proven, fun and muliti-sensory synthetic phonics method that gets children reading and writing from an early age. This means that we teach letter sounds as opposed to the alphabet. These 42 letter sounds are phonic building blocks that children, with the right tools, use to decode the English language. When reading a word, they recognize the letters and blend together the respective sounds; when writing a word they identify the sounds and write down the corresponding letters. Children are taught 42 letter sounds, which is a mix of alphabet sounds (1 sound – 1 letter) and digraphs (1 sound – 2 letters) such as sh, th, ai and ue. Using a multi-sensory approach each letter sound is introduced with fun actions, stories and songs.
Handwriting Without Tears
Handwriting Without Tears
Children who master handwriting are better, more creative writers. The earlier we teach children to master handwriting, the more likely they are to succeed in school, and write with speed and ease in all subjects. We use fun, engaging, and developmentally appropriate instructional methods to enable children to master handwriting as an automatic and comfortable skill.
JUMP Math
JUMP Math
JUMP Math is dedicated to helping children succeed at, and enjoy, learning math. There is a strong causal link between a child's academic success and his or her future contribution to society. We strive to increase children’s chances of success, to reduce socio-economic disparities, to engender a sense of belonging and, most importantly, to endow voiceless children with opportunity.
The JUMP Math approach starts with a confidence building exercise that has demonstrably changed children's perceptions of their abilities. By adopting the methods and principles of JUMP Math, schools can teach mathematics to a higher standard, without leaving students behind, and in a cost-effective manner. There will always be differences between students, but we don’t need to exaggerate or highlight them by setting up unnecessary hierarchies. By using materials and methods that minimize differences, teachers can cover more of the curriculum and can narrow or close the wide gap in student performance that exists in most classrooms. (https://www.jumpmath.org)
