Kinder & 1st Grade

Our Kindergarten and 1st Grade Loop:

We view the kindergarten year as a critical opportunity to treasure the unique joys of early childhood while building foundational skills and engaging in meaningful learning. We focus on curiosity, connection, and creativity, and we pride ourselves on being one of the only truly play-based programs in the district. 

Our days follow a predictable rhythm designed to foster joy and build community while nurturing the whole learner. Alongside traditional academic pursuits in phonics, writing, and mathematics, our students engage in daily drama and music experiences, meaningful visual art projects using high quality materials, science explorations in our garden and on nature walks, and the special rituals that mark the passing of a year—seasonal celebrations and school-wide traditions. Add in daily time for child-led play and a low-tech environment, and the result is a rich, relationship-centered year that centers the magic of childhood while growing articulate, thoughtful, and caring students. 

While our students learn reading, writing, and math like all students at BVSD schools, kindergarten at BCSIS is set apart by long-standing unique practices treasured by generations of graduates:

• Community Snack - a weekly mealtime shared with families that focuses on sharing good conversation over good food

• Nature Walks - regular time spent exploring and appreciating our beautiful surroundings and the changing seasons

• Verses - a yearlong exploration of early math and literacy concepts (number sense, alphabetic knowledge, expressive language) through poetry. Students recite and dramatically interpret the verses and end the year with three published books filled with writing and guided illustrations. 

• Imaginative play - classrooms filled with open-ended play materials (costumes, silks, puppet theaters, wooden blocks, figures, and landscapes) and the promise of time to explore and create each day

• High quality art supplies - regular practice with and access to real art materials to create both teacher-led and child-driven artworks

• “Share Birds” - a daily storytelling practice led by the children that develops oral language skills (critical for writing) and fosters social connection

First graders continue this child-centered work while stepping up to the higher level academic work that they are ready for. As in kindergarten, our first graders follow district-provided curricula to explore math, reading, writing, and science. They also still explore drama, music, storytelling, visual art, movement, and integrated units of study. 

If our kindergarten units focus on the immediate community, the first grade year invites students to explore the broader world, and includes studies of Asia, Native Americans, Plants & Animals, Light & Sound, and Air & Weather. 

While our days are a bit fuller in first grade, we still place a high value on child-led play as a vehicle for creativity, critical thinking, and deep social emotional learning.