Moving from kindergarten to first grade is your child’s first step into the real world of academics. For some children and their parents this transition year can be stressful, especially at first. This is why at Desmond T. Doss Christian Academy we try our best to make this a wonderful and exciting experience.
First and foremost, your child will be showered with lots of warm smiles and affection. The first and second grade teacher at DTD is Mrs. Jeannie Ramsey. Mrs. Ramsey is affectionately known by her students as, Ms. Jeannie. She has lots of experience with children in her long career and cares very much that each child feels welcome and special.
Ms. Jeannie prefers to be on a first name basis with all the parents of her students. Be prepared to stay in close contact with her as needed during the year. She uses text messaging, even during the school day when necessary, and never hesitates to call parents if a situation warrants. Her philosophy is that her students are very precious little people with real feelings and needs.
On the first day of school it is a special tradition in Ms. Jeannie’s class to have pictures taken with her tame, class pet bird, Tootie! (This picture has a function…it will be used in the classroom each week for the purpose of showing who the two students of the day are.)
This is something that the first graders usually look forward to! The first week of school, of course, there’s a lot of going over rules and establishing trust. The returning 2nd grade students will be great leaders helping the new students and the first graders to acclimate.
Academically, there will be big changes from what the new first graders were used to in kindergarten. It takes a couple of months of school, as we gradually introduce all of our daily schedule components, for the first graders to be able to keep up with a new pace. Before they know it they begin to feel proud of all they are accomplishing each day! By the end of the year they will be trotting alongside the second graders ready and excited to be the leaders for the next school year.
Once they are on track, a typical first grade day might look like this:
8:15-8:30 Arrival
Morning Work: Consisting of handwriting practice, daily count, math meeting
Worship and Prayer Requests
Bathroom Break
Daily Oral Language (DOL) which is the whole class participating in editing one or more sentences
Bible: Monday and Wednesday: New Stories Tuesday and Thursday: Fun Bible Work Book Pages
Outside Break (If time permits)
New Math Concept & Fact Practice: Using Saxon Math Curriculum
Reading Spots: Utilizing different reading stations around the room each day for each child as well as weekly small group reading sessions during this time
11:30-12:30 Lunch and Outside Break
Teacher Read Aloud Time: A great highlight of the day!
Phonics: Using VoWac Curriculum (Stands for Vowel Oriented Word Attack Course)
Writer’s Workshop
Whole Class Reading Activity
Social Studies, Science, Music, or Art (depending on the day of the week)
Outside Break (If time permits)
3:30 Dismissal M-TH 2:00 on Friday
Questions? Contact Ms. Jeannie @ 434-660-1130