Through play, children can develop social and cognitive skills, mature emotionally, and gain the self-confidence required to engage in new experiences and environments. Key ways that our preschoolers learn include playing, being with other people, being active, exploring and new experiences, talking to themselves, communication with others, meeting physical and mental challenges, being shown how to do new things, practicing and repeating skills and having fun.

A child’s sense of God originates from the warm atmosphere of love and acceptance in the preschool environment. Kindergarten students attend school mass on a weekly basis. Students are taught from the Children’s Bible and the SEEDS curriculum.

We have recently started a “prayer buddy” program where kindergarten students partner with older students at Saint Luke to engage in prayer.

Saint Luke complies with the Arlington Diocese curriculum guidelines for kindergarten and the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Foundation Blocks for Early Learning. Our class follows a daily routine and content is based on monthly themes, with more specific thematic units each week. The curriculum includes flexibility to focus on individual class/student needs.

We use the Responsive Classroom approach, which integrates academic and social-emotional skills to create an environment where students can do their best learning.

At Saint Luke, we believe social and emotional learning is a key focus area that begins in Kindergarten. We follow the framework of Responsive Classroom to encourage and deliver high-quality, evidence-based social and emotional learning (SEL).

SEL is the process through which children understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.? At Saint Luke, we use our interactions as opportunities to discuss the elements of the SEL framework shown below.