At DDES, we use the EL Education model to support the learning of our students. In Kindergarten, our teachers embrace the characteristics of primary learners to make academic and social emotional lessons engaging, meaningful and fun. We are excited to share more information about our programming with you in the resources throughout our website.
EL Education was founded in 1991, born out of a collaboration between The Harvard Graduate School of Education and Outward Bound USA. Its mission has always been to create classrooms where teachers can fulfill their highest aspirations and students achieve more than they think possible, becoming active contributors to building a better world.
We ground our Character work in “The Way of the Blue Bear”, our school-wide character traits. Our goal is to bring these traits to life for students by explicitly teaching social-emotional skills needed to show Compassion, Courage, Self-Discipline, Tenacity and Craftsmanship. During Crew Block and throughout the day, students are given an opportunity to practice and reflect on Character Traits and SEL Skills.
EL Education’s commitment to igniting each student’s motivation, persistence, and compassion guides us to lift up best practices that complement the ways people learn most naturally.
- Young children find security in rhythm, ritual, and repetition.
- Young children learn through play.
- Young children want to belong to a community that is safe, beautiful, and good.
- Young children explore the world with wonder.
- Young children “understand” the world first through their bodies.
- Young children seek independence and mastery.
- Young children thrive in the natural world.
- Young children use stories to construct meaning.
- Young children seek patterns in the world around them.
- Young children construct their identities and build cultural bridges.
- Young children express themselves in complex ways.
Hear about kindergarten from our staff
A Day in the Life of a DDES Kindergartener
Wonder what Kindergarteners are doing at school all day at DDES? Check out our sample schedule to see what life is like in our crews.
This is our drop-off window for Kindergarten students. Parents can drive through to drop off students. Staff will help unload students and escort them into the building.
We are ready to begin our day together. We gather each morning to learn about our character traits (Ways of the Blue Bear) and build social emotional skills. Through initiatives, high quality texts and discussion, we are able to learn these skills in a concrete and meaningful way. We continue to practice and incorporate these habits throughout our day.
During expedition, you will see many engaged and excited scientists. Our studies this year will have us researching different kinds of insects in a variety of ways. Be on the lookout for new insects appearing in our classroom throughout the year!
We are ready to dive into writing! We begin with a mini lesson to give our learning a focus and then head off to write independently. During this time, you might see students spread all over the classroom and hear quiet music playing. We come back together to share our work and give our peers feedback based on our learning target. In kindergarten, we write persuasive letters, personal narratives and answer questions related to a non-fiction topic.
This consists of CGI math, which stands for Cognitive Guided Instruction. It will be a time for students to think critically, take risks and share their learning. Becky will be pushing in during this math block.
Time to run and move! We play on the playground and in the gym for recess and love this time to interact with each other.
All this learning has us hungry! We eat lunch in our classroom and enjoy this time with our crew. Students are encouraged to chat with their table mates and then the last 2 minutes of our lunch is silent.
New this year at DDES, students will be supported to participate in regulatory activities during solitude and reflection each day.
During this time of day, we work both as a whole crew and in small groups to build foundational skills for reading and writing. Students are placed in flexible groups based on assessment data to support targeted skills. Our support staff pull groups for instruction, while other students practice with word games and sorts, reading and writing activities.
We begin with a number talk or other fluency game/movement to help our minds build fluency and concepts around numbers. Following this we dive into grapple problems with tools and whiteboards. Our math is hands-on so you might see us using blocks, cubes or counters to explore problem-solving skills. We end with journal problems or exit tickets and a debrief to solidify our learning.
Time to run and move! We play on the playground and in the gym for recess and love this time to interact with each other. We spend this time with the other Kindergarten Crew.
We are ready to visit Z or Reeves for our specials. In Creation lab and Movement, students build collaboration and imagination, along with fine and gross motor skills. This is definitely a highlight of our day!
Time for a break! We enjoy snack as a crew while listening to a read aloud and working on literacy skills such as rhyming, comprehension, identifying characters, setting, and plot as well as answering text dependent questions and learning new vocab!
Time to play! During this time, students are engaged in play with purpose- building, crafting, exploring or imagining. This is the perfect time to practice social interactions with support from teachers, explore topics of interest, and most importantly, have fun!
We end our day together in circle to reflect, celebrate our friends, discuss our favorite parts of the day and say good-bye.
Parents check into our pick up system and are added to the student pick up line. Staff will bring students to your place in line for pick up.
We also offer a school run after school program that goes until 6pm called Crew Club.