"I love teaching at UCA because I can point to Jesus no matter what subject area we are learning about. Biblical integration is the goal. When we are learning how to count, we can talk about how numbers are orderly and form patterns just like God is a God of order. When we study science and the world around us, there are countless opportunities to talk about what an amazing, creative, loving God we serve. When we are learning how to read and write, we discuss how God created every language on the earth and how amazing it is that even as a baby, people begin to learn and understand the patterns and symbols in their language. My goal when students leave my kindergarten classroom is for them to have a greater knowledge and love for Jesus, while understanding that he can be part of every area of our lives. "
Kindergarten
This is an exciting time for your family as your child begins their schooling journey. We hope you consider UCA as you are searching for the best fit for your child's inquisitive spirit and budding personality.
Biblical Integration
Building off of our "Deep Roots" Bible curriculum, we help students view all of life through a biblical perspective. We focus on the heart rather than the behavior to encourage character development. Students read and study God's word together, memorize Bible verses, and pray together daily for themselves, their classmates, and the greater community.
Learning Environment
Our program lays strong foundations academically while balancing developmental skills such as understanding expectations, gross and fine motor skills, and social skills. Your little learner will experience a helpful balance of hands-on, multi-modal learning which includes experiments, songs, and dramatic play.
Social/Emotional
Some of our Kindergarteners have been attending Preschool, while others are walking into their first school experience. We help them all thrive by teaching them how to resolve conflict, how to build friendships, how to control their emotions and understand what is appropriate and what is not. We gracefully hold them to expectations that we believe will set them up well for their future.
UCA uses the Groves Method Literacy Curriculum for our K-3rd grade students. This program is having a significant impact on our students’ literacy. All our teachers in these grades are teaching with high fidelity and the lessons are based on the science of reading. Groves is a multi-modal approach to teaching reading, so students are learning a systematic way to read, spell, form letters, capitalize, and understand morphology (the forms of word). In other words, they understand what prefixes and suffixes mean and how they impact base words. Groves focuses on the 4 pillars of reading: phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
All of our Groves instructors do daily small-group instruction to support students who need extra practice or those who are needing fluency practice. Groves is a three-tiered approach, so we also have amazing intervention teachers who are pulling students multiple times per week to give them extra support. This is having a huge impact on our students who have had Groves since Kindergarten and even those coming in new to the program.
Click here to read more about the Groves Literacy Program at UCA.
Meet a Teacher
Gina Troost - Kindergarten Teacher
See for yourself!
Get a first-hand glimpse into why families choose United Christian Academy for their student's kindergarten experience.