Early Learners

Organization, concentration, patience, and working independently are the emphasis of our Early Learner programs.

The journey of an Early Learner at Grymes is one of discovery as children find their own joy in learning in a carefully structured program designed around their emotional, social, physical, and cognitive development. In Junior Kindergarten, play-based creative activities develop language skills, visual perception, spatial organization, and other essential skills that lay the foundation for reading readiness, math concepts, vocabulary, and language arts in the Kindergarten curriculum.
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FEATURED CURRICULUM ELEMENTS

Learning in the youngest years emphasizes the building blocks of how to read, write, and think mathematically as students grow into critical and creative thinkers. Our small class sizes encourage open communication and collaboration, asking questions, writing effectively, and listening carefully in ways that support a life-long love of learning.
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Exploration & Discovery

Building on children’s natural desire to explore their world, early learners engage in hands-on learning throughout the day, allowing them to experience the excitement and wonder of discovering new ideas and abilities.
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Movement & Play

Twice-daily recesses on the Lower School playground are an important part of every student’s day that fosters learning through play. Physical education classes throughout the week ensure young students have plenty of opportunities to move, play, and interact together.
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Foundational Learning

Early literacy and math begin with learning letters and sounds, participating in group read-alouds, counting, sorting, and learning together as children prepare for Lower School.
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Promoting Independence

We encourage children to develop independence and agency by exploring their unique interests and talents in small classes where teachers respect and honor every child.
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Broad-Based Approach

At Grymes, our “core” curriculum expands far beyond reading and math to include PE, music, library, art, drama, and Spanish, providing children with a range of experiences and learning opportunities.
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Signature Programs

Early Learners attend weekly all-school assemblies, participate in the Partner Program, perform class plays, and Kindergartners recite Declamations in front of students, parents, and teachers.

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Our Junior Kindergarten program is open to children ages three through five. With their self-contained learning center and adjacent playground, Junior Kindergartners are sheltered from the hustle and bustle of a busy hallway and surrounded with meaningful opportunities for learning and growth.

Mornings are geared toward kindergarten preparation and the development of important literacy and numeracy skills. Following lunchtime, outdoor play, and rest, afternoons include enrichment and reinforcement sessions that give children the time they need to explore, question, and deepen their understanding of the morning lessons. Throughout the day, students engage in hands-on activities that foster exploration and discovery while learning to interact with their fellow classmates.

All Junior Kindergartners enjoy Spanish instruction, music, library, and PE weekly, and a highlight of the year is their class play performed for the entire school.

Our Junior Kindergarten program is a five-day program, offering flexibility in the length of the school day.

Our Kindergarten program is built on foundational literacy and numeracy programs and a philosophy that values hands-on, experiential learning in a nurturing classroom. Kindergarten students benefit from an inspiring curriculum grounded in rich content and essential skill-based development.

Reading skills are developed using Orton-Gillingham, a program that recognizes strong phonemic awareness as the starting place for fostering literacy. Students practice rhyming, alphabet recognition, letter sounds, and other proven methods that lead to reading readiness, and they enjoy regular read-alouds of classic and contemporary children’s literature.

With its emphasis on starting with the concrete, Developing Roots, our math program, provides a framework for student growth in one-to-one correspondence counting, sorting, using number bonds, rote counting, and beginning to understand basic math concepts.

Using small and large group instruction, teachers lead students through lessons about the seasons, holiday celebrations, weather, plants, and animals. Classroom learning is enhanced through real-life experiences, including trips to an apple orchard, the town of Orange, and the local animal shelter, and students engage in community service activities that expand their understanding of the world.

Kindergartners attend Spanish and music classes twice a week, art and library weekly, and physical education classes daily, and they take the stage for Declamation Day as well as their class play.
Grymes does amazing things for its size. It’s a safe place where young children are respected as individuals but also held to high standards by the entire community. Communication with the school is deep and thoughtfully tailored to each child. Our kids come home happy and excited.
Mollie Visosky
Grymes Parent