A Joyful Start to Learning
At Stella Maris Academy, our youngest learners build a strong foundation for faith, academics, and social-emotional growth. Through hands-on exploration, engaging lessons, and nurturing guidance, students in Transitional Kindergarten through Second Grade develop curiosity, confidence, and a love of learning that prepares them for future success.
Religion
Students learn about God’s love through stories, prayer, songs, and discussions. In TK, children explore creation, family, and the Church community. Kindergarten builds understanding of God’s gifts, the seasons of the Church, and the lives of the saints. By Second Grade, students study the Eucharist and Reconciliation and deepen their sense of responsibility, kindness, and service to others.
Language Arts
Students develop strong early literacy skills through read-alouds, shared reading, guided reading, and independent practice. TK begins with oral language, print awareness, and letter-sound relationships. Kindergarten builds early comprehension skills, phonemic awareness, and emergent reading fluency. In First and Second Grade, students strengthen phonics, vocabulary, grammar, comprehension, and writing. They progress from simple sentences and stories to structured paragraphs and early cursive writing.
Writing
Beginning with drawing and dictation in TK, students gradually develop skills to write narratives, informational pieces, and opinion texts. Kindergarten and First Grade focus on sentence formation, handwriting, and basic grammar, while Second Grade expands into structured paragraphs with main ideas, supporting details, and correct conventions.
Math
Early math is taught through hands-on experiences that build confidence and number sense. TK explores colors, shapes, patterns, and counting. Kindergarten begins operations, number writing, comparing numbers, place value, addition, subtraction, and early measurement. First and Second Grade deepen understanding of computation, problem solving, time, money, geometry, graphs, measurement, and early fractions.
Science
Students explore the world through observation, experimentation, and inquiry. TK focuses on living things, weather, machines, and the sky. Kindergarten expands into life, earth, and physical science using tools like microscopes. First and Second Grade study plants, animals, matter, energy, weather, life cycles, and how things move, all through hands-on investigations and scientific reasoning.
Social Studies
Students learn about families, communities, citizenship, and cultural diversity. TK introduces community helpers, maps, buying and selling, and how people live. Kindergarten studies holidays, national symbols, and local communities. First and Second Grade explore history, geography, rules and laws, economics, and the roles of individuals in communities past and present.
Technology
Technology enhances learning across TK–2 through iPads and interactive activities that support literacy, math, creativity, and problem-solving. Students learn digital citizenship, collaborate with peers, and begin developing research and media literacy skills. By Second Grade, students use digital tools more independently and begin using programs like Accelerated Reader.
Physical Education
Students practice balance, coordination, strength, agility, and teamwork through skills-based activities, creative movement, and games. They learn sportsmanship, cooperation, and following directions while developing healthy habits and confidence.
Library / Media
TK–2 students develop a love of reading and foundational research skills. They learn how to choose books, handle them properly, identify fiction and nonfiction, and locate information. Second Grade begins the Accelerated Reader Program, fostering independence and supporting individual reading growth.