Kindergarten
More Time, More Growth
Kindergarten is offered five full days per week. Parents can choose a four-day (M-Th) or five-day program. Students must be five years old by September 1 to be eligible for admission. In addition, prospective students will complete a Kindergarten readiness assessment to determine the best classroom placement.
Lancaster Mennonite’s full-day Kindergarten program balances an academically rigorous literacy and math program with built-in time for play-based learning and imaginative play. Our kindergartners learn math by counting, measuring, comparing and discovering patterns in everyday life through hands-on activities and games. They develop literacy through a systematic, sequential program of foundational skills that leads to meaningful comprehension of level-appropriate texts.
In addition, kindergartners engage with concepts in science and social studies that connect to their learning in math and language arts while providing the opportunity to use design thinking and the MakerSpace area.
LM now offers “Forest School Fridays” for Kindergarten English classes to take their learning outdoors to explore nature, build knowledge of and appreciation for God’s creation, and engage in child-led play. Forest School is a concept encouraging routine, child-led outdoor learning experiences to help build resilience, improve social skills and mental health, and connect to nature.
In every aspect of learning, students grow cognitively and socially so they are prepared for future success.
PASSIONATE, CARING TEACHERS
Our dedicated teachers equip students to grow, and also to make a positive impact on the world. Teachers are certified and have a bachelors or masters degree.
The student-teacher relationship is at the heart of our programming since their interactions and development of meaningful relationships helps to foster an educational climate that puts students at the center of all that we do.
All LM kindergarten children receive:
- Bible & Faith formation
- Language Arts
- Mathematics
- Science
- Social Studies
- Handwriting
- Art & MakerSpace
- Music
- Library
- Forest School Fridays
- Physical Education
- Recess
- Free Play
- Chapel
- Busing Options (Free Public & LM Paid Operated Routes Available)
VALUES-BASED & RESTORATIVE PRACTICES
Reflecting our faith and core values, teachers create a nurturing environment in which young children know that they are loved by God and are valuable members of a community. Students are encouraged to follow the model of Jesus as a way to live so that they love their neighbors and seek to be peacemakers. LM strives to incorporate restorative practices in our classrooms and school so that even young children can learn how to build and strengthen relationships. Students encounter Jesus as the center of our faith, community as the center of our life and reconciliation as the center of our work.
STEAM Curriculum
Our STEAM program seeks to make connections between science, technology, engineering, art and math so that students can collaborate and apply learning to real-world problems.
Students at all grade levels walk through the design-thinking steps of defining, inventing, creating, and testing projects that connect with their class content in Math, Science, Writing and Social Studies. Our MakerSpace program has a specific course that walks students through experimenting and hands-on learning. In addition, students have the opportunity to use our 95 acre campus as an outdoor classroom, and for exploration and application of content learning.
Spanish Immersion Program
The Spanish Immersion program enables students to develop proficiency in speaking, listening, reading, and writing in both Spanish and English while meeting the same academic standards as other LM students. The program begins in Kindergarten and continues through High School. This is an optional track for students beginning in kindergarten.