Kimberly Acevedo

Young Learners Program Information

Young Learners is a HuckleBerry signature program for students aged 4-6. 

It is designed to be a Transitional Kindergarten to Kindergarten experience.   

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ALL YOUNG LEARNERS MUST BE COMPLETELY POTTY TRAINED!

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Our program is both academic AND designed to address the social and emotional needs of our Young Learners.  You can expect your child to have fun all day long at Huck while they enjoy the process of learning, sharing with others, playing on our beautiful playground, becoming more in tune with their own bodies and aware of what is going on around them.

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We have split this program up so that you can use it as much or as little as it suits your needs!  Come for one class, or come for several days!   While our individual classes are split up into traditional learning disciplines, each of our classes will also include time in learning how to quiet the mind, identify our feelings and how best to give ourselves time to understand them and build healthy coping skills, respect ourselves and others, and build lasting friendships.

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We've scheduled a 30 minute lunch between classes that will be supervised at our picnic tables and on our playground.  None of our other classes will be having a break at this time, so the playground will be just for our Young Learners!   Please pack a lunch for your child.  As many of our Young Learners have peanut allergies and our youngest students are still learning to keep their hands to themselves and clean up after themselves, we ask that parents pack peanut-free lunches.

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Students can be dropped off at 9:30 and can play on our lovely playground until classes start at 9:45.

Classes end at 1:15, and students can be picked up in their classroom.​

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Tuesdays 9:45 - 11:15

Fun with Language Arts!

In this class, we will journey through the world of literature together, focusing on different genres of literature through project-based learning, and applying reading comprehension skills to our reading. We will also learn and practice phonemic awareness (the largest indicator of reading success!) and concentrate on developing a growth mindset in the process!  Throughout the class, we  will work on writing skills too by retelling stories, creating group stories, and also writing and illustrating at least one story for each student.

 

In the Fall, we will be reading many books, including these fall favorites!

Ten Apples Up On Top, The Very Last Leaf  and The Biggest Pumpkin Ever!

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To go with our reading, we'll be Apple tasting and graphing, apple printing and even making applesauce!

We'll be practicing story sequencing and summarizing / retelling, making mini-books, coloring, building, making art projects and more! 

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In the Winter, we will be reading and doing projects for our Winter themes of winter weather, hibernation, and snowflakes.  Some of our books will include Snowmen at Night, The Mitten and A Snowy Day!

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In the Spring, we will reading and doing projects for our Spring themes of plants, nature, the cycle of life and seasons!  Some of our books & projects will include Little Seed,  A Bad Case of Stripes, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and  Goodbye Winter Hello Spring!

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Tuesdays 11:45- 1:15

Art & Science Through The Seasons!

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From Fall, Winter and Spring, we will be reading about the science of what is happening around us, making art and creating hands-on activities and projects related to what we are studying.  Each month we will learn about a new theme, from what's happening to leaves around us, to what vegetables or flowers are doing around us, to what changes the animals around us are making as the seasons change!   Art & Science are the perfect pairing at these young ages, as our science observation skills become more keen, our art as well will reflect what we are seeing and learning!

 

In the fall, we’ll some of the science activities will include learning why leaves change colors, how pumpkins grow and using the scientific method to hypothesize about sink and float objects!   We'll do leaf rubbings, coloring mixing, growing our own pumpkins and so much more! 

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Wednesdays 9:45 - 11:15

Reading Adventures!

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This reading class will focus on developing early reading, writing, spelling, and phonics skills using Logic of English, Foundations A as our spine.  We will establish a solid foundation for reading with extensive multi-sensory phonemic awareness activities.  You have to be able to hear all of the different sounds in our words to read well!  Students will learn to read and write lowercase letters a-z and practice decoding short vowel words and consonant blends through multi-sensory games and activities. Young learners will read,  comprehend, and compose words and short sentences with lowercase letters and short vowels. Reading instruction is individualized to the learner through small groups and activities in the class. Each student will receive a  workbook to use in class. Some of the skills we will cover include:

• Blending and segmenting words auditorily (with no printed words)

• Identifying the initial and final sound in a word and match it to the correct single-letter phonogram

• Reading all the sounds for A-Z

• Writing the lowercase alphabet

• Reading consonant-vowel-consonant words (CVC)

• Decoding 80+ high-frequency words with some fluency, and have the tools to decode hundreds more

• Spelling short vowel words

• Reading short vowel words with consonant blends

• Reading and comprehending phrases with lowercase letters and short vowels

 

Each session will include 3 readers that students will make from their workbooks.

CVC spelling words will also be introduced. Some of the interactive games and activities scheduled are spelling word bowling, rotten egg game, whack a mole, phonogram obstacle course, spelling word ice fishing, and more! In addition, we will target reading comprehension as well as vocabulary through numerous award-winning books to engage young learners in reading, questioning, and talking about fiction and poetry.

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Wednesdays 11:45 - 1:15

The Community

During this class, we will focus on our community helpers: what they do, their job requirements, and how they help our community. We will have speakers from the community come in and share their passions and professions with us!  Learning about others helps to build empathy and understanding about people and community members we might not get to meet each day!

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In the Fall, we will begin by learning a little about a variety of community helpers that we notice such as mail carriers, garbage handlers, delivery people, doctors, nurses, teachers, etc. we will read stories and watch short informative videos about these helpers and discuss how they affect our daily lives. We will engage in a variety of fun activities from coloring to dress up to creating a miniature community.

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In the Winter, we will build on the information we learned in the first semester by talking more in depth about how each community helper fulfills the wants and needs, goods and services of a community. During this time, we will invite real community helpers to come and engage with our class so we can have authentic  discussions and see first hand how these amazing people serve us.

In the Spring, Students will spend more time researching and working independently and in small groups and select a community helper of their choice to study more in depth and create a presentation about them.

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Thursdays 9:45 - 11:15

Math Adventures!

Math Adventures is math for the youngest learners. We will engage  students in fun play-based ways to teach and learn math through hands-on math activities individually, in  small groups, and with partners.

 

We will cover number recognition / estimating and writing numbers,  counting to 20, composing and decomposing numbers, subitizing (estimating without counting), greater than vs. less than, and simple 1 digit addition and subtraction. Advanced students will work with 2 digits and larger numbers.  Students will work with manipulatives such as blocks, toys, number lines, and participate in various games and activities to boost and support learning.

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Thursdays 11:45 - 1:15

Science and Me

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All of our Young Learners love our hands-on science classes where everyday we run experiments, play games and complete activities that help us to learn and remember!  In our Science and Me class,  students  explore one of their favorite topics; themselves!  We learn how science relates to ourselves in the most basic, everyday ways. We will learn about our 5 senses, germs and getting sick, why we wash our hands and other ways to stay healthy, healthy foods.   We'll learn about anatomy by investigating what each of our major body parts does to help us everyday. We will do taste tests, simple experiments using our bodies such as push and pull, and engage in kinesthetic learning by moving our bodies.

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Fridays 9:45 - 11:15

Measurement & Cooking!

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In this MATH class, we will focus more specifically on math concepts like measuring wet and dry goods, beginning fractions, teaspoons and more!  Which containers are large enough to hold our liquids?  How many eggs should we use if we want to double our recipe?

We'll explore units of measure for liquids vs. distance.  We will also explore measurement in our classroom and outside, and explore how modern-day standardization of measurement has increased accuracy!

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Friday 11:45 - 1:15

Science Experimenters!

Science Experimenters is science with young learners in mind! We will encourage young learners to think “outside the box” and prove their thinking through hands-on and engaging learning experiences.

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In the Fall, we will be exploring earth and physical science. In these units, we will discuss the water cycle and the states of matter by using different experiments where we can watch the water cycle happen within our classroom! We will also discuss natural and man-made resources and how our planet is affected by overuse of these resources.

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In the Winter, we will build on the water cycle and study ice and how it is made as well as how it affects weather and the lifestyles of people. We will do different experiments with ice, and delve into what our lives would be like in an icy habitat! We'll learn about animals that live in cold environments and how they adapt, and what winter looks like in different places!

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In the Spring, we will learn about the life cycle of various animals, learn about different habitats, and culminate with observing the lifecycle of butterflies first hand with our very own caterpillars that will turn into  butterflies!

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