At St. James, we are committed to giving our students learning experiences that build confidence, curiosity, and strong foundational skills. One of the tools we use to support early literacy, math readiness, and social‑emotional growth is Khan Academy Kids, a free, research‑based learning program designed specifically for young children.

Khan Academy Kids helps us create a joyful, developmentally appropriate learning environment where students can explore at their own pace while practicing essential skills. The activities are hands‑on, engaging, and aligned with early childhood standards, making them a powerful supplement to our classroom instruction.

Here are a few reasons we use Khan Academy Kids with our students:

• Strong early literacy practice — Children build phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension through stories, songs, and interactive reading games.

• Foundational math development — Counting, shapes, patterns, and problem‑solving are introduced in playful, age‑appropriate ways.

• Social‑emotional learning — Lessons help children practice empathy, self‑regulation, and confidence.

• Safe and ad‑free environment — The platform is completely free, contains no ads, and protects student privacy.

• Independent learning skills — Students learn to navigate simple tasks, make choices, and celebrate their progress.

What a beautiful morning we had celebrating all the important grownups in our lives. Thank you for coming to enjoy breakfast with us.

A special thank you to everyone who brought food/contributed money, etc., and to our wonderful room moms for making everything beautiful!

The students had to match lowercase bees to uppercase flowers. Alphabet matching is an early literacy activity designed to help young learners recognize the uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet - a key skill for learning to read.

Counting is the foundation for many math skills, and it is one of the first math concepts children learn. This math activity provided practice in number recognition and counting to help children develop these fundamental abilities.

We will be eating our way through the alphabet so stay tuned to see all the foods we will sample! A big thank you to Evelyn, and Mrs. Lindsey, for providing the treats.

From digging and planting to watering and weeding, a study of gardening offers countless opportunities for hands-on exploration in a medium many children already love—dirt! St. James Pre-K was fortunate to welcome two Master Gardeners from the Miller County Red Dirt Master Gardeners on Friday morning for an exciting time of getting our hands dirty and planting together. We are looking forward to watching our herbs and vegetables grow!

With weekly journals, children learn to find their voice, communicate openly, gain confidence, and become more comfortable expressing themselves.

Our pre-k learners had an exciting week as they were introduced to Dash and Dot, two child‑friendly robots designed to spark curiosity and build early problem‑solving skills. The classroom was full of smiles as students discovered that robots can move, light up, make sounds, and respond to simple commands.

Hands-On Exploration

Students spent time experimenting with how the robots work. They learned:

• Dash can drive, spin, light up, and react to sound

• Block‑based coding lets them drag and drop simple commands

• Cause‑and‑effect helps them understand “When I do this, the robot does that”

• Sequencing teaches that steps must be in the right order

Their discoveries were filled with excitement—every button press and robot movement became a moment of learning.

Building Early Programming Skills

Even at this young age, children are ready to explore the foundations of programming. Through playful experimentation, they practiced:

• Following steps and instructions

• Trying again when something didn’t work the first time

• Working together to solve small challenges

• Building confidence as creators and problem‑solvers

These early experiences help strengthen logic, persistence, and creativity—skills that support learning across all subjects.

The students were able to bring their favorite snack item, and we mixed it all together to make the ultimate friendship snack mix. What a fun way to end the week!

Mrs. Denise asked our class to help spread gravel into some much needed areas on our playground. The children were very eager to give her their helping hands!

To conclude our gardening study, we took a field trip to H&N. During our visit, we toured the nursery and learned about the differences between perennials and annuals. We also explored how to identify plants with thorns and discussed why some plants have them. The children were introduced to the idea that certain plants can be toxic or poisonous to people and animals.

One of the highlights of our trip was planting our very own strawberry plants while wearing our gardening gloves. We learned that strawberry plants need plenty of sunlight, fresh air, and water to grow.

A big thank you to H&N for providing our Pre-K classes with such a special and memorable hands-on learning experience!

From digging and planting to watering and weeding, a study of gardening offers countless opportunities for hands-on exploration in a medium many children already love—dirt! St. James Pre-K was fortunate to welcome three Master Gardeners from the Miller County Red Dirt Master Gardeners on Friday afternoon for an exciting time of getting our hands dirty and planting together. We are looking forward to watching our herbs and vegetables grow!