Christ the Redeemer Catholic School Division has opened registration for kindergarten.
Both Good Shepard School and St. Mary's School in Okotoks will be offering the program — which allows parents to choose whether they send their child to school for two days or five days per week.
Christine Killam, a kindergarten teacher at Good Shepard School, said both the part-time and full-time programs give children the chance to expand their horizons.
"They're both amazing programs and the curriculum is really great for our kindergarten students," she said.
Registration is open to both Catholic and non-Catholic students and focuses on active learning, skill development and relationships.
Killam also teaches French Immersion at Good Shepard, and said she notices a huge difference in the language development of her students when they are in the classroom full-time. She also added that it gives kids the chance to socialize during a time when that can be difficult.
"It increases their oral language, they have more exposure to their second language," she said. "Especially with the pandemic, it's a great opportunity for kids to develop their social skills, work with other kids, and have some fun in their lives."
Nature-based learning is a large part of the program, according to Killam, who said every school day begins with taking the children outside. Attending school full-time gives students more time to learn about the outdoors and explore parks throughout the community, she said.
"The kids love that, they know we're going outside," she said. "We might play a nature game, we often just observe the nature around us, what's changing. We observe the sunrise, the changes in the snow, they love that."
They come ready to tell me what they've already noticed about the day."
Although her students love being outside, Killam said they seem to truly enjoy everything they learn — from colours to numbers and letters and sounds.
"When you're five everything is kind of exciting," she said.
Kindergarten teachers in the division meet regularly, according to Killam, and share what they are doing with their students and how to improve their programming.
Attending school five days a week gives students more time to be mathematicians, scientists and artists and take as much time as needed to learn something new, Killam said.
A child must turn five by Dec. 31, 2022, to qualify for registration.
For more information about CTR's kindergarten programs or to register visit redeemer.ab.ca/kindergarten.
