K-5th Grade Prep at The Palm Desert Learning Tree Center

Get Your Child Ready for Elementary School

Elementary school is a fun and challenging time for your child. It's a time to build friendships and discover new subjects and special interests.

The elementary school curriculum at The Palm Desert Learning Tree Center is usually a general education that exposes your child to the arts, technology, music, math, and literature, inclusive of phonics, spelling, handwriting and language, science, social studies, and physical education. 

As he or she learns and is being taught the various subjects, he or she will find out the subjects that stimulate him or her the most and continue to be challenged throughout their educational experience at The Palm Desert Learning Tree Center.

In the elementary school, inclusive of kindergarten through fifth grades, students will learn core subjects and develop fundamental skills. We've chosen some new materials for this school year which we're very excited about. The Abeka curriculum is now being used in mathematics, phonics, language arts, and social studies. To learn more about our school and schedule a FREE tour, please contact us.

In The Palm Desert Learning Tree Center Classroom

We use the following curriculum in kindergarten:

• Letters and Sounds helps children learn to review vowel and consonant sounds, blends, words with one and two vowels and special sounds, and sentence comprehension.
• The Kindergarten Writing Tablet helps children practice the letters of the alphabet.
• The mathematics textbook is called Number Skills Grade K. It reinforces number concepts and formation through 100, simple addition and subtraction combinations, telling time, working with money, and number sequence words.
• Social Studies Grade K focuses on fun activities and coloring pages while teaching about community helpers, America, and children of 10 different countries. Holidays and special event days are also included in the social studies program.
• Supplementary teaching visuals are also used in the kindergarten classroom, including America: Our Great Country Visuals, Children of the World Visuals, Community Helpers Visuals, Health and Safety Visuals, Character Development Visuals, and Language Enrichment Cards.

Elementary Reading and Spelling

The Scott Foresman Publishing Company is used for our Reading and Spelling program:

• Reading builds successful readers by providing direct, systematic, and research-based instruction that fully aligns with national and state standards. The effective instructional plan includes reading, phonics, oral language, and writing every day at every grade level, kindergarten through grade 5.
• D'Nealian Handwriting improves penmanship and basic handwriting skills with a D'Nealian handbook and charts. Children improve handwriting skills with the worksheets in these manuscript and cursive workbooks through repetition and well-calculated daily drills.
• Everyday Spelling is an exciting, interactive way for children to practice spelling words and build language skills on a daily basis. Included are pages on writing and proofreading capabilities, vocabulary practice, alphabetical order, sentence writing, and phonics-based word lists, along with stories and teaching strategies.

Each child starts out in kindergarten with one grade higher than they're presently in and this process continues through the upper grades. Spelling for kindergarten starts in January of the present school year with a first-grade spelling book.

Elementary Science Concepts

Harcourt School Publishers is used in our science program, which is the California-adopted version that offers students exciting and accessible standards-based lessons. Engaging activities promote curiosity and foster the development of scientific inquiry skills.

Through a consistent and structured learning cycle, students confidently build upon their experiences to develop a lifelong understanding of science concepts. Science workbooks include process skills practice, lesson concepts and review assessments, vocabulary review, and cards.

Classroom Technology

Our technology curriculum is academically based. Our students learn keyboarding, computer functionality, computer terminology, and the basics of the Internet. 

Our computer lab is equipped with 11 new Dell computers and is manned by an instructor who is a Microsoft-certified professional. Our software library is extensive and continually growing.

Students will learn and work with educational programs and real-world software, such as Microsoft Office. All students, kindergarten prep through 5th grade, attend computer lab each week. 

In addition, specialized after-school computer classes are offered on a regular basis including a student-produced school newspaper, yearbook cover design, science fair project assistance, and graphic design.

• Academic-based curriculum
• Microsoft-certified instructor
• Kindergarten prep through 5th grade
• After-school classes offered

• Kindergarten — Your child will be able to understand basic computer functions, be introduced to computer terminology, be able to use a computer mouse with a developmentally appropriate degree of coordination, be able to find all numeric keys on the keyboard, be able to find most alphabet keys on the keyboard, be able to open and close Windows files, know how to print an item in a standard Windows application, and be able to run appropriate grade-level programs.
  
• First and Second Grades — Your child will be able to demonstrate a knowledge of basic computer parts and terms, be comfortable with and use basic computer terminology, show intermediate to advanced mouse coordination, locate all alphanumeric keys on the keyboard, be able to open and close Windows files, know how to print any item from a Windows application, integrate computer usage into a special project or report, and be able to run appropriate grade-level programs.
  
• Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grades — Your child will be able to understand basic and intermediate computer functions, be comfortable with and use basic computer terminology, be able to perform formal keyboarding, demonstrate basic word processing skills, find and use all keys on a keyboard, open, close and resize Windows programs, use a standard mouse with ease, use technology as a research tool, be able to run appropriate grade level programs, integrate the computer as a learning tool in at least one special project or report, be able to set up a mouse and printer, and have an understanding of virus protection.