Kindergarten: Small Movements, Growing Skills
This month, students in Mrs. Helen Valiant’s and Mrs. Sabrina Haug’s Kindergarten class rotated through fine motor stations that combined hands-on practice with early math and literacy skills.
At one station, students dipped Q-tips in paint and traced letters of the alphabet. The activity helped them strengthen their pincer grasp while practicing letter formation. At another, they rolled a die and practiced subitizing, or recognizing the number of dots without counting, before filling a cut tennis ball with that many buttons. The task combined number recognition with finger strength and coordination.
Students also cut out lowercase letters, practicing scissor control, hand-eye coordination, and letter recognition. Mrs. Valiant moved between stations, checking in with students as they worked.
At the handwriting station, Mrs. Haug modeled how to form capital letters before students tried them on their own. They paid attention to letter size, placement on the lines, spacing, and legibility.
Together, the stations gave students opportunities to strengthen their hands, work with numbers, and become more familiar with letters. Talking as they worked also helped classmates get to know one another and build connections in their new classroom.
Graland Country Day School
Graland Country Day School is a private school in Denver, Colorado, serving students in preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and middle school. Founded in Denver in 1927, Graland incorporates a rich, experiential learning approach in a traditional classroom setting, emphasizing the development of globally and socially conscious leaders who excel academically.
