Our Curriculum


Our Kindergarten is based in child-led learning. We incorporate an anti-bias and Reggio inspired curriculum, social-emotional learning, environmental stewardship, nature play, and give our kindergarteners the opportunity to explore nature, art, and community building, in deep, meaningful ways. Some ways we incorporate this curriculum:
​
  • Field trips:  Our walking trips root the children deeper into the larger community, and give many opportunities for emergent math and literacy activities. Some places we explore in the neighborhood are: Wednesday Farmer’s Market, Big City Small World Bakery, Hands On Museum, The People’s Food Co-op and more!

  • Hikes and Nature Walk:  Our nature walks are a wonderful part of children’s Kindergarten experience. We spend time freely exploring, weaving the natural world into our projects, and engaging in intentional stewardship projects.

  • Social-Emotional Learning: The Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning defines it as "the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions." At Manzanitas we help children learn these skills through positive guidance discipline techniques, modeling compassion and respect, and helping children learn the words they need to express their needs and desires. Service learning projects are implemented in our curriculum at various points in the year as an opportunity to deepen our commitment to anti-bias education. 

Our Teacher
My name is Paola Lopez and I am from El Paso, Texas. I grew up on the border city of Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico and I am a native Spanish speaker. I earned my bachelor’s degree in elementary bilingual education from the University of Texas at El Paso. I have been working with children for 7 years. I discovered my passion for teaching young children while volunteering at a child development lab during high school. I co-taught kindergarten while in college and after graduating became a second grade teacher. I have taught fifth and sixth grade since then and have loved the wonders and challenges of all the different grade levels. A similarity I have found among all grade levels is that, no matter the age group, children have an innate love of learning and it is our job as teachers to make sure we feed that love and guide their expanding knowledge. Besides teaching I also love traveling, cooking, and spending time with my family. ​

Our History
2017-2018 will be our third school year as a Kindergarten immersion program. We expanded our programming in 2015 when a group of preschool families rallied together to ask for extended immersion options. We now have our K-1 class and our after school immersion classes for elementary age kids.