What Makes Specials Classes ... Special!

I’m sure it’s no shocker to you that my favorite class as a student was PE! I bet many of your children would also say their favorite class is PE … or art, music, science, spanish, technology, or library. That’s because those classes are special … As in specials classes!

Specials classes are such an integral part of a child’s education. They spark student interest and teach them valuable skills that many of them will use for the rest of their lives. Whether it’s playing a sport in college or recreationally with friends, singing in community choir, or creating handmade or digital flyers and presentations, specials classes help prepare students to thrive in their relationships, experiences, careers, and hobbies in their adult lives. They also help students build confidence. There might be a student who struggles with math but really excels in art. Specials offer another avenue for students to find success.

Keep reading to learn a little about each specials class offered at Oakhill to demonstrate how important each one is!

Art

Students begin going to art class starting in Kindergarten. Art classes at Oakhill focus on a variety of skills at an age appropriate level, starting with creating colors and shapes in Kindergarten, and ending with abstract expressions and perspectives in middle school. Our classes utilize a variety of media to showcase student creations, and it’s amazing to see what our students are able to produce! We also go on field trips focused on developing a deeper understanding of art specific curricular concepts. We celebrate our artists by posting their work at local venues in the area, and it’s clear we have some very talented artists at Oakhill!  

Spanish

Students begin taking Spanish in the pretoddler classroom, which is huge since that is the ideal age to start learning a foreign language! Our Spanish program starts with exposure to songs and phrases for our youngest students, progresses to learning vocabulary and verb conjugations, and builds up to speaking Spanish in the classroom regularly as well as competing in nationwide competitions. Our students also learn about Spanish speaking cultures in the Central and Southern Americas as well as historical dates and celebrations. In previous years our middle school students have even participated in a Spanish immersion field trip, which is a camp in which only Spanish is allowed to be spoken. I have been fortunate enough to visit Honduras, and it was incredible to be able to speak Spanish with native families. I am beyond excited that our students have the opportunity to learn the skills to also do something like that one day!

PE

PE begins for our youngest students in the building. Pretoddler students come to the gym and begin working on basic locomotor, fine motor, and hand eye coordination skills. Our PE department does a fantastic job building on these skills each year and preparing our students to put them all together to play and compete in various games and activities. Students are exposed to a variety of sports and wellness units focused on helping them find activities that they enjoy. The goal is to help students develop a long term enjoyment of physical activities to build relationships, learn new skills, practice sportsmanship, and stay healthy. It’s no secret that improved physical activity supports mood, focus, and confidence, and our students get PE every day starting in Kindergarten! Many times people joke about PE, as a former PE teacher I’ve heard it, but it will be hard to convince me why this isn’t the most important class in school!  

Technology/Library

Students begin visiting the library in the pretoddler classroom. Being surrounded by books and hearing stories read aloud in class is one of the best ways for students to begin learning basic literacy skills! As students progress to lower school and beyond, they are involved in tech classes that encourage them to think outside the box in a way different than in the traditional classroom. I love seeing our students highly engaged in activities that they don’t even realize are learning moments! Students also learn about digital citizenship skills that prepare them for safely navigating the online world. Our library and tech team does a great job of incorporating innovative hands-on and current tech activities, including basic coding skills, along with focused reading times. Both of those components are lifelong skills for learning and enjoyment that are much needed in today’s world! 

Music

Music begins in the pretoddler classroom with singing and instrument exploration. Whether it’s the shaky eggs, scarves, tambourines, or drums, our students get up and move to the music! All of our early childhood students, even the pretoddlers, sing in various performances throughout the year, gaining confidence and a stage presence at such a young age! I do believe our middle school students thrive talking in front of large groups of people due to their many years of experience being on stage. Our music classes focus on teaching basic concepts such as rhythm and pitch to our youngest students and building up to harmonic complexities and beyond at the middle school level. Students have the opportunity to perform in the drama, talent show, and choir throughout the year. Music classes and performances help build confidence, and many students will gain a passion for music that will follow them into adulthood.    

Science

For whatever reason many schools do not give science the attention it deserves. We are so fortunate to have specific pullout classes and dedicated teachers for science at Oakhill! Students begin taking science in the toddler classroom, and wow do they get excited about traveling to the lab! Students get to make a hypothesis, observe, and perform basic experiments starting in early childhood, and in middle school they get to compete in the Greater Kansas City Science and Engineering Fair! All of our students also have the opportunity to visit and work in the Living Lab, where many of our classes are growing vegetables … I encourage you to go check it out if you haven’t yet! Our science teachers are passionate and energetic about science (I feel like that might be a science teacher requirement), which makes our program successful and helps our students thrive. Many of our students leave Oakhill excited to be involved in science clubs and offerings in high school and beyond.  

This is a very brief description of each specials class, I could go on and on about our programs! Please reach out if you have any specific or detailed questions about the classes mentioned above. These classes are so important, and we are fortunate to offer them at Oakhill while putting an emphasis on them in our own unique way. Whether it’s starting Spanish in pretoddler, having PE every day, or having a science specific pullout class, there are many advantages to specials classes at Oakhill that you can’t get anywhere else! I am thankful our students get to participate in each of these subjects to further their knowledge, find a new passion, and learn skills that will help them live a happy life as an adult!