Learning to Read—and Loving It!

There’s a lot of excitement in Kindergarten at St. John this year—and it’s not just because of recess!

This year, St. John adopted a new reading curriculum designed to give our students across all grades a strong foundation in literacy while making the process of learning to read engaging and fun. Our Kindergarten students are already enjoying the benefits of the new Superkids curriculum, including a special tradition of meeting a new character each week.

Last week, our Kindergarten students met Mya, the character associated with the letter M. Each Superkid has a name and interests connected to a particular letter, helping students learn the letter’s shape and sound in a way that is memorable and relatable. To celebrate each new character, students bring a show-and-tell item that begins with the same letter. Learning the letter M became much more meaningful when students could share their own M words and objects with their classmates!

That kind of hands-on excitement is a hallmark of the Superkids curriculum. It incorporates phonemic awareness, spelling, handwriting, and vocabulary into students’ daily routines, while relatable characters help children make connections between phonics, comprehension, and the world around them. When students are excited to meet the next character, they are also excited to practice the skills that will help them become confident readers.

And there’s a lot more happening behind the scenes than fun characters and show-and-tell.

St. John was able to purchase this new reading curriculum through a substantial grant from the Lilly Endowment, with the grant funding almost the entire investment of more than $60,000. This investment provided new textbooks, teacher training, and additional instructional materials designed to align with the Science of Reading, an evidence-based approach to literacy instruction and a requirement of the Indiana Department of Education.

The curriculum is heavily phonics-based and intentionally integrates reading, writing, spelling, and handwriting. Research supporting the Science of Reading indicates that this approach can strengthen students’ reading abilities across grade levels by providing them with the foundational skills they need to become successful, independent readers.

Those foundational skills begin early. When young students are actively engaged in literacy, they are building the cognitive, linguistic, and social-emotional skills that support learning throughout their lives.

At St. John, we believe that strong academics and joyful learning go hand in hand. We are grateful for the opportunity to make this significant investment in our students and teachers—and we are so excited to see where this new curriculum takes our Eagles!

For our Kindergarten students, the journey is already underway. And if meeting Mya is any indication, learning to read is going to be a lot of fun!