Our Pre-K program is designed for children who are 4 years of age on or before September 1. This year before Kindergarten is an invaluable one, for it is during this year that the child develops the skills that he/she needs in preparation for a more structured classroom environment. This is the year for “readiness”
Readiness – What Does It Mean?
Readiness is the decisive factor in placing a child in the Kindergarten classroom. In order to have a successful Kindergarten experience, a child should be ready in all skill areas: SOCIAL, EMOTIONAL, PHYSICAL, COGNITIVE. Readiness skills include, but are not limited to:
Social and emotional maturity
Fine motor skills
Gross motor and coordination skills
The desire and interest to learn new concepts
The ability to listen to and follow directions
Completing a task within a given time period
Desire to participate, to ask questions
It is not only what the child has learned before entering Kindergarten, but how the child learns that is the key to a successful Kindergarten experience. It is not only letter recognition, sounds, and basic math concepts that the Kindergarten teacher looks for in entering students. It is the skills and behaviors that enable the student to learn these concepts, and to learn them without frustration.
Learning seems to come naturally and with ease when a child is interested, self-motivated and eager to learn. Our hope is that our program brings out the natural curiosity and love of learning that we know is part of each child. The child going to Kindergarten should be ready in all skill areas to handle successfully the demands of the program.
Big Day for PreK by Scholastic
Scholastic Big Day for PreK is a proven effective comprehensive early learning program that embraces children’s natural curiosity and encourages them to explore and connect to the world around them.
Only in Big Day for PreK will you find five BIG elements of success:
- Big Experiences
- Meaningful Conversations
- The Best Children’s Literature and Non-fiction
- Innovative Technology
- Comprehensive Program
Big Day for PreK is organized into eight engaging and child-friendly themes. As the year progresses, the themes in this early-learning program broaden, and children begin to understand more about the world around them. The flexible content allows prekindergarten teachers to incorporate their own favorite themes into the classroom. To read more about this program, please visit www.scholastic.com/bigday.
PRE-K DAILY SCHEDULE – CLICK HERE
Daily Sign-In Sheets
This is a very important part of our reading and writing program. Your child signs in when he/she arrives in the classroom each morning. This gives the children an opportunity to write for a purpose, and any attempt at signing in is great. Their skills will improve throughout the year.
Daily News
Children take turns reporting “news” to the class. The news is usually something the child has done, is about to do, or an event they experienced or witnessed. The News is meaningful and the child feels a sense of pride and ownership when they see their words written on the chart paper. The teacher uses the text from The Daily News to teach reading and writing skills.
Math
Our program offers exciting hands-on activities to teach counting, one-to-one correspondence, patterning, ordering, sorting, grouping, comparing, classifying, part/whole, measuring, shapes and space, and simple addition.
Science
Opportunities are provided for the children to observe, predict, interact and formulate ideas and outcomes. Science activities are included in Circle Time discussions, center activities, as well as during our Science Enrichment class. The curriculum provides a balance among the broad disciplines of life science, physical science and earth science, as well as process skills.
Social Studies
By exploring family, school and community, children learn how people live, work and get along with others. They also learn how to collectively solve problems and how people shape and are shaped by their surroundings.
Star Student
After the winter break, PreK teachers introduce the Star Student of the Week. Star Student is a fun way to get to know all of the friends in the class and to spotlight each individual child for an entire week!
The Star Student will create a poster about themselves and their family which is displayed in the hallway all week long. A Star Student bag goes home with the selected student which contains a stuffed animal and a journal. The child is asked to draw a descriptive picture of what they did with the stuffed animal over the weekend. During the week, the student will bring in their favorite treat to share with the class, their favorite book to read or to have a parent read to the class, and an estimation jar filled with the item of their choice. Star Student is an activity that is loved by everyone involved.
Birthday Backpack
The birthday backpack goes home with the student on their birthday. Each student receives birthday stickers and a pencil. The backpack also contains markers and a journal for students to draw a picture and/or write about what they did on their birthday. Finally, the birthday child is asked to take a picture of themselves with the stuffed animal found inside the backpack.
Enrichment Activities
Motor Development is offered twice per week. Spanish and Music classes are offered once per week. After lunch, we have a rotating Specials Schedule, including Drama, Computer, Yoga, and Art. Each group will go to a different Special each day, or have an enrichment activity in their classroom.