To provide a wide range of Christian experiences for the purpose of:

¨ Stimulating the child’s interest in the world.

¨ Motivating the child to seek information and understanding.

¨ Providing a basis for the development of concepts.

¨ Developing the cognitive processes appropriate to the
   preschool child, including communication skills.

To help the child develop a sense of self-worth and well-being.

To accustom the child to a varied social environment.

To strengthen the emotional and physical development of the child.

To grow in the knowledge and understanding of God’s love and grace.

 

NEW for the 2008-2009 school year « Early morning drop off available       8:00 am Monday - Friday « Extended day offered 4 days a week       Monday - Thursday until 2:15 pm « 2-day 3 years old class on Monday and Wednesday    « 4 day pre-K class running from 9:00 am - 2:15 pm       with the addition of the art program    Do you have to get to work before 9 am?  Do you need some extra time in the afternoon?  Take advantage of our new offerings for the 2008-2009 school year when you register!

The FTO program serves two and three year old students.  We find that the FTO class is the first school experience for most of the students enrolled in this program.  Our program focuses on helping the children feel safe, secure and confident.  We encourage the children to interact positively with their classmates, to share and to take turns in their group play.  The children are asked to cooperate with teachers and follow directions.

Academic skills are taught through play, music and children’s literature.  Physical development is enhanced through an indoor play area with bikes and climbing toys, as well as a large outdoor play area.  Spiritual growth is nurtured through prayers, songs and stories.  There is a maximum of ten students in our FTO class, staffed with two teachers.

Two Day 3-Years Old Program

This program is for younger three year olds and, for many of our students, it is their first preschool experience.  Our emphasis is on learning how to interact positively with other children as individuals and in a group.  In addition, introductory academic skills are taught through thematic units.  Beginning skills such as writing names, cutting, coloring and pencil manipulation, recognizing letters, numerals, colors, shapes, understanding relational words, and one to one counting are reinforced weekly through classroom activities.  Social skills are also an integral part of our curriculum.  This program focuses on insuring that the children feel safe while away from their parents and on making school a warm, positive, and nurturing environment.

Three-Day 3 & 4 Years Old Program

The primary focus of this program is to encourage good social behavior and to reinforce some basic primary cognitive, small muscle, and large motor skills.  Through interactive play, crafts, games, and music, we work on skills such as counting one to one, colors, shapes, name recognition, use of scissors, letter and number recognition, and, eventually, the printing of names.  For some children this is their first school experience so we often spend a considerable amount of time helping them to adjust and become comfortable in the classroom environment.  Because we see a wide range of development among the children, we are flexible in our curriculum in order to accommodate all skill levels.

This class is for children who are four or five years old, most of whom have had prior preschool experience.  We work on many skills, including those skills that prepare children for kindergarten.  These include social skills such as sharing, taking turns, sitting quietly at circle time and walking down the hall quietly without running.  We work on both fine and large motor skills.  The children will focus on academics such as letter recognition, including a basic introduction to both writing letters and learning their sounds.  Math skills will include recognizing and writing shapes and numbers, as well as counting.  Through crafts we will learn how to hold scissors correctly, cut on lines, color carefully and make creative choices.  Through play we will teach the children how to make good choices while involved with others. We participate in a wide variety of enrichment activities such as weekly Music, Library, Religious Education and Large Motor programs.  These students may go on to kindergarten or may choose to attend the Four Day Pre-Kindergarten class the following year.

This class is for children who are four or five years old, most of whom have had prior preschool experience.  We work on skills that will help prepare the children for kindergarten.  Our schedule includes working on reading readiness skills.  We study a letter of the week and practice writing the letter and making its sound.  We also read stories about the letter and reinforce this program through hand-on activities and arts and crafts projects.  The children will work on math skills and will practice counting and writing the numbers 1-20.

Dramatic play is an important part of our day as it helps the children problem solve and learn to get along with others.  Science provides the children a chance to explore and investigate our world via hands-on experiments and observations.  We also participate in Large Motor, Music, Library and Bible Story programs. The children will have a special day or party each month.  When the children graduate from this program, they will be prepared to start kindergarten.

Four-Day 4 & 5 Years Old Program with Art Enrichment

Our program is a fantastic opportunity for academic and social growth. We offer a comprehensive curriculum, as described above, in a positive, encouraging, relaxed setting including many thematic studies, which are explored across multiple subject areas.  With our extended afternoon time we are able to include an enlightening and enriching “Artist of the Month” program.  Students will enjoy several program-related field trips in the community and special cooking days.  All of these activities are accomplished while maintaining a very active environment in which “play” has an integral role in developing students’ social and emotional skills.