Early Childhood Education

Pre-Kindergarten

Pre-kindergarten uses a multi-sensory approach to learning. Our program balances socialization with academic readiness. Our Pre-kindergarten offers an enriching, developmentally appropriate program, in a safe, encouraging, and exciting environment.

Children work with specialists in Spanish, physical education, music, computers and the library. Classroom learning includes language arts, writing, mathematics, science and social studies fundamentals integrated with hands-on experiences using all learning modalities.

Because the Pre-K curriculum uses a multi-sensory approach to learning, lessons are designed to appeal to auditory, visual and kinesthetic learners. Numerous opportunities are provided for experimentation with a variety of materials. Various disciplines of the curriculum are interrelated. For example, during a unit on the letter "K", koalas and kangaroos (science) are presented. Basic facts about Australia (social studies) are introduced. The children graph their favorite foods beginning with the letter "K" and make a fruit salad using kiwi (math). Throughout this unit, literature about Australia and books emphasizing "K", such as Katy-No-Pockets are read (language arts).

Each day in the Pre-K includes outdoor play, art experiences, snacks, quiet times, and lots of fun!

top

Kindergarten

The Kindergarten program at I.C.S. extends the enriching and nurturing environment of the Pre-K into a full-day program. At the kindergarten level the academic opportunities expand to include extensive readiness experiences in reading, writing, mathematics, and "thinking skills." The intention of our "thinking skills" program is to help students develop comprehension and gain needed information to draw conclusions. They learn to distinguish between reality and fantasy, predict outcomes and make educated guesses.

In language arts and reading readiness students move from recognizing and naming a letter, to printing the capital and small letters, to distinguishing letter sounds (phonemic awareness), to blending these sounds orally to create a word. We introduce rhyming words and syllabication. We also teach high frequency sight words.

The writing program introduces the concept that ideas can be conveyed to paper through words and pictures. Phonetic spellings are used to represent words. We introduce journal writing.

The mathematics program in kindergarten introduces numbers, place value and numeration. We prepare students for the operations of addition and subtraction. We make mathematical applications in measurement, counting, estimation, and money value. Beginning concepts in geometry and probability and statistics are introduced.

All the special subjects introduced in Pre-K, along with art, are a part of each kindergarten school day. We integrate these programs with social studies and science. Field trips, cultural arts programs, hands-on activities and lots of indoor and outdoor play are part of the full and exciting life of a kindergartener.

top