Pre-School Classrooms
We offer Pre-School classes for children 3 to 5 years old. We have a Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) program through the state of Florida for children four years old to better prepare them for kindergarten and academic success.
- Threes This classroom begins the pre-school experience and is designed to let our older three year olds become more independent and learn to become good citizens. We continue to reinforce potty training and good hygiene. Our program provides a rich classroom environment where children are encouraged to explore and are challenged to learn, make friends and develop their social skills. We work on strengthening their cognitive skills with fun games and providing hands-on experiences.
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- Fours This classroom continues the preschool experience with more advanced learning activities for the children. We continue to stress good eating and hygiene habits. We prepare the children by introducing additional cognitive skill development activities, as well as music & art activities.
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- VPK The Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) class is designed to prepare our children for kindergarten. The class is set up similar to what your child will experience in kindergarten. The curriculum is designed to make the transition smoother by helping children become more familiar with an organized environment. The focus is on group activities to develop social skills, such as listening, sharing, and cooperation.
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What is active participatory learning?
Our teachers are trained to use a High/Scope educational approach which is based on the belief that young children build or “construct” their knowledge of the world — they are "active learners."
This means learning is not simply a process of adults giving information to children. Rather, children discover things through direct experience with people, objects, events, and ideas. They learn best from pursuing their own interests while being actively supported and challenged by adults.
High/Scope teachers are as active and involved as children in the classroom. They thoughtfully provide materials, plan activities, and talk with children in ways that both support and challenge what children are experiencing and thinking. High/Scope calls this approach active participatory learning — a process in which teachers and children are partners. The goal of promoting active learning is reflected in every other aspect of the curriculum.
Ingredients of active learning
Active learning has five ingredients which must be present:
Materials: Abundant supplies of interesting materials are readily available to children. Materials are appealing to all the senses and are opening ended — that is, they lend themselves to being used in a variety of ways to expand children’s experiences and stimulate their thought.
Manipulation: Children handle, examine, combine, and transform materials and ideas. They make discoveries through direct hands-on and “minds-on” contact with these resources.
Choice: Children choose materials and play partners, change and build on their play ideas, and plan activities according to their interests and needs.
Child language and thought: Children describe what they are doing and understanding. They communicate verbally and nonverbally as they think about their actions and modify their thinking to take new learning into account.
Adult scaffolding: “Scaffolding” means adults both support children’s current level of thinking and challenge them. Adults encourage children’s efforts and help them extend or build on their work by talking with them about what they are doing, by joining in their play, and by helping them learn to solve problems that arise.
Voluntary Pre kindergarten or
VPK gives children a jump start by preparing them for school and enhancing their pre-reading, pre-math, language and social skills. By developing the skills children need to become strong readers and students at an early age, children are more likely to be successful in school. Our VPK classroom offers a high-quality program that includes high literacy standards, developmentally appropriate high/scope curricula, and a manageable class size. Our teachers are qualified, experienced, trained professionals.
Benefits of early education and the VPK program
- The most important growth and development in the brain happens by the age of five.
- The early years are the learning years. A child’s ability to be attentive and to follow directions emerges in the early years. Structured early learning fosters these abilities for later success in school and in life.
- Pre-K prepares children to be ready for school. Children who participate in high-quality early childhood education programs develop better language skills, score higher in school-readiness tests and have better social skills and fewer behavioral problems once they enter school. They are also better prepared for Kindergarten, especially in the areas of pre-reading, pre-math and social skills.
- Pre-K promotes a love of learning in children. Pre-K enhances what a child learns at home and instills a love of life-long learning.
