Early Learning Center - Age 3 Through Kindergarten |
||||||||
|
|
The Early Learning Center Program serves children in the Early Childhood Class through Kindergarten. The program is founded on premise that young children should be taught in developmentally appropriate ways through a variety of experiences and methods. Young children learn best through play, exploration, and social interaction. Young children possess a natural curiosity about the world around them and in turn, this curiosity invites learning. During these early years, the level of comprehension and mastery is wide-ranged.
Language Arts Language development is one of the most important aspects of the Early Learning program. Language development is integrated in all activities throughout the day. The focus is on assisting the child in developing skills to meet the following goals:
Math
Science The show and tell time as well as circle time centers around science and social studies concepts. Science topics may include, but are not limited to: 
Social Studies Social Studies topics may include, but are not limited to:
Specials Students in the Early Childhood class have special teachers for library, music, and physical education. All special teachers are certified in the content they teach. Art for the Early Childhood student is an introduction to art materials with an emphasis on process rather than product. Classroom teachers offer opportunities for hands-on art exploration through a variety of art media as a way to reinforce and enhance units of study.
Language Arts The Pre-K classroom and curriculum are language rich. Language development is integrated in all activities throughout the day and assessed on an ongoing basis. The focus is on assisting the child in developing skills to meet the following goals:
Math
Science The show and tell time, as well as circle time, highlights science and social studies concepts. Scientific skills are introduced through hands-on experiments. Guests are invited to speak to the class to enrich science units, and Middle School and Upper School students provide help with experiments throughout the year. Field trips may be added when appropriate and available to enrich science exploration. Science topics may include, but are not limited to: 
Social Studies Social studies topics are introduced in units and are reinforced with daily classroom activities related to the topics. Parents, community guests, and older students are invited to visit the classroom to enrich units of study. Units at this level are designed to further the concept that a child is part of, and a contributing member of, a family and the larger community. Social Studies topics may include, but are not limited to:
Specials Students in the Pre-K classes have special teachers for library, music, and physical education. All special teachers are certified in the content they teach. Art for the Pre-K student is an introduction to art materials with an emphasis on process rather than product. Classroom teachers offer opportunities for hands-on art exploration through a variety of art media as a way to reinforce and enhance units of study.
Language Arts
The Heritage School uses the Open Court Collections for Young Scholars series as a basal series for reading instruction from Pre-K through 4th grade. At the kindergarten level, the series develops print and phonemic awareness, acquaints the child with how the alphabet works, presents critical strategies, and builds on story structure. Classroom teachers use little books, pocket chart games, big books, first-step stories, posters, songs, and games as instructional tools. Math The Heritage School uses the Sadlier-Oxford Progress in mathematics from Kindergarten through fourth grade. Mathematical concepts at the kindergarten level are introduced to form a foundation for building on specific mathematic operations. Many of the concepts introduced in the Early Childhood and Pre-K years are mastered in the Kindergarten year. Students begin to make connections between written problems and conceptual thinking. Manipulatives are utilized to provide concrete reinforcement of abstract concepts. A specific goal of math at this level is to develop a correlation between real world experiences and math on a page. The focus at the kindergarten level is on assisting the child in developing skills to meet the following goals:
Science Social Studies Social studies activities in Kindergarten also correlate with the Open Court units. Kindergarten students discuss a wide range of topics, participate in holiday activities, and practice their skills working with each other. Specials Students in Kindergarten have special teachers for art, French, library, music, and physical education.
|
|
||||||
The Early Childhood Class is an introduction to an organized school day with an opportunity to explore, both through guided instruction with the classroom teacher and through free play. Circle time and other instructional times with the teachers are devoted to a variety of interactive discussions, rhythmical activities, poems, finger plays, music, and explorations of topics in math, science, and social studies. Free play time provides a child with the opportunity to develop academic and social skills through a wide variety of choices utilizing math manipulatives, art materials, building centers, and home centers. The EC student should be able to:
Mathematical concepts are introduced at the Early Childhood level. These same concepts will be repeated at levels beyond Early Childhood to achieve mastery. The goal of math is to tap into and develop a child’s curiosity about numbers. Concepts introduced at the Early Learning level are:
The Prekindergarten program builds on a child’s existing concepts about the world around him. PK class time is divided between free exploration (utilizing centers with math manipulatives, art activities, for developing fine motor skills, puzzles, building materials and home activities) and direct interactive instruction, which may be one-on-one, in small groups, or in the large group.
Mathematical concepts are introduced at the Prekindergarten level. These same concepts will be repeated at levels beyond Prekindergarten to foster mastery. The goal of math is to tap into and develop a child’s curiosity about numbers. The focus is on assisting the child in developing skills to meet the following goals:
The Kindergarten program is grounded in the premise that children learn best through a variety of instructional and experiential methods. Kindergarten is the bridge between preschool and the more formal program of the elementary years. Material is introduced for review and mastery based on preschool experiences, and the groundwork is laid on which the lower school years will build. The kindergarten student is taught in both large and small groups and through direct instruction by the classroom teacher. Individual instruction is also given when warranted. Additionally, the kindergarten student works in centers that foster the development and mastery of skills in math, art, language, and fine and gross motor abilities. This is a year in which a child needs to explore as well as develop a need to know. It is a year in which a child learns significantly through play as well as through formal instruction. The kindergarten student should be able to: 
The Kindergarten classroom and curriculum form the basis for formal language instruction and mechanics. Language development is integrated in all activities throughout the day and assessed on an ongoing basis. A wide range of skills is encompassed under the language arts heading, all of which reflect the kindergarten student’s emerging need for and usage of communication skills. The skills covered may be categorized as follows: 
The kindergarten science program correlates with the seasons, holidays and the Open Court units. The students explore timemly topics of interest and topics highlighted in publications such as National Geographic Young Explorer. Students are presented with the scientific concepts—observe, classify, compare, contrast, describe, and hypothesize—and are encouraged to draw conclusions through hands-on experimentation. 