Curriculum Goals
Our goal is to establish a healthy balance between play, spirituality, and academics in a structured Christian environment. Socialization is a high priority. We want to teach your child important skills such as critical thinking, verbal communication, peer relations, respect, and a cooperative attitude. We will also help your child develop in several other areas: spirituality, visual arts, fine arts, cognitive gross and fine motor skills, and emotional development.
Broad goals for each class are:
One-Year-Olds- one-year-old to two years old: Art, reading books and telling stories, listening and dancing to music, singing songs, playing simple games and activities, developing social and motor skills, enhancing verbal skills, and beginning to introduce colors.
Two-Year-Olds- two years old to three years old: Counting, introducing the ABCs, introducing numbers and counting, enhancing verbal and communication skills, developing gross motor skills, problem-solving and reasoning skills, introducing simple basic shapes, developing good listening skills, following simple directions, playing games, enhancing memory and recall.
Three-Year-Olds- three years old to four years olds: Recognize ABCs, numbers, and first and last names; introduction to ABC sounds, counting items, developing fine motor skills (cutting, puzzles, beads, eye/hand coordination), problem solving and reasoning skills, recognize shapes, work with patterns, learn the days of the week and months of the year, introduction to writing first name, learning opposites, developing good listening skills and following more complex directions, developing good memory and recall skills (example: street address, phone numbers, nursery rhymes) and playing more complex games.
Animated Literacy Program
In the 2004-2005 school year, the preschool implemented a new program which is a great benefit to the three and four-year-old students. As an introduction to phonemic awareness, we implemented the Animated Literacy Program – each alphabet character and sound is introduced in association with suggested literature that the teacher reads aloud to the students. After the introduction of each alphabet character, the students learn to perform a gesture from the character’s story while producing the character’s sound.
Four Year Olds (Pre-Kindergarten Class):
The Pre-K class will be using the curriculum Handwriting Without Tears. The program is a simple, developmentally based method that makes handwriting easy to teach and easy to learn. Many of the activities are multi-sensory and are planned to appeal to all learning styles and preferences. These activities alleviate boredom, enhance attention, and make learning more fun!
A division of Handwriting Without Tears is a program called Get Set for School Readiness curriculum. It uses a developmental approach that is based on the most relevant research about how children learn best. There are three parts to this curriculum: 1. Reading and Writing, 2. Numbers and Math, 3. Language and Literacy. This program incorporates teaching strategies, such as using music and movement, and multisensory manipulatives to build fine and gross motor skills. The reading and writing lessons teach body awareness, cooperation, taking turns, listening, crayon grip, drawing, building, letter and number recognition, capital letter and number formation. The numbers and math lessons teach counting, comparisons, spatial awareness, patterning, sequencing, matching, sorting, problem-solving, and geometry. The language and literacy lessons teach syllables, names, and sounds of letters, words linked to content, new words in spoken language, how to respond to simple questions, and how to have discussions and share ideas.
During this Pre-K year, your child will have many opportunities for hands-on science to explore their environment. At this age, children love to express their individuality through types of music, movement, and drama. Students will have the opportunity to share what they have learned through drawings, constructions, and discussions of more complex activities. To prepare the child for kindergarten readiness, we will also concentrate on developing self-help skills and the ability to complete tasks independently. The students will develop social awareness and respect for others. Most importantly, a strong effort will be made to help each child develop self-discipline and follow classroom rules and routines. Each child will take responsibility for their choices.
MPCP Resource Experiences
Each preschool classroom teacher is responsible for introducing the child to new areas of learning that are developmentally appropriate for their age group. The goal of the resource program at MPCP is to engage the students in activities that will help them to further explore the concepts that they are learning in class by exposing each child to a variety of experiences. The resource program will include, but is not limited to:
Art
Art class provides the opportunity to encourage imagination and self-expression. Children will be introduced to, and experiment with a variety of materials with different physical and sensory qualities (form, texture, smell, etc.) They will continue to develop the ability to follow instructions, strengthen eye and hand coordination, and boost creativity, focus, confidence, and critical thinking.
STEM Discovery
Our STEM (Science, Math, Engineering, and Technology) time together will allow students to be investigators and inventors while learning basic engineering and technology concepts. We will spend time exploring nature and gaining an appreciation for all of God's creatures. These lessons will begin with "what" and "why" and our preschoolers will leave knowing "how" many things in their world work. We are adding the Growing Up Wild program to the Discovery class this year. Activities from this unique curriculum will enable our students to strengthen their connection to God's beautiful, natural world.
Chapel
A short message, review of the Bible memory verse, and singing will be offered each week in the sanctuary for all 3 and 4-year-olds.