Guiding Principles To Teaching Preschool

**Early learning and development are multidimensional.Developmental domains are highly interrelated.

**Young children are capable and competent.

**Children are individuals who develop at different rates.

**Children will exhibit a range of skills and competencies in any domain of development.

**Knowledge of how children grow and develop, together with expectations that are consistent with growth patterns, are essential to develop, implement and mazimize the benefits of   educational experiences for children.

**Young children learn through active exploration of their environment in child-initiated and teacher-selected activities.

**Families are the primary caregivers and educators of young children.

(Adapted from Preschool Curriculum Framework and Benchmarks for Children in Preschool Programs.)

We use a daily Early Phonics Reading Program that encourages and teaches reading as young as 3-4 years old through letter sound recognition.  This program is approved by the IL State Board of Education, and meets the No Child Left Behind, and Response to Intervention guidelines. In addition, we have monthly Math, Science, and Theme's we work on.

We also use the program Handwriting Without Tears. This is a hands on program that breaks down how to form each letter individually to teach correct letter formation. This program is used in Elementary Schools across the country.

Everything we use is very hands on, and incorporates individual learning styles such as: Visual, Verbal, Logical, Kinesthetic, and Musical.

Research shows that information coded both visually and verbally is easiest to learn (Mayer & Sims 1994).

Our Preschool Program uses research based, developmentally appropriate teaching tools to prepare our children for success in school.

2012-2013 Preschool Themes

September

All About Me

Transportation

Math: Graphing Vehicles

October

November

Health

Thanksgiving

Math: Counting

December

January

February

April

Spring

Farm Animals

Math: Estimation

Mary Had A Little Cold

Mary had a little cold, but wouldn't stay at home..
and every where that Mary went
The cold was sure to roam.
It wandered into Molly's eyes and filled them full of tears
It jumped from there to Bobby's nose and then to Jimmy's ears.
It painted Annie's throat bright red and swelled poor Little Johnny's head
Dora had a fever and a cough put Jack to bed
The moral of this little take, is very quickly said
Mary could have saved alot of pain
with just one day in bed!

~author unknown

Supply List for 2011-2012 School Year

Label all supplies

*Back Pack

*Plastic Shoe Box w/ lid (if you haven't purchased one before)

*(10) glue sticks

*(2) bottles white school glue

*(2) 24 count crayola crayons (regular thin width)

*(2) packs dry erase markers (thin tip)

*(1) oversized shirt for art

*(2) packs thin markers

*(2) pencils

*(1) Box of Kleenex

*(2) Canisters of Antibacterial Wet Ones

*(1) Box of Gallon Size Ziploc Baggies

Optional Classroom Donation Supplies:

**White printer paper (for independent art/drawing)

**White Card Stock Paper

**Colored Construction Paper

**Sandwiche Size Zipper Baggies