Curriculum: Imitation is a strong teacher!
, Our staff provides parents and families with activities, ideas, and resources useful in strengthening their child’s skills by building a foundation of a lifelong desire to learn. Parents and teachers meet informally day to day and formally twice yearly to allow discussion regarding each student’s progress through assessments that show growth and development. We utilize individual approaches that include positive peer, teacher and community interactions. In addition to our educational curriculum which includes Get Set for School curriculum, Zoo=phonics and Handwriting Without Tears, our children engage in a number of finger plays, songs and sharing to improve verbal skills. Children develop pro-social skills and expressive language through class meetings and the use of role playing, puppetry, pictures, tapes, and books to practice conflict resolution. Numerous opportunities of exploration through choice time guides children to investigate manipulative resources including blocks, literacy materials and thematic play. Daily art activities increase fine motor skills, spatial relations as well as knowledge of colors and shapes through a wide variety of media. An abundance of creative movement, music, games and outdoor playground activities help to expand gross motor development.
Simple Strategies for Creating Strong Readers
*Talk with your child to help them learn to speak & understand the meaning of words. Spend as much time listening to your child as you do talking with them. Describe objects as you play and do daily activities. A large vocabulary gives a child a great head start as they enter school.
*The use of sounds, songs, gestures and words that rhyme help your child learn about language and its many uses. Children need to hear language from a human being, not the noise from a television.
*Read to your child daily even if it’s the same favorite books over and over. Reading and playing with books is a wonderful way to spend time together. Hearing words over and over helps them become familiar and is one of the best ways to learn.
*Point out printed words in your home and other places like the grocery store. Discuss new words to expand their vocabulary and ask about the pictures and what is happening in the story.
*Take children’s books and writing materials with you whenever you leave home. This gives them fun activities to entertain and occupy themselves while traveling and or while at other appointments.
*Create a quiet, special place in your home for your child to read, write and draw. Keep books and other materials where they can be easily reached.
*Help your child see that reading is important. Set a good example for your child by reading books, magazines, and newspapers.
*Limit the amount and type of television you and your child watch. The time and attention you give your child has many benefits beyond helping him be ready for success in school.
*Reach out to libraries and community and faith-based organizations. They can help find age appropriate books, show creative ways to use books and tips on learning as well as provide year round reading and educational activities.
The Five Essential Components of Reading:
Reading Tips For Parent: No Child Left Behind Initiative
*Recognizing & using individual sounds create words, or phonemic awareness. Children need to be taught to hear sounds and that sounds are made up of the smallest part of a sound or phonemes.
*Understanding the relationships between written letters and spoken sounds, or phonics. Children need to be taught the sounds individual printed letters and groups of letters make. Knowing the relationships between letters and sounds helps children to recognize familiar words accurately and automatically and “decode” new words.
*Developing the ability to read a text accurately and quickly, or reading fluency.
Children must learn to read words rapidly & accurately in order to understand what is read. When fluent readers read silently they recognize words automatically. When fluent readers read aloud, they read effortlessly & with expression. Readers weaker in fluency read slowly, word by word, focusing on decoding words instead of comprehending meaning.
*Learning the meaning and pronunciation of words, or vocabulary development. Children need to actively build and expand their knowledge of written and spoken words, what they mean and how they are used.
*Acquiring strategies to understand, remember and communicate what is read, or reading comprehension strategies. Children need to be taught comprehension strategies, or the steps good readers use to make sure they understand text. Students who are in control of their own reading comprehension become purposeful, active readers.
Reading Tips
*Make reading part of every day
*Read at bedtime, in the car, bath time or even if you have to, during TV commercials; just find the time to read together.
*Have fun!
*Children who love books, learn to read. Children who learn to read develop great understanding. Children with great understanding accomplish great things!
*A few minutes is okay
*Children have a short attention span, it lengthens as they grow. It’s okay to keep the time short, just make the time.
*Talk about the pictures.
*You do not have to read the book to tell a story. Often the pictures tell the story by itself. Pictures are great for visual comprehension.
*Let your child turn the pages.
*Help in turning the pages and holding the book gives ownership to the special time shared.
*Make the story come alive!
*Create voices for the story characters, use your body to tell the story.
*Ask questions about the story.
*What do you think will happen next; what is this; tell be about…
*Let your child tell the story.
*Children love the opportunity to express their creativity.
Special Notes:
*A child’s role in the family is different than that of an adult; they are not mentally equipped to handle the struggles of finances, jobs, relationships, politics and other adult situations & responsibilities. They need you as an advocate and hero.
*Take charge as the adult. Children will thank you for allowing them to be the child when you make parenting decisions. It is important to say what you mean and mean what you say. Choices both you and your child can live with gives ownership in small doses with large payoffs. Children need imitation and demonstration, you can be a child’s first and best example.
*Kids thrive on schedules and routines, from meals to bedtime. Give opportunities for accountability and independence. It should be expected from parents and will be from future teachers, coaches and employers later in life.
*Eat together at least one meal at the table where you can talk about the day. Try open ended questions that require a response more than just a yes or no.
*Give your child the tools to protect themselves, from strangers, as well as family/friends that take advantage of their trust. You are their first line of defense.
Simple Strategies for Creating Strong Readers
*Talk with your child to help them learn to speak & understand the meaning of words. Spend as much time listening to your child as you do talking with them. Describe objects as you play and do daily activities. A large vocabulary gives a child a great head start as they enter school.
*The use of sounds, songs, gestures and words that rhyme help your child learn about language and its many uses. Children need to hear language from a human being, not the noise from a television.
*Read to your child daily even if it’s the same favorite books over and over. Reading and playing with books is a wonderful way to spend time together. Hearing words over and over helps them become familiar and is one of the best ways to learn.
*Point out printed words in your home and other places like the grocery store. Discuss new words to expand their vocabulary and ask about the pictures and what is happening in the story.
*Take children’s books and writing materials with you whenever you leave home. This gives them fun activities to entertain and occupy themselves while traveling and or while at other appointments.
*Create a quiet, special place in your home for your child to read, write and draw. Keep books and other materials where they can be easily reached.
*Help your child see that reading is important. Set a good example for your child by reading books, magazines, and newspapers.
*Limit the amount and type of television you and your child watch. The time and attention you give your child has many benefits beyond helping him be ready for success in school.
*Reach out to libraries and community and faith-based organizations. They can help find age appropriate books, show creative ways to use books and tips on learning as well as provide year round reading and educational activities.
The Five Essential Components of Reading:
Reading Tips For Parent: No Child Left Behind Initiative
*Recognizing & using individual sounds create words, or phonemic awareness. Children need to be taught to hear sounds and that sounds are made up of the smallest part of a sound or phonemes.
*Understanding the relationships between written letters and spoken sounds, or phonics. Children need to be taught the sounds individual printed letters and groups of letters make. Knowing the relationships between letters and sounds helps children to recognize familiar words accurately and automatically and “decode” new words.
*Developing the ability to read a text accurately and quickly, or reading fluency.
Children must learn to read words rapidly & accurately in order to understand what is read. When fluent readers read silently they recognize words automatically. When fluent readers read aloud, they read effortlessly & with expression. Readers weaker in fluency read slowly, word by word, focusing on decoding words instead of comprehending meaning.
*Learning the meaning and pronunciation of words, or vocabulary development. Children need to actively build and expand their knowledge of written and spoken words, what they mean and how they are used.
*Acquiring strategies to understand, remember and communicate what is read, or reading comprehension strategies. Children need to be taught comprehension strategies, or the steps good readers use to make sure they understand text. Students who are in control of their own reading comprehension become purposeful, active readers.
Reading Tips
*Make reading part of every day
*Read at bedtime, in the car, bath time or even if you have to, during TV commercials; just find the time to read together.
*Have fun!
*Children who love books, learn to read. Children who learn to read develop great understanding. Children with great understanding accomplish great things!
*A few minutes is okay
*Children have a short attention span, it lengthens as they grow. It’s okay to keep the time short, just make the time.
*Talk about the pictures.
*You do not have to read the book to tell a story. Often the pictures tell the story by itself. Pictures are great for visual comprehension.
*Let your child turn the pages.
*Help in turning the pages and holding the book gives ownership to the special time shared.
*Make the story come alive!
*Create voices for the story characters, use your body to tell the story.
*Ask questions about the story.
*What do you think will happen next; what is this; tell be about…
*Let your child tell the story.
*Children love the opportunity to express their creativity.
Special Notes:
*A child’s role in the family is different than that of an adult; they are not mentally equipped to handle the struggles of finances, jobs, relationships, politics and other adult situations & responsibilities. They need you as an advocate and hero.
*Take charge as the adult. Children will thank you for allowing them to be the child when you make parenting decisions. It is important to say what you mean and mean what you say. Choices both you and your child can live with gives ownership in small doses with large payoffs. Children need imitation and demonstration, you can be a child’s first and best example.
*Kids thrive on schedules and routines, from meals to bedtime. Give opportunities for accountability and independence. It should be expected from parents and will be from future teachers, coaches and employers later in life.
*Eat together at least one meal at the table where you can talk about the day. Try open ended questions that require a response more than just a yes or no.
*Give your child the tools to protect themselves, from strangers, as well as family/friends that take advantage of their trust. You are their first line of defense.
