More Language, More Books, More Fun
What Your Early Preschooler's Day Is Like
She'll probably begin to talk about her day even before she arrives at La Petite Academy. While getting dressed or eating breakfast, she'll be focused on "coming to school" in the mornings and looking forward to playing and learning.
Morning Circle Time
Early preschoolers start their day with Morning Circle Time. Here, the class joins together to discuss a daily topic, the weather and the day's exciting activities. Your child will learn many math and language skills during Morning Circle Time, but equally as important, she will start to participate in a longer group activity and feel comfortable speaking up in front of her peers and teacher.
Learning Center Activities
After Circle Time, your child will choose which Learning Center Activity she would like to start with. For example, if the theme is "The Days of Dinosaurs," she may want to start at the Art Center to draw about how she would eat, feel and dress if she were a dinosaur.
At the Math Center, she might create patterns out of different dinosaur shapes and pictures. And at the Art Center, she might like to create "Edible Dinosaurs" out of marshmallows, icing, raisins and other foods. Throughout each unit, there are over 50 Learning Center activities the teacher may introduce.
The early preschool (EPS) teacher works with the children in small groups to extend the Learning Center experience. For example, during the Math Center patterning activity, the teacher may spend time making sure that children are creating progressively complex patterns and that they all understand the concept. In the Writing Center, she may ask the children to share their drawings and label their work as a way to document and model handwriting.
Later in the day, the children will come back to the Learning Center to finish a project they started in the morning, work on their journals or pick up a whole new game to play and learn.
Next, the children typically go outside to exercise, burn off some energy and develop their gross motor skills. Believe it or not, our teachers perform assessments outside, too.
Literacy and Language Enrichment
Literacy and Language Enrichment activities are designed to foster a love for reading.
Your child will gather with the rest of the class to read a story, sing a song and/or act out a favorite book. La Petite Academy believes in using quality children's literature to help make your child a lifetime reader. You will enjoy many of the theme-related books that your EPS teacher shares with your child.
Music and Movement
Just wait until your early preschooler teaches you his Music and Movement song. This is another great part of our day during which your child has fun with a variety of action songs, poems and rhymes that help to expand vocabulary and listening skills.
The Home Stretch
After Music and Movement, our day comes to a close with more outside play and afternoon Circle Time. During afternoon Circle Time, the children will review what they have learned, share their favorite Center project and look ahead to tomorrow.
Your Ride Home
You will get a snapshot of what your child did that day from the "Car Talk." We urge you to use the Car Talk information as a going-home routine to reinforce learning, and build self-esteem and enjoyable communications with your child. It's a great way to avoid the "I don't know" response when you ask her what she learned today.