Program Details

Each day, your early preschooler will engage in various hands-on activities. He'll explore, inquire and discover solutions working by himself, with a friend or in small groups.

The EPS curriculum features 26 two-week units, each with its own theme. Throughout each unit, our goal is to make the theme come alive for your child, so that she is always completely engaged in his day. These themes have been carefully designed to help prepare your early preschooler for his next step in La Petite Academy's Journey Preschool Program. The curriculum also suggests activities and literature to use for each theme.

Check out our Early Preschool Theme List.

EPS teachers choose from over 100 learning activities tied to more than 70 specific Learning Objectives. Teachers tailor these learning activities to your child's needs. In covering the Learning Objectives, your child will be involved in activities that promote Language and Communication Development, Cognitive Development, Creativity and the Arts, Physical Development, and Personal and Social Development.

Assessments and Lesson Planning

The Learning Objectives are introduced and repeated throughout the curriculum.

Teachers track your child's developmental progress toward the objectives in two ways:

• They perform ongoing assessments by observing your early preschooler within the Learning Centers and other daily activities and taking notes on his progress on a day-to-day basis. These assessments are not the traditional "tests" or one-on-one assessments that elementary school children might experience. We believe it is more accurate and feasible to observe early preschoolers' behavior and skills within a typical daily activity and context.
• They regularly monitor each child's journal entries and the work placed during the entire school year in his portfolio.

Teachers use the assessment results to build their weekly lesson plans, which help them keep track of the activities that they have chosen to do with the children, as well as the materials and literature that they need.

View one of our assessment tools.

Important Features

Literacy

The Academy's Early Preschool Program has a strong focus on emergent literacy, and the curriculum is paired with over 200 age-appropriate books throughout the year. Each book has been hand-selected based on the illustrations, the vocabulary, its focus on the current theme and its unique ability to engage the children. In addition, our literature selections emphasize diversity among ethnicities, geographies, cultures and holidays.

Check out our recommended literature list.

Journals

Your child can draw or write in his personal journal within the Writing Center every day. Each day, the teacher introduces a new journaling topic. The children can journal about the topic, or anything else on their minds. You'll be amazed at how your child's drawings change from the beginning to the end of the school year, as she begins to learn how to communicate through print. The teachers label and date the journal entries based on what your child said about his drawing - this way both the teacher and you know what your child's intentions were. You are welcome to look through your child's journal as often as you like. Your EPS teacher will take you through the journal during your semiannual parent-teacher conferences.

At the end of the year, we hope you'll take your child's completed journals home as a keepsake of his early preschool school year.

Portfolios

During each unit, several items that your child worked on are labeled, dated and stored in his portfolio. This way the teacher can monitor his progress and share this with you during parent-teacher conferences. At the end of the year, you can also take the portfolio home as another keepsake.

Kids of Character

An important and unique feature of our curriculum is La Petite Academy's Kids of Character component. Kids of Character was first introduced in 2001 in response to the aftermath of the September 11th tragedy, and has helped children of all ages learn about important topics, such as tolerance, perseverance, honesty, teamwork and self-discipline. Each month a different trait is featured, and your child will learn and discuss the trait through various group activities.