Program Details

Each day, your preschooler will engage in various hands-on activities designed to introduce him to the current learning objectives in a meaningful, personal way. He'll explore and discover solutions working by himself, with a friend or in small groups.

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

View our Preschool Theme List.

Preschool teachers choose from over 2000 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 preschooler within the Learning Centers and other daily activities while 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 preschoolers' behavior and skills within a typical daily activity and context.
• They regularly monitor each child's journal entries, as well as the work stored in his portfolio during the entire school year.

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.

Important Features

Literacy

The Academy's 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.

Look over our recommended literature list for the Art Adventurers unit.

Journals

Your child can draw or write in his personal journal every day. The teacher introduces a new journaling topic, such as "Who is your favorite artist?" The children can journal about the topic or anything else on their minds. By the time children reach preschool, they are beginning to journal on more topics than they did in early preschool. You'll be amazed at how your child's drawings change from the beginning to the end of the school year, as he begins to learn how to communicate through print. Through journaling, your child is working on important learning objectives, such as:

• printing the letters within his name
• drawing pictures with five to six varying details
• suggesting ideas for creative interpretation
• dictating writing to express thoughts

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 preschooler's journal as often as you like. Your preschool teacher will take you through the journal during your semi-annual 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 preschool school year.

Portfolios

During each unit, several items that your child worked on are labeled, dated and stored in his portfolio. This way your child's 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.