Five Year Old Program
OUR PROGRAM FOR YOUR FIVE YEAR OLD
If your child just misses the cut-off for kindergarten or you have decided that another year before formal kindergarten is the right choice for your child, we have the program just for you. We have created a classroom where the children must be five by the end of December. Having this older age grouping allows the teachers to advance the level of expectations in all areas of the curriculum. We utilize parent input and our initial assessment to determine the strengths and areas for growth for each of the children and ways in which we will modify the program to meet the needs and interests of the children. Examples of differentiating for these older learners include:
• Sharing their thoughts frequently with the whole group during circle time
• Drawing pictures and writing in a journal throughout the year
• Authoring their own stories and sharing them with their families during an "Author's Tea"
• Reading with a book buddy from Hillside Elementary School
• Engaging in the Engineering Design Process—Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create/Analyze and Improve—frequently throughout the year
• Creating an artistic movement piece that is shared with the families during the Moving Up Ceremony inspired by a story or their own story created as a class
Learning through Play
We will build upon your child's natural curiosities through our project-based, hands-on learning approach. We design the learning to emerge from the children's interests and help develop all the children's intelligences (based upon Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences)—mathematical logical, linguistic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, naturalist, visual-spacial, musical and bodily-kinesthetic. Teachers select a topic to explore that is of interest to the students. Then the teachers initiate the project by asking the children what they already know about the topic and what most interests them about the project. The teachers design the daily experiences to maximize the children's engagement in the project, and ensure they are learning the critical knowledge and skills for their age group. Guest speakers and walking field trips are incorporated to help enhance the breadth and depth of the project. We continually assess their learning through observing and gathering their personal efforts for their own portfolio.
Incorporating the Arts
We believe learning through the arts as well as having an appreciation for the arts is critical for all learners. Therefore, our related arts program enables our children to engage with artists once a week on an eight-week basis. The current offerings of Related Arts include: music and movement, visual art, physical education and gardening.
