Pre-Kindergarten 3
(Pre-K3)
Miss Jennifer Castelli holds a Bachelor’s in Elementary Education K-6 with ESOL endorsement from Florida Atlantic University and is also certified in Early Childhood. Before teaching at St. Joan of Arc Miss Castelli was a preschool teacher for Puffin’s School of Montessori. She is currently teaching Pre-K 3 and have taught Pre-K 3 for the last 4 years, and have taught VPK prior to that for 3 years.
Her number one objective is to show her students that learning can be fun and educational at the same time. Students are given tools to learn to help express themselves academically and emotionally and understand the ways of life. Her favorite Bible verse is “With God there is no limit to what you can do. There is no obstacle you can’t overcome. Through Him, all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26
FAITH FORMATION HIGHLIGHTS
• Seeds, weekly church visits, daily prayer and praise, Bible stories
• Integration of Science and Religion
MAJOR FOCUSES OF PRE-K3
• Language Arts: letter and sound recognition, color, recognizes first and last name when called and first name by sight, storytelling, finger plays, pre-writing (upper and lower case) and introduction to writing first name
• Math: Recognition of numbers 1-10, counting to 20 in English and Spanish, matching and sorting, patterning, identifying shapes and colors (including mixing colors)
• Social Studies: Awareness of ourselves and others, as well as where they live or where they might be from, places around our world such as China, Africa, U.S.A. and of course where our Pope resides, Italy, Holiday Celebrations, community helpers
• Social Development and Emotional Development: Expressing feelings, needs and wants, manners, respect for others, taking turns, self-control, listening and participating at group time, Show and Tell once a week
• Science: Nutrition, experiments, nature, 5 senses, weather, seasons, dinosaurs, animals and their habitat, cause and effect
• Art: Coloring, watercolors, chalk, painting, and arts and crafts experienced through the use of a wide variety of mediums
• Fine Motor Skills: Pencil grip, cutting
ENRICHMENT CLASSES OF PRE-K3
• Technology: iPads, Smartboard activities
• Library: Students visit our library once a week for story time
• Spanish: two times a week (taught by Spanish teacher)
• Ballet
• PE on Wednesdays for 20 minutes
FIELD TRIPS
• PreK-3 students enjoy in-house field trips such as visits from Firefighters, Dental Hygienists, Doctors, Police Officers, and other community helpers.
SPECIAL EVENTS
• We begin with the AR kick-off (students come to school dressed up as your favorite character and bring your favorite book), Grandparents Day, Christmas Celebration, Field Day (inside the classroom), Easter Egg Hunt, and “Around the World Day” when students will dress up in their heritage clothing or red, white and blue, visit other classrooms decorated as countries, get their passport stamped and sample many different types of food
CURRICULUM
Happily Ever After – Reading and Language Arts
Abeka Workbook – Reading Phonics and Math
Seeds Booklets – Religion
Formative assessments: Progress Reports issued in the Fall and Spring. Report cards issued in February and May
Communication with parents through email and ClassDojo
St. Joan of Arc Pre-Kindergarten is designed to provide a happy and secure place where each child will have a variety of experiences. The philosophy for the Pre-Kindergarten-3 Program at St. Joan of Arc is a value-oriented one based on Catholic beliefs. The program integrates prayer, church, service, social skills, and academic knowledge. The child’s learning style and abilities are priorities in this developmentally appropriate curriculum.
St. Joan believes in a child-centered active learning environment for the young child. The young child is filled with energy, is curious about life, and is ready to discover and be actively involved in learning. Children should initiate their own learning experiences with supportive adults. Through daily planning and evaluation sessions, adults create the conditions for a child’s active learning and generate strategies to challenge a child’s emerging abilities. The goal is to work with parents in order to provide many and varied opportunities for the child to develop spiritually, physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively as a total person.
Admission Procedure for Pre-Kindergarten 3
Students entering Pre-Kindergarten 3 must be Three years old on or before September 1.
Applications are available for Prospective Students by contacting the school office. Parents are invited to schedule an appointment for a tour and to meet the Principal, Miss Lani Hiponia.
Parents of students that have been accepted will provide the school with a copy of your child’s Birth Certificate, Baptismal Certificate and Social Security Number. In addition a current Health and Immunization Record must be provided before your child may enter school.
Students entering Pre-School must be potty trained.