Pre-Kindergarten 4

prek4

(Pre-K4 A)
Mrs. Catherine Trunk holds a Bachelor of Science from Florida International University

(Pre-K4 B)
Ms. Andrea Acuna holds an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and a Bachelor of Science in Education. She is a graduate of Barry University and has been an educator since 1997

FAITH FORMATION HIGHLIGHTS

Prayers: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Personal Prayer (praise, petition, worship, thanksgiving and forgiveness),
“Weekly Gospel Reading”, church visits, reading and teaching of Bible stories. Students attend Family Mass with their buddies.

Pre-K4

Children are natural explorers and our Pre-K4 Program supports that natural curiosity by providing a safe environment where both questions and mistakes are welcome. We help grow a child’s confidence by supporting their voice and inquiry. The teachers and teaching assistants are dedicated to fostering the students’ love of learning as we respond to each child individually and challenge them to greater achievement. In addition to Religion, these young students are exposed to Reading and Writing readiness skills, Math, Music, Art, Science, and Physical Education. The curriculum is further enriched with Spanish and Technology that includes BenQ Display, SMART Board, computers, IXL, and iPads.


Aftercare Program and Enrichment classes are available. Weekly homework will start in January. A packet will be provided on Monday and the completed packet will be due the following Monday. There is a Treasure Chest incentive program as a reward for completing the weekly homework packets. Monthly Pre-K4 Calendars and Newsletters are sent home.

MAJOR FOCUSES OF Pre-K4: Use of centers throughout the classroom and hands-on activities

Language Arts: Provides the foundation for the students to have the necessary tools to become emergent readers. Elements of the program include: phonemic awareness, letters–visual and sound recognition, storytelling, pre-writing, drawing and illustrating, and use of new vocabulary in literary discussions. There will be a focus on learning to write one’s last name and exposure to reading and writing some of the “sight words” (I, for, in, is, the, my, one, to, you, look, like…).


Math: Students receive basic fact practice, build skills and gain Math literacy, including recognition of numbers 1-30, counting and writing to 30, matching, sorting, and patterning. We also study basic addition/subtraction 1-10.
– Exposure to counting by tens
– Ordinal numbers 1–10 (exposure of ordering, sequencing, i.e. what number is missing 1–30)
– Exposure to reading numbers 1–30
– Introduction on how to use a number line (Adding to 5 and exposure to adding to 20)
– Exposure to subtracting from 10
– Introduction to Math vocabulary (i.e. sum, difference, equals, etc.)
– Language Arts vocabulary such as the prepositions: inside, beside, above, below
– Exposure to division (i.e. having eight coins and then giving 2 coins to each of the four pirates)
– Exposure to fact families (i.e. 7+2=__ 9-7=__)
– Measurements and Data: sorting, making patterns, comparing lengths
– Everyday Mass: introduction to a scale, balance, more, less, weight, light, heavy,
how full (full, half-full, empty)
– Geometry: Applying the concept of left vs. right, shapes: exposure to quadrilateral, rhombus, parallelogram, octagon, pentagon, hexagon, same & different

Social Studies: Students learn community awareness as they become aware of similarities, differences, tolerance and fairness. Exposure to geography, maps, languages, foods, customs, wealth/poverty, religion, holiday celebrations, community helpers and their own local environment.


Physical Education and Social & Emotional Development: Pre-K4 is a great place for students to practice proper expression of emotions, needs and wants, manners, respect for others, taking turns, self-control, active listening and participation, refinement of gross motor skills, cooperative play and safety (students are encouraged to learn their phone number), and healthy eating habits.


Science: Students’ natural curiosity is fostered through guided learning. It is where they are encouraged to ask questions and discover the means of answering those questions. These experiences are found in cooking, experiments, space, ocean, nature, senses, weather, seasons, dinosaurs, animals and their habitats. The Science curriculum is often integrated with the Religion curriculum.


Art: Students are motivated to experiment, invent, and explore different art forms. The crafts created through varied art mediums such as drawing, watercolor, play dough, stencil art, painting, allow the young artist to freely express their vision. Students work on fine motor skills such as cutting.


Music: Creative expression in song, dance, rhythm, rhyme and instruments and participation in the monthly family mass.


Technology: BenQ Displays, SMART Board and iPads


Spanish: Combined Pre-K4 classes taught 2 times a week. The Spanish Program is called QTalk.

MAJOR PROJECTS

Butterfly Cycle, Ocean Week, “Around the World Week in Pre-K4”, Space Unit, and Community Helpers


Ag in the Classroom: Hands-on learning of agriculture as students grow a garden


Enrichment Classes: An increasing array of experiences ranging from Ballet (performance at the end of the school year) and Sports Clinics (after school) to Spanish Club (after school) etc. 

FIELD TRIPS

In-house field trips include visits from firefighters, dental hygienists, police officers, and doctors.

MONTHLY EVENTS

Pre-K4 provides many active learning experiences for the young student. We host monthly classroom themed parties (Cowboy Day, Wacky Wednesday, Twin Day, Community Helper Day…) and parent participation is encouraged. The students and faculty enjoy holidays and celebrations. Themes such as Fall Harvest, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Catholics Schools Week,  Grandparents Day, Field Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter and a Multicultural Week featuring “Around the World Day” when students will dress up in their heritage clothing, travel to other classrooms (countries), sample many varying types of food and get their passports stamped. The active participation in these events and activities is fun and leads the children to an accumulation of knowledge.
Summer Preparation: A recommended reading list for family members to read together
Curriculum: DIG
Formal Assessments: Progress Reports issued in October and April Report Cards/ parent conferences take place in February and June.

 

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-4 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 learning style, needs and abilities of the individual child are priorities in the 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, is ready to discover and is actively involved in learning. Children should initiate their own learning experiences with supportive adults. These adults strive daily to nourish the trust and confidence required for every healthy learning experience. 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 whole person.

With its multi-sensory, integrated learning approach, St. Joan of Arc gives three-to-five-year-olds a solid foundation of academic readiness skills and a broad knowledge base upon which to build.
Encouraging the child’s love for learning, the program prepares the child for formal academics
with a natural, built-in format of beginning phonics, math readiness, and the essential skills which enhance and streamline the learning process.

Admission Procedure for Pre-Kindergarten 4

Students entering Pre-Kindergarten 4 must be Four 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 school tour.

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-K 4 must be toilet trained.

Admission Information Request Form