Pre K3

A holistic approach to early childhood education supports the needs of the children through planned activities that teach basic concepts: language development and social skills; accepting the consequences of actions and choices; sharing with others; following directions; understanding newness and change; accepting and understanding the differences between people with physical, ethnic and cultural uniqueness.

At Hale Academy, we believe that children progress through individual windows of opportunity for growth and that learning is best accomplished through play. Play is a very appropriate mode for a young child’s learning and a necessary step for healthy social, emotional, physical and mental development. The PreK3 classroom provides creative free play opportunities along with numerous and diverse structured learning experiences that promote confidence and competence that become the child’s foundation for future growth and the love of learning.

Below is a brief description of what students will learn in preschool at Hale Academy

Social Emotional Development

Personal:

Students will personally identify themselves by gender, state their name and the names of others in the classroom, adjust to transition from home, identify and label their own feelings, and state their personal likes and dislikes.

Social:

The children are encouraged to work and play with others effectively within a group. They learn to respect the rights, property and feelings of others. They learn to share and take turns understanding the idea of waiting for another to go first, learning about problem solving skills and compromise, understanding that friends help friends.

Behavioral:

Preschool students are introduced to classroom routines and rules, listening and following directions learning to clean up and put away things. They learn to complete work within reasonable and specified timeframes in small groups and independently. Students learn to use materials in an appropriate manner demonstrating good safety habits, good health habits and good manners.

Language and Emerging Literacy

One of the goals for the preschool classroom is to instill in every child the love of books. Reading introduces them to language, words that rhyme, and realms of possibilities.

Written

Students will learn respect for books, understand that print carries meaning and use illustrations to predict what the text says. They will learn to recognize their written name and the written names of others. They will be introduced to upper case letters, learn to identify, name and give a sound for each. They will use crayons and markers to create books for classroom and individual use.

Oral:

Students will be encouraged to share knowledge using their verbal communication skills and discuss age appropriate topics. They will learn appropriate sentence structure and sustain conversation for two or three turns. They will learn to retell simple stories, recognize and supply rhyming words through the memorization of songs, finger plays and nursery rhymes.

Mathematics

Preschool students are introduced the foundations of math. They will be introduced to number sense and concepts. They will classify various objects and sort them into groups. They will be able to count to ten by memory. They will learn the names and values of numbers 1-10 using one-to-one correspondence of items. They will be introduced to concepts and discriminate between big and little, full and empty.

Science

The students will successfully participate in hands-on experiments with science concepts. They will observe weather changes, identify different types of clouds, name the four seasons and become aware of seasonal changes in our earth. They will learn the names of animal families, the manner in which they move and their habitats. They will discover the difference between plants and animals and learn to care for indoor and outdoor plants.

Social Studies

In Social studies, we focus on three main areas: belonging to a group, holidays and exploring our world. The student is introduced to groups which include not only their family, but also the classroom family, Hale Academy, and the community. They learn the basic reasons of why certain holidays are celebrated, experience traditional US holidays as well as experience holidays celebrated by other cultures.

Motor Skills

Students will have multiple opportunities to increase both large motor and small motor skills. Two half-hour recess periods are provided each day with emphasis on climbing, running, and balance. Fine motor skills are honed inside the classroom through the manipulation of play dough, learning to tear, snip and cut paper and building with blocks.

Art

Creativity is the natural outflow of imagination. The students will have an opportunity to express themselves through torn paper , paint and clay.

Music

Music is an important part of a preschooler’s life. Music teaches movement, language, expression. The students will experience music from Mozart to Susa.

American Sign Language

Most children are hands-on learners and ASL is a great way to enhance this learning style. Students will be introduced to basic words in ASL, as well as the alphabet. They learn to recognize and sign color words, count to 10 and learn at least one song in ASL.