Early Childhood (PK3 - PK4)

Three-year-olds can best be described as sunny, silly, and socially aware.  They become eager to please and anxious to interact more with those around them.  Play activities become much more sophisticated and creative cooperative play becomes the norm with friends becoming important to them.  Three-year-olds acquire a vocabulary of over 1,500 words before the end of the year.  Their gross motor skills improve greatly; children can run, jump, and balance easily, and they usually learn to pedal tricycles and go upstairs using alternating feet. Their imagination and a sense of humor become evident through their play and more complex social skills.  Art activities are a favorite among many three-year-olds helping them develop fine motor skills.  

Our program addresses learning in all developmental areas—physical, social, emotional, language and academic. Children develop an understanding of the world around them with content from all disciplines--language arts, math, science, social sciences, art, music, and physical education.  They are integrated using themes, projects, play, and other learning experiences.  Structured play during center time, large group activities, small group activities, outdoor play, art, math, and language activities, along with enrichments (library, music, art, and P.E.) provide a wide variety of concrete learning experiences to meet the individual needs of each child.

The language arts program includes the development of both receptive and expressive vocabulary, listening and communication skills, appreciation for literature, comprehension and recall of stories, development of print awareness, introduction to letter recognition, recognizing their own names, sequencing skills, position words, opposites, synonyms, auditory discrimination, and visual discrimination. We also subscribe to Clifford Magazine to supplement and reinforce concepts that have been introduced.

The math program includes numeral recognition to the number 10, understanding of number value (the ability to match the quantity with the symbol), one-to-one correspondence, classification, sorting, sequencing, counting, shape recognition and spatial concepts.  As well as Handwriting Without Tears math program (I Know My Numbers and Tag Bags).

Gross motor activities focus on developing coordination, strength, endurance, and agility.  We focus on skills such as hopping, jumping, balancing, and pedaling that are not only important for creating strong healthy bodies, but are vital to healthy brain development as well.  The children ride tricycles, and bouncy balls, climb stairs, slide and swing.  

Fine motor activities include any that help control, strengthen, and coordinate the small muscles in the hand, fingers, wrist and shoulders. Our program incorporates Handwriting Without Tears which provides experiences for prewriting and directionality. Manipulative skills such as scissor skills, stringing, painting, drawing, playing with play dough, finger plays and working with small objects, are all vital areas of dexterity development.

In the science program, children learn by exploring their environment and discovering the world around them. The three-year-old program encourages observation and provides opportunities for experimenting, problem solving, and exploring cause and effect as we investigate life science, physical science, and environmental science themes.  Examples of our themes are plants, insects, weather, hygiene, and physical changes during cooking.  We hatch butterflies from caterpillars, tend to our Pre K3 garden, measure ingredients and cook, as well as other things.

The social living program centers on learning appropriate social behavior, social skills including self-help.  Our children will expand their social circles as they learn to share, care, and become aware of others and their feelings.

The religion program is comprised of God Loves Me Storybook series and Read-Aloud Bible Stories that includes weekly age-appropriate chapel services. The service incorporates the use of music, puppetry, and storytelling and is usually led by our music teacher.

Our enrichment programs are designed to further supplement our curriculum.  They include art, music, library and physical education.

PreK 4 at Bishop Noland Episcopal Day School is a cross-curricular, play-based program that prepares children for further educational development. Methods for achieving this objective include free choice center and direct teaching using visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and tactile modes. Social growth and academic achievements are emphasized.

Our Phonics program is guided by the Lively Letters curriculum.  We utilize a three-step approach for learning letter identification, letter sounds, and an active prompt associated with each sound. This program is supplemented by read-aloud stories, learning centers, field trips, and Lively Letters resources. The objective is for every student to reproduce and decode letter sounds with at least 80% accuracy by the end of the year.

Other Language Arts skills include:

• Sequencing and retelling stories

• Increasing basic vocabulary

• Practicing rhythm and rhymes to develop reading readiness

Our Math program focuses on number sense which is introduced through activities and illustrations with groups of objects. The written symbol of each numeral is introduced and practiced. The students count to 30 and beyond. They learn to classify objects by shape, size, color, and length. The children practice making predictions and logical connections by repeating patterns and creating new ones. Graphing is introduced using objects related to our unit of study. The children are introduced to the concepts of estimation, time, measurement, money, and tally marks using manipulatives. Students also work with classifying more and less, ordering objects smallest to largest, matching the correct number to a set of objects, finding equal amounts, assigning ordinal numbers, counting down from 10, and solving simple addition and subtraction problems with objects.

Science is magic for young children and is a favorite subject in our classrooms. Science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) are integrated into every school day. Students are naturally drawn to build, design, discover, predict, experiment, observe, illustrate, and imagine. As teachers, we try to satisfy their curiosity by bringing real-world science into school. We watch caterpillars turn into butterflies, meet a bee-keeper, and visit a pumpkin patch after studying the pumpkin’s life cycle. Students learn about measuring, mixing, sequencing, temperature, and changes to physical states of matter when we cook together. Seasons and corresponding changes in animals, trees, and plants are studied. Every grade in our school also has a biome that is studied during the year. PreK 4 studies Louisiana’s Wetlands. They learn about Louisiana’s vanishing barrier islands and animals that are indigenous to this habitat. In the spring, each child has the opportunity to choose and lead an experiment with the help of a relative as Scientist of the Day.

Through our Social Studies program, children learn about our school environment and how a community works together. Holidays and diverse customs are shared. Louisiana is a favorite unit of study. We explore the music, culture, traditions, and cuisine of our home state.  We conclude this unit with a visit to the South Campus pond which is home to plants and animals native to the wetlands environment.

Religion is integrated throughout our program. Chapel is held every Wednesday where we sing songs, join in prayer, read, and act out stories from Read-Aloud Bible Stories. Character development and social/emotional growth is a yearlong focus fostered by our Religion program but reinforced in all areas. Life skills such as patience, self-control, empathy, honesty, and forgiveness are best learned during early childhood. Our students learn that every person can be a leader at something and must be responsible for their own behavior and choices. They also get to experience the joy of giving and helping firsthand through four annual outreach opportunities.

Fine Motor activities are thoughtfully incorporated into projects and independent work on a daily basis. These activities are related to seasons, holidays, and cross-curricular objectives throughout the year. Drawing, cutting, gluing, threading, lacing, tracing, and coloring skills are used to complete projects with a variety of different mediums.

PreK 4 students have the benefit of visiting five Enrichments each week. Learning outside of their homeroom exposes children to environments customized for an immersive experience in Music, Technology, Library, Art, and Physical Education. Enrichment teachers are passionate about what they teach and offer our students variety in teaching styles and methods of instruction. You can learn more about our Enrichment programs here: Above & Beyond The Classroom

Overall, our program focuses on a total child approach to development. Thanks to the limited, maximum enrollment of 15 students per class, an individualized platform has been established for high levels of achievement by all students. We have a close-knit school community. We love getting to know our families, pride ourselves on open lines of communication, and treasure opportunities to share our experiences through special projects and events. We, as teachers, dedicate ourselves to promoting a happy environment that is conducive to learning and growth.