Preschool
Kindergarten Prep Philosophy:
Children have an innate desire to explore the world around them. At American Legacy Academy this desire is fostered as children develop essential skills as they work and play together.
Our philosophy of Early Childhood Education at American Legacy Academy is twofold: (1) to help each child develop a healthy, positive self-esteem, and (2) to build in each child a positive feeling about school. When a child feels good about him/herself and thinks school is fun, a foundation is built that stimulates his natural interests in learning. These beliefs firmly instilled in a child are the greatest gifts he can possess to lead him on his road to success. It will be more valuable than piano lessons, dance or sports activities. Though these extra curricular activities are very important to a child’s continuing development, the foundation for a love of learning and a successful life is laid during the preschool and kindergarten years. To accomplish these goals we believe strongly in a curriculum based in Christian principles which value the building of:
*Faith and Trust in Heavenly Father
*Love of God and Country
*Love of Learning and an Ownership of the Child’s Education
*Self Government
*Christian Character
*Conscience: the Most Sacred of all Property.
Individual Development:
All children go through certain developmental stages as they progress from one level of learning to the next. As each child is different, no two children will be at the same level of learning at the same time. Because of the small teacher/ student ratio, it is our goal to assess where your child is in his developmental growth and then probed from there. It is hoped that this this type of curriculum will provide learning opportunities that will promote the optimal development of each child so that this year will be a very rewarding one. In addition to developing academic skills that will prepare them for the future, children will learn communication skills as they explore and interact with one another. Young children are innately curious and at American Legacy Academy this desire to explore the world around them is fostered through play based learning. Students will learn language arts, history, math, and science as they play and create together. Hands on activities and the arts create an exciting world in which children can develop and learn.
Curriculum:
A good curriculum consists of experiences that nurture a child emotionally,, socially, intellectually, physically (both large and small motor skills), and spiritually.Your child will be participating in a multisensory approach to subjects including:
*Rigg’s Phonetic Reading Program
*Right Start and Mortensen Math
*Classic Literature
*Children Around the World
*Science and Nature
*Puppetry
*Cooking
*Dramatic Play
*Music an Rhythm
*Dance and Creative Movement
*Arts and Crafts
*Foreign Language Vocabulary
*Field Trips and Visitors
*History- His Story
Success in School:
Children, who thrive, enter school with strong communication skills. They are confident and self-assured, adept at making friends, persistent, creative, and excited about learning. These are the qualities and the development that children gain with a combination of play-based learning and an “emergent” curriculum. This approach includes subject areas that emerge from children’s interests and are more experiential than what is typically in a traditional academic program. Young children need many opportunities to be curious and explore, as this is how children learn best. Individual discovery through hands-on activities are truly the building blocks of literacy, math and other forms of learning. What may sometimes seem as “just play” to adults is actually hard, important work for children. Their “play” is learning in a way that gives them the best opportunity to absorb the most information.
At American Legacy Academy’s Child Development Center we believe in educating the whole child. Our Kindergarten Prep is structured into three areas of teaching, 1) project-based learning, 2) teacher directed lessons, and 3) child led play.
Student Directed Learning:
It is through child-led play that children gain verbal and mathematical literacy, organizational skills, intrinsic excitement about learning, school readiness, creativity, cooperative play, problem solving skills and more. Play is the natural way for children to explore, learn, and build skills. Self-directed play is a deeply satisfying emotional, cognitive, and physical experience for most children and one from which they draw an intrinsic motivation to learn about and engage with the world. Child-led play contributes to the emotional, intellectual, physical, social, and spiritual development of the child in ways that cannot be taught through direct instruction. The teacher plays an important role in child-led play. It is one where the teacher looks for understanding of the meaning behind the child’s play and then begins to guide the student to expand their play in vital ways:
1. to develop and refine their social and emotional skills
2. to discover their learning styles and their strengths and weaknesses
3. to introduce a variety of play/learning styles to learn through their strongest avenue of learning as well as strengthen weaker avenues of learning.
Children have the opportunity to explore many different stations each preschool day. Not only will they have the same consistent toys, but a new activity will be added to most stations each preschool day to reflect the theme. The stations are…
1. Construction Zone
2. Artists’ Corner
3. Dramatic Play
4. Library
5. Math Exploration
6. Exploring My World
7. Literacy Center
8. My Heavenly Father Loves Me
Project-Based Learning:
Using themes as an avenue to expand the child’s understanding of the world around him, and introducing him to new concepts and vocabulary while working on a project together, creates a love of learning in every student. It also allows the teacher to teach at various educational levels and truly individualize the lesson. This is the most beneficial way to teach children new information while they are engaged in meaningful play. Our themes heavily integrate all subjects and strengthen all critical areas of development for school success. Music and Movement is also integrated into our themes. Learning should be fun and play is ultimately the “work” of a child! All themes will be found on the Kinder Prep monthly calendar.
Teacher-Directed Lessons:
We use teacher-directed learning for our phonetic/handwriting program and math. While the subject is presented in a fun manner, the instructions come from the teacher. The lessons help build the foundational skills in language arts and math to prepare the child for the academic demands that lie ahead. Teacher-directed lessons also help build habits of listening, following directions, sequencing multiple actions, self-control, attention span and teaches etiquette in the sharing of ideas in a large group setting, Teaching is also directed to the individual child and can meet any child on their individual level. As parents and teacher come together to establish goals for their child, our program will support goals in every area of learning and development.
When you come to the Kindergarten Prep classroom you will not see a child sitting all day and doing skill work or worksheets. They will not be working on computers, reviewing with flash cards, or using much rote memorization to learn facts. This is because when a child is being force-fed academics it may give the impression that learning is a chore rather than something that results naturally from curiosity and exploration. For example, letters can be discovered—they are all around us! By using “hands-on” manipulative games and providing exploration time, children learn the joy of discovery as well as the alphabet. They feel confident in their ability to accomplish tasks and are willing to explore and to try new things.
When children step into ALA’s Kinder Prep classroom, they enter a world of play, pleasure, excitement and discovery. They enter a world where they are surrounded by an environment of rich literature, meaningful math, and they are encouraged to discover the world around them. These young minds and personalities will also learn the social and emotional skills that will prepare them for Kindergarten and for life. They will learn how to interact with one another better, how to problem solve, and how to relate to others in a positive way.
School Hours:
Kinder Prep students attend school on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 am to 1:30 pm. but may arrive as early as 8:30.
Class Focus:
During the school year, your child will have many opportunities to learn valuable and exciting new skills in a fun, hands-on environment. A few of the skills we will work on this year include themes and curriculum which revolve around these:
• Discovery, curiosity and inquiry approach to learning
• Increased ability to follow a routine and structure in a school setting
• Cognitive and Motor Development including “Task Cards”—areas preschool children are working to master before Kindergarten.
• Introduction to valuable math and reading skills
• An “I Can” attitude in the child who feels confident and capable of many things with initiative, and positive self image
• A feeling of belonging, love and respect
• Continuing development in social/emotional skills
• A deeper understanding of the gospel—A particular emphasis is placed on the fact that we are children of God, discovering what this truly means and how we apply that knowledge into our daily lives and interactions, building upon core values that will be a personal guide for life
• Ability to solve problems
• Opportunity to express individuality and uniqueness
• Confidence in taking part in group experiences
• Love of good literature, story telling and pretend play
• Art, music and sign-language are heavily integrated into the classroom to create lasting memories and a stronger learning experience.
Class Principle & Hero/ Leadership and Character
American Legacy Academy was founded to provide parents and children a setting where the study of all knowledge could be enjoyed from a spiritual perspective. Our curriculum is designed to show His hand in all things, and in the lives of all individuals throughout history. This helps the students recognize their decision to do their best in all they do. Our Kinder Prep class enjoys learning scriptures stories and principles of character from all our books of scripture.
Our Focus Principle for the year is FAITH.
The Hero given the greatest focus throughout the year is NEPHI.
Our first memory work is: 1 Nephi 3:7 “I will go and do the things which the Lord has commanded…”
Class Motto:
"Quickly I'll Obey!"
Throughout the school year, we will refer to the class motto frequently as a way to help us determine which choices we should make. At American Legacy Academy, we place a strong emphasis on self-government. Our class motto serves as support to the self-governing principle that is developing in each child.Class Motto:
Christian Character and Leadership Principles: As faith is the foundation for all good works and the focus principle for our Preschool (Kindergarten Prep Class), it is an important thread throughout the year.
Sept: Faith and Friendship
Oct: Faith, Dependability and Divine Potential
Nov: Faith and Conscience
Dec: Faith, Self-Government and Manners
Jan: Faith, Sharing and Unity
Feb: Faith, Unity and Patriotism
March: Faith and Honesty
April: Faith, Obedience and Example
May: Faith, Service and Joy
CURRICULUM:
Devotional:
Devotional is taught daily. During Devotional your child will learn more about values, scripture stories and gospel principles in a way that tenderly teaches them to invite and respect the Spirit yet in an interactive and engaging manner. The goal in devotional is not only to teach the story and principles that are of great value to the child, but to guide them to understand and apply the principles and values in their own lives.
Children Around the World:
Twice a month children “go on a trip” to a country on one of the continents. They learn about the language, dress, flag, temple(s), resources, music, food, and etc. of the country and peoples where they “visit”.
September: Africa
October: Asia
November: South America
December: Christmas around the world
January: Antarctica
February: North America
March: Europe
April: Australia
Learning the Letters and Sounds and the Alphabet Box:
At ALA we use The Writing and Spelling Road to Reading and Thinking (Riggs) as our foundational program. Many hands on and kinesthetic activities are incorporated so that visualization and comprehension is learned.
Beginning the first week of school, children will study a letter of the alphabet and the sound(s) associated with it. Each child will have several opportunities to take home the Alphabet Box. When your child comes home with the box, please gather items from around your home that begin with the letter of the week and which represent each sound the letter makes. Be creative, children love new items and fun things to see or taste! The box will need to be returned the following Kinder Prep day.
Literature:
Classic literature is taught and treasured at ALA. It supports our Leadership and Character Development Program and every subject of the curriculum. Your child is welcome to bring one stuffed animal to leave at school for story time. It is always enjoyable and relaxing to curl up to a great story with your favorite stuffed animal friend.
Kitchen:
Please inform the teacher of any food (or other) allergies on the first day of school. This is very important to know as we prepare to have a year full of cooking and exploring different types of food.
Science:
Kindergarten Prep students undertake simple experiments and learn the process of scientific inquiry. Each lesson allows students to develop hypotheses, conduct experiments, make observations, collect data, and test the accuracy of their hypotheses.
Math:
Manipulatives and enrichment activities are foundational at the Kinder Prep stage of teaching and learning math. The Right Start is an Asian based math program which is used in Kinder Prep through the 4th Grades at ALA. Its specialized abacus is an important tool in teaching many math concepts in the early grades. Other manipulatives used in the Kinder Prep class give the child opportunities for discovery of relationships and patterns.
Notebooks:
Each year at American Legacy Academy, the students complete what is known as a “Notebook.” The Notebook is a compilation of their best work throughout the year. In preschool, however, the children enjoy taking their work home that day to show to their family. It is important for them to have the opportunity to “show off” their work and share what they are learning with their families. Therefore, Notebooks will not be kept in preschool. It is recommended that you keep a binder at home to put your child’s work in so at the end of the year he/she will have a collection of the year’s work.
Task Cards:
Each month a task card will be sent home which includes a list of things for you to work on with your child, and a tracking sheet to fill out each time a new shill is learned. Students’ progress in these specific areas will not be tracked at school, but these skills will be supported by school activities. Please work with your child on these tasks at home for mastery, as these skills are very important for Kindergarten preparation.
Discipline:
Establishing good classroom discipline is essential to each child’s success, confidence and well-being. Every child should feel that the classroom environment is safe and secure. In addition, it is important that each child learns to develop self discipline and good work habits, to resolve conflicts peacefully, and to think independently. For these reasons ALA’s discipline has three components.
First, children will learn the purpose of classroom rules and develop the idea that the classroom and school are a community with the common purpose of learning, growing and becoming friends. Through class discussions and rule making, the children and teacher decide on the classroom rules that protect each student’s right to safety and respect, as well as outline the responsibilities that each child has in maintaining class order. New rules are added if the need arises. Prevention is always the first step.
The second facet of good discipline includes helping the children “in the moment”, use their words appropriately to express their feelings and then help them come up with the appropriate course of action. There is nothing wrong with a child feeling hurt, upset, angry, disappointed, jealous, and etc., but how they act when these feelings arise is what they are learning at this early age.
The third component is the logical consequences that will occur when class/school rules are broken. Examples of logical consequences include cleaning or repairing damaged property, or offering a verbal apology for aggressive behavior, name calling or ridicule towards other children. The idea is for the consequence to be related to the misbehavior and act as a solution or restitution for the problem. If classroom rules are severely or persistently broken, parents will be contacted by phone.