Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum

Welcome to Covenant Christian Academy’s Pre-K Program. Our curriculum and instruction is interactive, age-appropriate, and responsive to the interest and development of the whole child: intellectually, spiritually, socially, and emotionally.
 
Attached is a brief description of the skills we will introduce and progressively work on throughout the year. In addition to the academic areas, we will focus on building the child’s social awareness; working together, waiting our turn, listening and interacting with peers, and being part of a group. Also through the integration of our lessons and activities we will capitalize on developing skills in fine motor and gross motor coordination.
 
Together with you the parents, we are excited to watch these precious children grow and develop throughout the school year.
 
We welcome any questions you may have at any time.
 
Literacy
 
CCA lower school uses the language arts program, Reading Street by Scott Foresman. This program is a comprehensive literacy program and is organized into the following strands: Oral Language, Shared Reading, Letters and Sounds, and Shared Writing/Speaking and Listening. Through numerous print rich activities and literature, Reading Street encourages the development of Print Awareness, Comprehension, Letter Knowledge, Phonemic Awareness, and beginning Writing.
 
Letter Lessons
 
Each week we will focus on a “Letter of the Week.” These weekly lessons will help the children identify the capital and lower case forms of the letter as well as the sound it makes. Our letter of the week skills are done through various print rich activities including stories, writing, manipulatives, and artwork. Children will also work on identifying their names (first and last) and writing their names with capital and lower case letters.
 
Math Concepts
 
During our Math time, the children will learn to identify numbers and develop number sense. We will also practice to count by 1’s, 2’s and 5’s, and backwards. In addition to these number skills the children will also learn about patterns and graphing. Through various activities the children will identify and create patterns. They will also learn how to sort and classify various objects. All these skills and activities will be taught using manipulatives such as beans, bears, or blocks. Later in the school year, we will introduce some simple addition sentences.
 
Themes
 
Throughout the year we will focus on some seasonal themes. Below is a list of some of the themes we hope to explore.
 
   Apples
   Seasons
   Pumpkins
   Community Helpers
   Trees
   Hibernation and Migration
   Space
   Ocean Animals
   Rain Forest Animals
   Farm Animals
   Dinosaurs
   Seeds and Plants
   Bugs
   Going off to Kindergarten!
 
A Bible theme will also be explored each month. These themes will be related to other themes being studied and will include a monthly Bible verse. Some of these themes may include: Moses, The Ten Commandments, Fruits of the Spirit, and Creation.
 
Each month we will have a featured author of the month. We will read various stories throughout our day by different authors but will highlight one author each month. For example, in October we will read several books by Eric Carle and focus on his illustrations and story style. Poetry and song will also be a big part of the day.
 
Circle Time
 
Each morning will start with a Circle Time. During Circle, we will greet your child, review the months of the year, days of the week, count, recognize a pattern, dress “Weather Bear,” read jobs for the day, and pray. Also your child will have an opportunity to share outside events.
 
We have a class bear named “Cocoa” who will go home with a different child each week. During the visit, the children are encouraged to draw and “write” about their adventures with the class bear. The children will share the journal during circle time.
 
Activity Time
 
Play is an important part of the day at this level. During Activity Time, the children are asked to choose an activity to play. The children will be able to socialize, make choices and compromises, interact with their peers, and display respect for both their classmates as well as their classroom. Good social skills are emphasized and reinforced. Lots of decisions and independence are exercised during this time. This is perhaps one of the most important times of the day for Preschool aged children. Many times during Activity Time we will spend one-on-one time with the children to reinforce things we are learning at school.
 
Specialists
 
On Wednesday we join Mrs. Whitlinger in the Music Room for Music class. We participate in all school concerts.
 
On Friday will go to the Library with Mrs. Bergeron and have a Gym time. Please remember to have your child wear sneakers and appropriate clothing for gym class.
 
Snack and Lunch
 
Part of our school time will be snack and lunch. Bringing a lunch box to school is very special and fun. Please pack a snack and a lunch that does not require refrigeration. A cold pack will be sufficient to keep things cold.
 
For snack, please pack a small healthy snack and juice box or water bottle. Please be sure to provide 2 drinks each day, one for snack and one for lunch. Also upon arrival, please separate the snack from lunch and place it out in front of your child’s lunch box in their cubby. This will help the children select the right items for their snack. We will have snack around 9:45 AM. and lunch around 11:45 AM. Children participating in PKED will need an additional snack & drink for the afternoon.
 
Parent Communication
 
Each week you will receive a newsletter about some of the things we did at school. Please use this newsletter to talk with your child about what they are doing at school. The newsletter will give you a good idea of the stories we read, concepts we learned, and what is coming up for the next week. I will give you as much information as possible. If at any time you have a question about anything, please drop us a note in your child’s red folder, email me or call me. I will respond as soon as possible. Good open communication between teachers and parents is important to your child’s success at school. I am always open and available to talk about anything that may arise throughout the year.
 
Conferences and Progress Reports
 
During the school year you will receive three progress reports as well as a scheduled parent-teacher conference. Progress Reports are sent home in December, March and June. Formal conferences are held in December; however I am available to set up other conference times as needed.