What to expect in Pre-Kindergarten 3 and 4
The St. Mark’s Pre-Kindergarten program is designed to ensure that each child’s individuality is recognized. Students provide academic excellence in a Christian environment.
Chapel is once a week for Pre-K 4. Enrichment classes with specialized teachers include Spanish and Music once a week.
Students have art class and computer class every week and recess daily.
St. Mark’s has developed a curriculum for pre-reading and pre-writing skills that includes use of the Scott Foresman Reading Street Program. This program consists of shared reading, big books, trade books, songs and rhymes. It allows the introduction of letters out of alphabetic sequence—which fosters true letter recognition skills and introduces letter tracing and copying techniques. The handling of crayons, scissors and pencils helps develop small motor skills critical to handwriting success. Simple reading books with accompanying poetry and phonemic awareness activities reinforce letter sounds and recognition. Phonics is integrated by using Sadlier Phonics.
Our Math program is truly age appropriate and includes use of repetitious terminology, mathematical concepts and manipulatives. Concepts such as counting, sorting, patterning, classifying, determining what comes before and after, shapes and colors are just a few of the many ways our pre-kindergarteners learn math. They are exposed to the calendar daily, as well as the counting of days, months and seasons.
Pre-Kindergarten is a good introduction for group experience for our four year old students. To encourage positive socialization, St. Mark’s School emphasizes good listening skills, respect for others, sharing and the ability to function as a member of a group.
The following units help bolster social self-confidence and enable the student’s development of large motor skills:
- Community Helpers
- Our Senses
- The Family/Holidays
- Healthy Bodies
- Maps & Geography
- Growing things
- A Fiesta celebrating the Spanish language
Some of our out-of-classroom learning experiences may include field trips to:
- The Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze
- Easter outing
Students spend plenty of time outside every day, weather permitting, and have healthy snacks every day