Welcome to the IDS Pre-Kindergarten classroom, a world that is filled with wonder, discovery, creativity, self-expression and exploration. The classroom offers a wealth of toys, tools and materials to engage the child and impart new skills while strengthening self-confidence and independence. Here, in a cheery environment, a child is nurtured and his individuality cherished while he is taught the compassion he is shown.
The Pre-K classroom is a child’s “playground” that fosters the child’s love of learning, builds confidence in each child’s own abilities and also recognizes each one's unique strengths. We incorporate the Responsive Classroom principles, which emphasizes cooperation, assertion, responsibilities, empathy and self-control. The curriculum encompasses the areas of Social/Emotional Development, Artistic Expression, Science, Math, Sensory Exploration and Motor Skills.
Through our theme-oriented curriculum, children delve into subjects that spark the natural curiosity of small children about their world—subjects such as dinosaurs, friendship, the ocean, Asian New Year and other themes that are influenced by the students’ interest. Exposure to family customs, children learn respect and appreciation for others. The students learn and teach about themselves by creating an “All About Me” board that they share with the class on their birthdays. In the process of all this fun, our Pre-Kindergartners are growing into kind, confident, inquisitive students and garnering the phonemic awareness and fine motor skills they need for their next adventure: Kindergarten. They maintain “ pictorial journals” to record their personal thoughts and experiences.
As part of The
Independent Day School, Pre-K children have the opportunity to participate in
activities that are not “typical” of a preschool classroom. Here at IDS, the children attend specials
outside the classroom. Pre-K children participate in a physical education
program twice a week for thirty minutes in our school’s gymnasium. During this thirty-minute period the children
participate in skill building activities and a variety of tag games that
encourage cooperative play. The children
have access to a variety of gym equipment such as: scooters, mats, jump ropes,
balls, Frisbees, parachutes and a new transversal climbing wall.
Other “Specials” include
music/movement class with kindergarten once a week for thirty minutes, Spanish
once a week for fifteen minutes and a weekly visit to the school’ s library,
where each child is given their own library card. The Pre-K class also has Third Grade buddies,
where we get together once a month to read books and work together on community
outreach activities such as creating Valentines for area nursing homes or
collecting books for the “Read To Grow” program in our area.