Giraffe and Young 5’s 4 – 5 yrs (4 prior to Sept. 1)
Mon – Fri 9:00 – 11:55am
Afternoon Enrichment Option Mon-Fri 11:55am – 3pm
Description
The Giraffe class is a Kindergarten readiness program. The school’s educational approach of meeting every child’s individual needs as well as building strengths in cognitive and social/emotional areas continues with a familiar routine. Our entire day is structured with small group learning opportunities along with the choice time and whole class meetings.
At the center of our curriculum and woven throughout classroom activities and themes is a focus on our “natural world.” Children have a natural curiosity to explore and make sense of their world. They find meaning and relevance to their conceptual and skill learning within the predictability and gradual nature of the process of the life cycle. From day to day, season to season everything comes full circle. There is a continuity in all – from the tiny pumpkin seed collected in classrooms in the fall, to the winter drying time, the spring planting, the summer “nurturing,” the fall harvest and the return to school of a new pumpkin.
Program Highlights
Calendar – each day begins with calendar time which is immersed in math, reading readiness, public speaking, science and social studies
Introduction to Sign Language – learning the letter of the week in small groups
Play With a Purpose – Play is an important part of being 4 and turning 5. The Giraffe year is when children develop their focus from “ME” to “WE”. The classroom provides ample opportunities to practice being a part of a classroom community through play
Letter Books – sounding out words that begin with the letter of the week in small groups
Class Books – illustrate and author class books on a regular basis
Did You Know? A weekly word or fact tied to our theme – because it’s great fun to KNOW THINGS!
Space Study – we learn about the planets and report on a chosen planet through words, art, and inquiry
Habitats – we study the needs of a habitat along with the similarities and differences in various habitats beginning with people.
Zoo – applying our habitat knowledge to plan, prepare and provide a zoo for the whole school to visit during Z week!
Life Cycles – discover the life cycle of plants and animals culminating in the raising and release of butterflies!
Monthly Art Class with our Art teacher
Weekly Music Class with our Music teacher
Program Goals
- To develop relationships of mutual trust with adults and peers
- To enjoy playing alone and with other children
- To express ideas through language and symbolic representation in effective and varied ways
- To express interesting and creative ideas, problems, and questions
- To use initiative in pursuing curiosities
- To put ideas of objects into relationships, noting similarities and differences
- To demonstrate persistence in completing a task
- To have confidence in one’s ability to solve problems
- To begin to coordinate different points of view by cooperating and resolving conflicts
- To cope with fears, anxieties and frustrations constructively
- To become increasingly autonomous
- To build awareness of one’s body in space
- To coordinate fine and gross motor skills
- To build a bank of recognized letters of the alphabet beyond those in the child’s name
- To begin building phonemic awareness through practice with books with teachers and in small groups of students