By the time your child graduates from our 2-year-old class, we expect to see them hit some milestones. Their self-help skills are emerging, and their ability to communicate in an effective way should be noticeable. Verbal communication skills are typical for this age group and reciting the ABC’s and counting from 1-10 are common. As far as fine motor development, We expect the children to be able to put together a 6-piece puzzle, build a tower of 5 or more parts, and use a crayon to color (holding the crayon properly is not mastered at this age). For gross motor skills, they should be able to walk and run, hop on two feet, climb a playground structure, and roll a ball.
By the time your child graduates from our 3-year-old class, we expect to see them hit some major milestones, specifically social/emotional. Putting on and taking off a jacket, eating lunch on their own, and following simple 3 step directions are common accomplishments of this age group. Children at this age are typically able to separate from their caregivers with ease and verbally communicate their needs to their teachers and peers in a healthy manner. They can engage in activities with others, form friendships, and work together. As far as academic development, they can count from 1-20, recite the alphabet, and participate during circle time. Fine motor skills are continuing to emerge and manipulating crayons/paintbrushes/markers is becoming easier.
By the time your child leaves our Pre-K program, they should be prepared to tackle Kindergarten and all the changes that it entails. Their attention span is far greater, allowing them to engage in circle time for up to 20 minutes. They are creating strong relationships with other children and learning about empathy. They are learning sight words, writing and reciting the letters of the alphabet (capital and lowercase), counting from 1 to 100, and writing number 1-20. They can appropriately cut with scissors, manipulate a marker or pencil properly, and put together a puzzle containing as many as 48 pieces. The teachers review the calendar daily so the children should easily know the days of the week and the months of the year. Gross motor development is almost mastered, and children of this age can easily ride a tricycle, climb the playground structure, balance on one foot, and throw and catch a ball. One of the most important goals in this class is to make sure that the children are prepared for a more academically focused environment, with more structure than in previous years.
The goal for our Kindergarten class is to offer a curriculum that mirrors what you would see in a public school setting, but with more individualized attention due to the class size. As far as academic goals are concerned, children in our Kindergarten class should be able to properly write with a pencil, read some very basic books and sentences, and assume some straightforward math concepts. The school day is a little further controlled to allow for more focused academic learning time. Children spend more time at a desk/table than on the carpet, and they are typically able to follow classroom expectations that are a bit more stringent. We are blessed with access to our main facility so the children will spend time in our STEM lab and receive some focused physical education in our gym. We encourage creative exploration as well as academics and self-select/free-play time is still very much a part of their day.
*Please note that these anticipated milestones are considered typical based upon age. We recognize that some children will need additional support in reaching these milestones, and we are deeply committed to encouraging every individual child in their journey. Our teachers are trained to meet a child at their level and find ways to inspire growth and development in every distinct child. In addition, if we recognize that a child might need more elevation than we are teaching to the group as a whole, we can easily work with that child to find ways to challenge them.
