Little Way Preschool

Our dedicated staff will ensure that your child’s first school experience is a safe, happy and memorable one that will be the bridge from home to preschool and from preschool into kindergarten.  Your child’s class will be taught by one of our educated and experienced teachers along with a caring and qualified assistant teacher.  We strive to maintain low teacher/student ratios and our staff is trained in First Aid and CPR.  Each class maintains the teachings of the Catholic Faith through learning the Sign of the Cross, daily prayers, learning about the Saints and observing Holy Days.  Our primary religious focus is on the principle that we are all God's children.  The Catholic Church has always been a proponent of providing children with quality education and Little Way Preschool continues that tradition.

Little Way Preschool uses the Core Knowledge Curriculum which develops a strong foundation of skills in our preschoolers that they build upon each year.  Every child in the three-year-old and Pre-K classes is given their own Core Knowledge Activity Book.  This allows the child to learn a new skill and then gain a feeling of independence and mastery as they put into action what they have learned.  The developmentally appropriate content within this curriculum is designed to sequence from the previous school year.  This allows our teachers to be more effective and creative in helping each child to reach their specific goals.  To learn more about our dynamic curriculum, visit CoreKnowledge.org.

In our nurturing two-year old classroom your child will experience being away from home for the first time.  In a loving environment they will adjust to being with new caregivers and friends.  They will learn social skills such as sharing and taking turns.  They will develop their gross motor skills by playing outside, dancing, making music with instruments and playing with toys. They will develop fine motor skills by painting, squishing play-dough and using other art materials. They will develop self-awareness skills, patience and good manners along with a basic knowledge of colors, shapes, numbers and letters which will get them prepared for our three-year old class!

Expanding on their foundation from their experience in the two-year old class, they will develop their social skills by participating in smaller-group play and classroom activities.  Gross motor skills will continue to grow as they take part in activities such as obstacle courses, movement and coordination and teacher directed games.  Self-esteem will be enhanced and language encouraged through reading aloud, music and dramatic play activities. Fine motor skills will continue to strengthen through the use of manipulatives, puzzles, and cutting with safety scissors along with beginning to hold pencils correctly.  The children will begin working from their Core Knowledge Activity Books.  This is where the process of positive approaches to learning and good work habits begins.  Using their memory skills and following the teachers’ directions they will gain a feeling of accomplishment upon completing the activity in their book.  This sets the foundation for them to be successful in the four-year old class!

Kindergarten readiness is a primary focus in the Pre-K classrooms.  Building upon the foundation they acquired in their previous years, the children will advance in each of the critical learning domains.  As emergent writers, children will be taught the correct way to hold a writing instrument and learn the various writing strokes needed for writing letters and numbers correctly.  Children will be able to recognize numbers 1-20 at minimum, as well as recognize all letters of the alphabet. They will learn to write their first and last names using uppercase and lowercase letters appropriately, know their birth date and address as well as understand classroom etiquette. Activities are designed to promote memory skills, phonetic awareness, reading readiness and comprehension.   Concepts in math include number recognition, patterns, one-to-one correspondence, sorting and classifying, adding and subtracting.  In the four year old classrooms the children will also learn Spanish through songs, activities and in classroom conversation.  Along with the continued development of the children’s gross motor skills, one of the most important things we do in the Pre-K class is of course, play!

*The 5 day, Pre-K program includes an “enhancement” day each Friday.  A monthly theme will be explored in a fun and unique way.  Topics will include visual arts, science, music and movement, cooking, drama and more!