The Philosophy of St. Joseph's Preschool

There is no greater gift from God than our precious children. We consider it an honor to be given the opportunity to assist children to grow and mature both personally and spiritually. We believe that our primary goal as educators is to provide an environment where children will feel safe and are encouraged to explore and learn naturally without fear of failure. Learning is a process of exploration, trial and error, and the ability to look at problems from more than one direction. By teaching children how to discover, we will equip them with skills for life long learning.  We will strive to create learners who possess confidence and love of knowledge.

Program Goals

The focus of St. Joseph's preschool is God centered. We will provide an environment that will facilitate the child's development on spiritual, physical, intellectual and emotional levels. We will strive to:

* assist the child in developing a personal relationship with God

 * assist the child in developing a positive self image and self-confidence

* foster the child's thirst for knowledge and the joy of learning

* encourage respect for multi-cultural diversity

* provide the opportunity to develop the social skills needed to assimilate into peer groups.

 * provide ample opportunities for both structured and open-ended learning experiences,facilitated through a wide array of hands-on and manipulative materials.

* maintain small size classes with appropriate adult-to-child ratio

* prepare the child for future success in school

Curriculum:

The curriculum will be the road map, which will guide us through the school year. It is our goal to help the children learn about God, themselves and the world around them. By creating multi-disciplinary lessons we will help your child achieve this goal.

 The program will provide play based learning experiences to meet the individual developmental, social and intellectual needs of the children. The curriculum will include skills and concepts taught in a sequential manner. Children will be presented with beginning concepts and will be guided to advancing these concepts to a more complex level. Their conceptual ability will be nurtured to progress from the concrete to the abstract. We understand that each of the children will be operating at a different developmental and interest level. We will structure the lessons to begin at the level where they can function comfortably and help them to advance to higher levels of thinking.

Curriculum Outline:

Large and small muscle activities

Language Arts: stories, fingerplays, early reading and writing skills

Music and movement

Science and exploration

Math Skills

 Multi-cultural Awareness

 Religious Education Pflamm.com

Social and Communication skills

Sessions:

3 Year Old Program:
(for children who will be at least 3 on or before December 1st of the year enrolled)
Tuesday and Thursday:
Morning Session
9:00-11:30 AM
Afternoon Session
12:30-3:00 PM

4 Year Old Program:
(for children who will be at least 4 on or before December 1st of the year enrolled)
Monday, Wednesday, Friday:
Morning Session
9:00-11:30 AM
Afternoon Session
12:30-3:00 PM
Tuesday and Thursday
Afternoon Session
12:30-3:00 PM
Monday - Friday
 Afternoon Session
12:30-3:00 

Entrance Requirements:

Children enrolled in the 4 year Old Program must be at least 4 on or before December 1st of the year enrolled.

Children enrolled in the 3 Year Old Program must be at least 3 on or before December 1st of the year enrolled