Bear Cubs – Pre-Kindergarten
Welcome to the Bear Cub Program. The programming in this room is deigned to prepare the children to become successful Kindergarten students. While there is definitely an academic focus, there is still plenty of time dedicated to play, indoors and out, individually and with friends.
Curriculum
The curriculum in the Bear Cubs classroom is based on accepted current early childhood education theory and methodology and is organized around the basic tenet that children learn first about themselves, their close environment and their families, and then build upon that learning to expand their horizons according to interests and experiential opportunities. The curriculum throughout the center, focuses on the developmental needs of the whole child—emphasizing the integration of themes and designed to include opportunities for children to develop in these areas through small and large group activities, self-selected and self-directed independent activities, teacher-initiated activities, time indoors and outdoors, quiet times and active times.
The variety of activities and materials used in the Bear Cub classroom allows children to explore their environment through their senses. To encourage the development of the whole child, Bear Cub teachers select developmentally (or age) appropriate activities from seven main areas of concentration – language arts and early literacy skills, fine motor, large motor, sensory experiences, science and pre-math, self-care and pre-school learning skills. The activities involve thinking, muscle coordination, imagination and problem solving skills which form the building blocks laid in preparation for formal education and higher reasoning used later in life.
The classroom is set-up in centers so the children can choose the activity that they are most interested in during free-play. There are puzzles to put together, blocks to build with and a light table to create on. We have a dramatic play area with lots of dress-up clothes and play objects to pretend with, a cozy quiet area with lots of books to read and a science center to explore. Children learn by playing and exploring their world so we give them lots of opportunities to do so.
Program Highlights
Music & Movement – Bear Cub teachers utilize music enhance their large motor and language arts curriculum. There are instruments to play, tumbling tools (foam blocks, scarves, etc), extra-large balls, rings, and hula hoops. We sing and listen to music at different points during the day; to clean up our toys, to learn new words and to settle in during rest-time.
Spanish – simple Spanish words (counting, colors, foods, objects, conversation and commands). Stories are read and the children sing and play games all in Spanish.
We take walks down to our lower field to collect leaves and other natural objects to look at during science; we have geckos in class to care for and we love acting out the great books we read.