We are very excited to announce a brand new curriculum at FPC Preschool for the 2024/2025 school year…Learning Without Tears! We are also excited to announce FPC Preschool’s new Curriculum Coordinator, Lauren Loftis (“Mrs. Lo”). We are excited to welcome Mrs. Lo back to FPC Preschool in this very special role. Mrs. Lo will be helping to coordinate and implement our new Learning Without Tears program at FPC Preschool. Our teachers will begin training on this new program in January 2024 and we will be implementing it in our classrooms beginning September 2024.
Get Set for School®from Learning Without Tears® was designed specifically for the preschool years by Occupational Therapists.
Our FPC Preschool teachers — with decades of experience recognizing and nurturing each child's gifts and working with them to set goals — are ready to help our students establish the roots for future success through this new comprehensive curriculum that is balanced with opportunities for exploration, play and celebrations of cultural diversity.
This nationally recognized curriculum introduces writing with child-friendly teaching strategies, such as using music and movement to bring lessons to life, and multisensory manipulatives to build fine and gross motor skills. Lessons teach body awareness, cooperation, taking turns, listening, crayon grip, letter and number recognition, and capital letter and number formation.
Readiness & Writing– This is the core of Get Set for School. The handwriting component is based on more than 25 years of success with Handwriting Without Tears. Writing requires many skills that are essential for school: physical, language, cognitive, and perceptual. We use music, movement, and multisensory manipulatives to teach the core readiness skills including crayon grip, letter and number recognition, number and capital letter formation, and body awareness.
Language & Literacy-This program wonderfully complements the writing program. We use dramatic play, singing, finger plays, manipulatives, and movement to teach children to rhyme, clap syllables, make and break compound words, and identify sounds. We expose children to rich literature to foster a love of reading, build vocabulary, and learn how books work. Children learn facts from informational text. They learn to use new words and develop oral language skills by listening, retelling , and narrating stories. They also learn that there is meaning in the words they say as they watch what teachers write and what they say.
Numbers & Math– This program is a natural extension of the Get Set for School readiness program and helps children build number sense right from the start. We use manipulatives, music, and rhymes to teach counting, comparisons, spatial awareness, patterning, sequencing, matching, sorting, problem solving, and even Pre-K geometry skills. Lessons give children time to play with real objects and test their ideas so that math becomes real and meaningful. Children also develop oral language that helps them learn about and express math concepts.
Our classes explore many different concepts and themes throughout their year together. While at preschool the children participate in circle time, center activities, art, sensory experiences, fine/gross motor challenges, literacy, math, science, music and outdoor play. Our preschool program provides opportunities for a variety of experiences through which your child:
Makes progress toward better social adjustments
Learns to give and take and to assume responsibilities in a group
Develops manipulative skills and acceptable work habits
Learns to listen and follow directions
Grows in their ability to think for themselves, communicate verbally, and to express themselves freely through music and art activities
Learns to respect others, their rights, and property
Strengthens the foundation upon which is built a storehouse of understanding, skills, and attitudes throughout his/her school experience
Grows in their understanding and appreciation for God's love
Letterland is a phonics-based approach to teaching reading, writing, and spelling. It will be used on an age appropriate level in all classrooms. It's a fun child-centered approach to learning letters and sounds that further helps prepare your child for kindergarten. Letterland is currently used in grades K-2 in most schools in the area, so experiencing it in preschool helps your child prepare for the transition to elementary school.