Pre-K Program

 

pre-k children with masks they made

Pre-Kindergarten Program

SMNS is so proud of its unique and sophisticated Pre-K program, which honors our focus on the arts and process-oriented learning while addressing the Kindergarten readiness needs of our children and families. Our program develops the academic and pre-academic skills of our children through a classroom experience designed to mimic and introduce the kindergarten classroom experience in content and expectation while ensuring enough flexibility to accommodate all the skill levels of its students.

  • Academic Readiness. We work with the children to broaden the literacy skill building started in early years at SMNS. Pre-K students learn the alphabet with a primary focus on recognition, then written letters and letter sounds. Letter strings and reading may also be a part of the lessons as appropriate for the individual child’s readiness. We also work with children on counting, simple addition and subtraction, measurement, comparison, shapes and scientific concepts. Kindergarten classroom etiquette is an important element of the Pre-K classroom times and we work with the children throughout the year so that each child arrives at Kindergarten ready to learn.
  • The Arts and Self-Expression. Arts are central to the SMNS overarching learning program. The Pre-K class produces three theater performances over the course of the year. The performances are developed from the ground up by the class with characters and lines, music, props and rehearsals. Our visual arts curriculum builds basic visual arts knowledge, collaboration, observation, and critical thinking skills which students carry with them into Kindergarten.
  • Citizenship. The Pre-K experience enhances fundamental SMNS lessons of citizenship by engaging students as not only members of a supportive community, but as leaders and agents responsible for creating and maintaining that community. The teaching staff work with Preschool through Pre-K students to create a forgiving, generous and absolutely loving environment that consistently demonstrates our priority of continually creating a community that is welcoming to all regardless of any perceived obstacle. Area teachers have shared that SMNS students arrive in their Kindergarten classrooms not just as students, but as positively contributing, socially sensitive citizens of a classroom community.

Rising Kindergartener Summer Camp

SMNS offers special programming for our rising Kindergartners starting the week after public schools are out. This program is similar to our school age summer camp program, allowing students to take field trips, weekly walking trips, and participate is special projects. These students also get to benefit from our summer culture program. Rising Kindergarten campers will spend some chunks of time with the school age summer camp as well, allowing them to build relationship with the older children who many of them will join in the following year at local elementary schools and for our School Age Afterschool Program.