A Pre-K Day

Welcome and Read Aloud

We start our day with a welcome song, poem, or game, our morning message, and a read aloud. This Is a large group time, where everyone starts the day on the carpet together. We focus on social emotion skills, literacy, math, and science through interdisciplinary discussions and games.

Connect

Our Connect time helps us to make connections with our classmates and our learning. We sing songs, play games, ask questions, and do finger plays. Often, our Connect relates to our Small Group or Read Aloud. It is a way for us to make connections with our learning and each other.

Free Choice

Did you know that it takes kids up to 45 minutes to become fully immersed in their play? At Little Hornets, we have at least one hour of uninterrupted free play in our classrooms so that students are able to explore, create, and connect. Children learn through play, we support this by having at least 8 centers for children to explore.

Snack/Lunch

Snacks are provided in all programs. The half day programs have one snack, while the full day programs offer two. Lunch may be provided or purchased from the school, depending on which program you choose. We focus on teaching students to make healthy choices for their bodies. Additionally, we focus on independent skills like opening packages, asking for help, and more.

Fast Focus

Fast Focus time is FAST! We spend a few minutes working on dedicated skills in a large group setting. These include letters, numbers, shapes, finger plays, informational texts about things that we are interested in and more. Our Fast Focus time allows us to work on foundational skills in fun and engaging ways every day!

Planning and Recall

Planning is an important skill that we focus on in order to build forethought and the ability to look towards the future. Before Free Choice, we ask students to make a plan for the day. Where would you like to play? Who would you like to play with? What toys might you use? Etc. After Free Choice or at the end of the day, we think back about our plan and ask ourselves, did we do what we said we would? How did it change? What might I want to play with next time that I missed out on today? Etc. These skills help children to focus on self-regulation and

Outdoor Time

We have a dedicated playground for our students. Included on our playground you will find swings, climbing equipment, balls, chalk, science tools, books, a sandbox, and more. We have at least 30 minutes for outdoor time in our 1/2 day programs and at least 2 30 minute outdoor periods in our full day programs. Our program is also lucky enough to have a dedicated gym space that we can use for inclement weather or special occasions.

Rest

Rest and recalibration of our bodies is so important! Learning how to calm our bodies helps us to regulate our emotions and have fun in school. Our full day classes have at least 45 minutes dedicated to rest time each day. During this time, students are able to sleep, listen to calming music, or look at books. Each child has their own cot and may bring some comfort from home to help them rest.

Heggerty

Over the years, we have discovered that there are key foundational skills that our students need to be successful in reading and writing in the future. Our Heggerty program is used in Preschool and the Elementary school to focus on some of those foundational skills. It is a short 5-7 minute period where we work on rhyming, hearing sounds in words, first sounds, last sounds, poems, concepts of print, and more.

Small Group

During Small Group we work on specific learning goals that help us to build foundational skills. These include literacy, math, social studies, science, cognitive skills, and social emotional skills. We do this through games, activities, books, and role plays. Our Small Groups are fun and engaging; they are one of our favorite parts of the day!