Preschool

Preschool Program (2 1/2 – 3 1/2-Year-Olds: - "Jumpstart"                 (for Preschool (3 ½ - 5 Year Olds) click here)

Designed to inspire your child to create, move, and interact, the Jumpstart preschool curriculum is a planned program, which is separated into monthly thematic units. Teachers help your three-year-old child make discoveries for themselves. During the theme Family and Feelings, children will listen to stories, such as The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. They’ll have fun creating and eating funny faces made from fruit, drawing while listening to different genres of music, and acting out different emotions. Skills and concepts learned in this preschool program are reinforced and extended in our classrooms throughout the year.

With our Jumpstart class we encourage the “I can do it!” attitude of your child with countless new experiences waiting to be explored.

Areas of Development

The Jumpstart preschool curriculum focuses on your three-year-old child’s primary areas of development.

Communication and Language Development: Communication entails more than just speaking words; it’s expressing thoughts, wants, and needs. Communication also involves listening and understanding what others are saying. Jumpstart offers children many opportunities to express their thoughts and opinions with their friends and teachers. Children will be immersed in a print-rich environment, boosting their preliteracy skills.

Social and Emotional Development: As children become preschoolers, their social and emotional skills need the guidance of a nurturing teacher. Jumpstart is full of activities designed to increase children’s independence, allow them to become more confident in their abilities, and prompt them to play a responsible role in their classroom community.

Physical Skills: Jumpstart focuses on all gross motor skills, which strengthen the large muscle groups of the body, including arms and legs. Gross motor skills include jumping, kicking, throwing and catching a ball, and demonstrating balance. Children will be encouraged to participate in many favorite childhood games, such as Animal Races; Red Light, Green Light; and Duck, Duck, Goose. Fine motor skills, which include the smaller muscle groups, such as fingers and hands, are also a focus of Jumpstart. Three-year-olds will enjoy strengthening their fine motor skills through finger painting, sculpting with clay, and doing finger plays.

Cognitive Development: Jumpstart addresses three-year-olds’ increasing cognitive skills, which include problem solving and logical thinking. Children will be encouraged to use their creativity and curiosity when they encounter new tasks, such as building a city out of blocks. To develop logical-thinking skills, All About Kids’ teachers read carefully selected children’s books throughout the day, encouraging the children to answer questions and express opinions about the stories.

Math and Science Skills Development: Jumpstart also focuses on math and science tasks, which are vital school readiness skills. Children will be introduced to patterning, classifying, and identifying shapes. The teachers will provide many hands-on opportunities for children to explore colors, animals, plants, and other important science topics.

Character Education: At All About Kids, we believe it is important to introduce children to a wide variety of character traits. Each month, a value, such as humor or trust, is presented to your child throughout the day. Teachers will sing "Willie the Worm" or read Silly Sally by Audrey Wood to promote humor in the classroom. Humor helps children deal with their emotions and interact successfully with their friends.