Our “Young 5’s” program is designed for children who turn 5 years old during the spring or summer months who can benefit from a year of growth before entering kindergarten.
Language Arts
Students strengthen their interest in reading and writing in a nurturing and creative environment. With a classroom library, story time, class discussions and the creation of writing journals, students listen to, learn, evaluate and discuss story components. Students convey thoughts, feelings and experiences through their writing and illustration. Through exposure to poetry, children learn to identify rhythm and rhyme and recite poems in front of the class.
Math
Students explore mathematical concepts by creating patterns, sorting, classifying and comparing. They count forward and backward. By drawing, and through interactive lessons, students are introduced to place value, addition and subtraction. They measure and understand length, volume, weight, duration, quantity and mass. Students utilize their recorded data to graph and analyze their results.
Performing Arts
Students have the opportunity to participate in many music and performing arts activities. They learn to use their voices expressively to speak, chant and sing. They experiment with sounds and investigate genres, styles, and periods of music across many cultures. Using their voices and bodies, students learn, apply, and enjoy basic musical concepts.
Physical Education & Swimming
Students gain experience in following directions, learning rules and boundaries, and expanding their physical, mental and social capabilities. With group games, sports and individual skill-building activities, students are given repeated opportunities to be successful and develop gross motor skills.
Science
Students begin researching topics through observation, reading, asking experts and online search. They then share results in various creative and digital presentations. Topics of study are child-driven and may include Harvest, Winter, Pond, and Dinosaurs. Students generate their own questions within each topic, then collaborate, draw conclusions and synthesize information to make new connections. By committee, the students decide on projects to pursue. This teaches them to communicate, collaborate, encourage and support the ideas of others, and to fulfill responsibilities within a group. Students gain environmental awareness through recycling, composting and creating “Green Cleaner” that is used to clean surfaces throughout the School.
Social Studies
With topics including Community, Careers, and Post Office, students will generate questions and research the various aspects that they would like to study and explore. They build social skills and awareness by learning the rules and regulations of the classroom and respecting classmates and materials. As part of a classroom community, students discuss the similarities, differences, and unique characteristics of each child and family. They also learn to say “hello” in multiple languages. To document their understanding of these varied topics, students create memory books and videos.
Spanish
In our introductory Spanish Exposure course, students learn and use basic vocabulary and explore Spanish culture through familiar storybooks, songs and short educational videos. They ask and answer questions about family members, animals, body, food, colors and the seasons by sampling a variety of interactive vocabulary-building activities. Classes are designed in short fun segments to train their ear to the sounds and rhythms of the Spanish language.
Technology
Technology is woven into the daily experience of students through the hands on use of many devices such as iPads and iPods, digital cameras, computers and SMARTBoards. They learn to communicate ideas through photos and videos that they frame and film themselves. Students are able to use SMARTboard technology to project ideas and interact with applications, gaining presentation and leadership skills as they explain their ideas. The SeeSaw app is used independently by students to demonstrate learning as a dynamic ePortfolio for parents. Students in Young 5s have the benefit of one-to-one iPads in the classroom.
Visual Arts
Students travel to the art studio to create and experiment with a wide range of artistic mediums such as paint, clay, colored pencil, chalk and oil pastel as well as unusual items they seek out and find in nature. Students create two- and three-dimensional art, dioramas, drawings and collages. They learn about concepts including lines, forms, color and texture, and explore proportion and space. Students also share, compare and evaluate their work. The class makes a trip to the Akron Art Museum each year.