PRE-KINDERGARTEN

Goals and Curriculum

Spiritual Development

The goal of the religion curriculum in Pre-K is to provide the children with many opportunities to:

• develop positive attitudes about themselves, their families, and their friends by discovering and learning about
  the many gifts, talents, and abilities that God has given them;
• increase their knowledge and practice of Christian actions towards others such as taking turns, listening,
  helping, waiting, caring, sharing, loving, and thanking others;
• be able to recite the Sign of the Cross as well as simple prayers.

Social/Emotional Development

Our goal is to provide a nurturing, caring environment that fosters the development of a strong self-concept, a healthy respect for others, and a positive attitude towards learning. Within this caring environment, the child will have a variety of opportunities to develop the ability to:

• share and take turns;
• play cooperatively;
• help with simple tasks;
• give help to other children when asked;
• cooperate with others in the classroom;
• care for his/her own physical needs;
• assume independent responsibility for completing tasks.

Physical Development

The purpose of the physical education program in Pre-K is to enable the children to develop their physical abilities, self-esteem, and the ability to follow directions. These are accomplished by providing the children with numerous experiences that will enable them to:

• develop an awareness of their bodies and how they relate to their surroundings.
• increase large muscle coordination to allow for skillful walking, running, and jumping.
• develop and strengthen eye hand coordination and to gain the necessary small muscle control needed to facilitate their emerging writing skills.

Language and Cognitive Development

Our goal is to provide the children with a variety of experiences that encourage them to learn through discovery and problem solving, and to give each child a head start to reading, writing, and reasoning. Through these experiences the children will be able to:

• express thoughts and ideas in complete sentences;
• follow simple and multi-step directions;
• develop reading readiness skills;
• develop math readiness skills.

All of these goals will be met in a non-pressured environment through a combination of individual, small group, and whole group activities. We recognize that playing in a well planned, organized setting provides many learning opportunities. The children will attain these goals through art activities, dramatic play experiences, singing songs, listening to stories, playing with puzzles and blocks, playing games, and by having classroom visitors. Throughout the year, our program will be divided into numerous units. Each of the units will include a variety of activities that will enable the children to participate in hands-on experiences, allowing them the opportunity to develop and refine their understanding of the world around them.

Significant Projects

One of the strong points of our program is that we work very closely with the kindergarten class. In doing so, we attempt to provide the experiences necessary so that the children can gain the skills that the kindergarten teacher believes are essential for a successful kindergarten experience. In addition, the children become very familiar with the kindergarten teacher and the classroom, making their transition to kindergarten easier and smoother. Each week we get together with our kindergarten friends and have fun with musical activities and games or a special art project. In addition, each year we collaborate on a special two-week unit together.

As part of Saint Ann School's commitment to creating a fully integrated technology curriculum, the Preschool Program takes advantage of our Technology Partnership with the University of Richmond and Boston University. Through age appropriate lessons and activities, our students have the opportunity to practice skills in mathematics, language arts and keyboarding.

The children who attend preschool 5 full days are provided with Spanish as an enrichment opportunity. During weekly Spanish activities they are introduced to simple words, songs and games.

The 4-year-old class participates in our school's music program and takes part in our school-wide Christmas Pageant. They also participate in our Grandparents' Day celebration.

Barbara Plasky

Housatonic Community College
A.S. Early Childhood Education
C.D.A. Teaching Credential

Barbara has been involved in the Saint Ann Pre-K program since its inception in 1990.  She spent five years as an aide before assuming the role of teacher in 1995.  Prior to joining the Saint Ann faculty Barbara ran a home day care for eight years.

Barbara and her husband Robert have three children, Saint Ann alums Christopher (Class of 1995) and Elizabeth (Class of 1999) and Anna, who is currently a seventh grader at Saint Ann’s.

Spending time with her family tops the list of Barbara’s favorite things.  Her hobbies include sewing, cooking and traveling.

Barbara believes that “it is important to provide children with a nurturing environment that allows them to grow spiritually, socially, emotionally and intellectually.”  She feels that this goal can best be achieved in “an atmosphere that creates many opportunities for children to explore, question, and discover new things about themselves and their relationship to the world around them.  It is important for children to develop an awareness of God and his love for us.”  Barbara feels strongly that a Pre-K teacher should present her students with “a variety of experiences that will provide them with the kindergarten readiness skills necessary to help ensure a successful school experience.”

Jennifer McAndrew - Aide

Jennifer has been involved at Saint Ann School since 1997, when her son Billy started Kindergarten. She has been the Pre-K Aide to Mrs. Plasky since 2002. 

Jennifer and her husband Kevin live in Milford and have two children; Billy, a 2004 alum of Saint Ann School, is a senior at Jonathan Law High School and Megan, a Saint Ann School sixth grader.  

Jen’s hobbies include reading a good book, baking with the kids, walking and enjoying quality time with her family. She also enjoys spending family vacation time at Disney World and Boca Raton in Florida. Currently, she is the Saint Ann School Bowling Club parent moderator.