ACADEMIC OVERVIEW

TENDER LITTLE SOULS PRESCHOOL

WELCOME TO PRE-K!

Welcome to Preschool, where children embark on their first exciting journey into structured learning. In this warm, nurturing environment, our young learners discover the fundamentals of numbers and letters, setting the stage for future academic success. Through interactive play, art, and storytime, children develop essential motor skills, express creativity, and cultivate a love for learning. We emphasizing social-emotional growth, our program nurtures self-confidence, cooperation, and empathy, forming the basis for successful interpersonal relationships. Under the gentle guidance of our dedicated teachers, Preschool becomes a magical period of exploration and discovery, paving the way for a lifelong journey of learning.

Below, you can find an excerpt of the academics that your child will experience in Pre-K at TLS.

Mrs. Eugenia Stockman

  • Mrs. Stockman grew up in North Carolina, where she attended Lenoir Rhyne University in Hickory, NC, in 1985. She has worked in two different Lutheran schools, and also worked in a church Preschool program in the Hickory area. She began teaching preschool at Trinity in 2013. She has worked in schools and preschools for 33 years.

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  • First and foremost reason I enjoy working at Trinity is that I have the opportunity to share my faith with students and families and have the opportunity to watch them grow academically, emotionally, physically and spiritually.

RELIGION

The Concordia Publishing House Faith Alive curriculum is used to teach the faith to preschool students. Preschoolers daily participate in Jesus Time, which includes Bible stories and action songs. Preschool students learn to identify Jesus as their Savior and best friend.

SOCIAL & PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Preschoolers are taught to develop positive self images, sharing, taking turns, and to help others. They are also taught to practice positive conflict resolution and to forgive others. In our preschool, the students are taught to follow routines and to work and play independently. For many students, preschool may be the child’s first experience being separated from the parents.

ORAL LANGUAGE & LISTENING

Oral language experiences are provided throughout the school day. The teacher engages children in conversation about real experiences, current events, and projects. The teacher listens carefully and responds clearly to the child. Children are given the opportunities to talk with others and to speak to the whole class. They are asked questions regarding our classroom discussions in order to identify whether they have been listening. They are also involved with intergenerational conversations on a monthly basis at the Janesville Nursing Home.

Dramatic play activities are set up to encourage experiences with oral language. Such activities are playing house with friends, acting out stories with puppets or stuffed animals or pretending to be on a bear hunt or a fishing trip.

ALPHABETIC & STORY KNOWLEDGE

Various experiences are provided in the area of written language. The children are read to on a daily basis using books, charts, magazines, etc. Books are available in the classroom library for individual reading experiences.

Children are encouraged to first identify alphabet letters, then to attempt writing both upper and lower case letters. They are taught to recognize their name, address, and phone number, and also attempt the writing of them.

As the children are being read to, they are asked to interpret the illustrations orally with their classmates. They are also encouraged to connect the stories to their own lives. The children begin to recognize story sequence and that stories carry a message. The teacher also works with the children on handling books appropriately.

To help students gain an appreciation of reading, parents are encouraged to read to their children on a daily basis.

MATH

Math concepts are taught through daily routine (snack time, lining up, etc.) and through small group activities.

The students are taught to recognize the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, and brown; to recognize shapes such as circles, squares, triangles, and rectangles; to both recognize patterns and create them; to count objects to ten or more; to count by rote to ten or more; to identify numerals zero to ten out of sequence; to interpret simple bar graphs; to measure both liquids and solids; and to understand the concepts of less and more.

SCIENCE

The preschool children use their senses to discover the world around them through hands-on activities. The children make new realizations about the world they live in. Through the preschool educational themes, the children learn about weather, seasons, their bodies, health and safety, senses, animals, and nature.

SOCIAL STUDIES

In preschool, the students learn:

  • That rules help us get along with others

  • That we can communicate with others in different ways

  • To identify and compare likenesses and differences in physical characteristics

  • That they have feelings, needs, abilities, and skills

MUSIC

Music is incorporated into the preschool day. Children are given the opportunity to sing, play, listen, and move to music. Music is used in all subject matters.

ART

Preschool children learn the skills of cutting and pasting through daily art projects. A variety of media is used such as pencil, crayon, paint, paper, glue, chalk, and others. The children have an opportunity to express their own creativity and style through many different elements of art. Preschool students learn about color, shape and texture.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Children daily take part in activities that promote large and small motor development.

Large motor skills include running, jumping, catching, throwing, walking, hopping, galloping, marching, dancing, and balancing.

To help develop the large motor skills, children use apparatus such as a parachute, scooters, jump ropes, beanbags, and hula hoops.

Children also learn to perform exercise routine to music.

Fine motor skills include lacing, drawing, painting, working with play dough, designing patterns with manipulatives, and cutting and tearing.

To help develop the fine motor skills, the children learn to use glue sticks, paint with brushes, sculpt with play dough, build with legos, put together puzzles, and to use other manipulatives in the classroom.