All Starz Children's Academy

Juniors

 

Approximately 3 to 4 years of age

 

Our developmentally appropriate “learning centers” provide the perfect environment for exploration. Different areas for math, manipulatives, science, creative art, language, writing, music and movement, computers, dramatic play, blocks, and sand and water play give each child the opportunity to explore, experiment, and create through a variety of different activities. The children are free to choose the activities in which they are interested, moving from center to center as their interests change.

 

The teachers introduce activities that promote the children to think, reason, question, and problem solve. Small group activities help develop social skills, while whole class projects help children work cooperatively as a team. Creative and imaginative minds are fostered through art and dramatic play. Reading centers, writing folders, and circle time are utilized to encourage a language-rich environment. And we continuously work with the children on listening skills, following directions, sharing, taking turns, and being responsible for their actions and behavior.

 

Like their Sophomore friends, our Juniors continue to follow a daily schedule with mealtimes, nap time, circle time, outdoor play, art and music activities, and trips to the indoor gym. However, there is a significant change in the Junior Program – the introduction of a reading program. With each weekly letter of the alphabet, the children work on the corresponding sounds, words that start with each letter, and practice tracing the letters. As a part of this reading program, we also introduce “Traveling Teddy,” a bear that spends one weekend at home with each child. With help from mom and dad, each child writes about their adventures with Teddy and shares their story with the class during circle time the following Monday.

 

Our Juniors continue to participate in the weekly cooking projects and science experiments. The cooking projects provide opportunities for the children to help measure, mix and prepare tasty treats, while the science experiments provide opportunities to learn how the world works (i.e. what happens when you drop a roll of Mentos mints into a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke?). They also participate in our Sports and Movement Program, which provides weekly opportunities for the children to learn about new sports and practice the basic skills necessary to play each particular sport. Over the course of the school year, our Sports and Movement Program exposes the children to a wide range of sports and activities and helps build coordination, self-esteem, and a life-long love of sports and fitness. Juniors also participate in biweekly "Competition Days" with their Senior friends. Each week poses a new and exciting challenge, such as an obstacle course, a balance-the-egg-on-the-spoon race, or even a friendly game of soccer. Teamwork between classrooms and between individual students is fostered as they work together to accomplish the day's physical activity. They also participate in our Spanish Program, which provides weekly opportunities for the children to practice simple words and phrases in an emergent language session.

 

The student to teacher ratio in our Junior Program is 10:1.

 

 

Activities

 

Cognitive activities include:

• Reviewing the weather, days of the week, months of the year, and birthdays at circle time

• Identifying letters, their corresponding sounds, and words that start with them

• Comparing and contrasting items, sometimes making patterns with those items

 

Language activities include:

• Speaking in full sentences

• Sequencing events like “First the caterpillar eats a lot of leaves. Then it forms a chrysalis. Then a beautiful butterfly hatches.”

• Speaking in front of friends during “Show and Tell”

 

Fine motor activities include:

• Learning to hold a pencil or crayon correctly

• Tracing a dotted line

• Using scissors correctly and cutting simple shapes

 

Gross motor activities include:

• Skipping and galloping

• Throwing, catching, and kicking balls

• Completing obstacle courses

 

Social and emotional activities include:

• Dressing up for pretend play

• Playing cooperative games like “Duck, Duck, Goose”

• Participating in group activities

 

Independence activities include:

• Dressing and putting on coats and shoes

• Following classroom routines independently (i.e. washing hands, cleaning up toys)

• Recognizing own feelings and emotions

 

Art activities include:

• Using different media such as clay, paint, and chalk

• Making masks

• Exploring different techniques, like painting with different tools

 

Music activities include:

• Playing the drum and xylophone

• Singing and moving to the music

• Exploring music and instruments from different cultures

 

Spanish activities include:

• Having circle time and talking about the day’s weather in Spanish

• Learning new vocabulary words each week

• Playing games and singing songs

 

Technology activities include:

• Learning the parts of the computer

• Mastering the use of the mouse - pointing and clicking

• Playing games related to the curriculum theme

 

 

We look forward to helping your preschooler begin their
pre-Kindergarten experience.