Arvada, CO
St Joan Of Arc Early Learning Center

"Curriculum development is an ongoing process. We have developed (and continue to develop) our program based on six key elements that provide the framework for our approach to teaching your child. We hold parent/ guardian-teacher conferences twice a year in November and May regarding these elements.

The first element involves determining how children learn. Two paths can be followed, one is to create activities based on children’s interests and the other is to create activities based upon what children need to know about God and to get along in our world. These two approaches need not be exclusive of each other, and our position is to provide a combination of both approaches. Learning experiences have been devised that are of high interest to your child and encourage him/her to construct, move and interact, while providing teachers with the opportunity to communicate information in an appropriate manner. It is our goal to provide direct, concrete and high-interest experiences along with well-timed guidance and instruction.

The second element involved is to set long-range goals for your child. These are listed here:

Competence to develop your child’s ability in the areas of language, numbers and interest in books.
Cooperation to enhance (self-concept) and (other-concept) through group activity and sharing experiences.
Autonomy to encourage your child to initiate, ask questions and make limited choices.
Faith Life to learn to live the Gospel in all facets of life’s experiences through Bible stories, songs and prayer.
Creativity to construct new products, think of new ideas and find alternative solutions.

The third element is the observation and assessment of the individual needs of your child. We use a skills-concepts checklist and keep it in your child’s folder to evaluate his/her progress during the school year. This is used for conferences and to determine skills that need to be strengthened.

Element four is to create developmentally appropriate activities. We create activities to achieve the long-range goals of element two and develop competencies found in our skill-concepts checklist. Each experience develops one or more skills or concepts and is related to one of the six general content areas:

The Child and Family health, body parts and family
The Community Institutions people, workers, traditions
Plants beauty, food
Machines appliances, vehicles
Animals pleasure, food
Physical Forces weather, gravity
Religion God’s presence in all of life’s experiences


Element five is to plan for the repetition of concepts. The skills learned need to be reinforced and extended, otherwise they will be forgotten. We have your child study one topic each week and expose him/her to eight subject areas each day. By creating different activities around one topic, your child’s teacher has the opportunity to reinforce and extend concepts, skills and faith in God.

The sixth element is simply to evaluate your child’s progress. The skills-concepts checklist is used to note your child’s demonstrated behavior and skill acquisition. Decisions can then be made providing for individual assistance or creating a new activity to reinforce a skill that your child may have had difficulty acquiring.
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Excerpted from the preschool's website

source:

"PRESCHOOL/PREKINDERGARTEN/KINDERGARTEN
A.M./P.M. PROGRAM
8:30- 8:50 a.m.
12:30-12:50 p.m. Circle time: begin with prayer and sharing of daily subjects, i.e. self, social concepts, names, premath, listening, gross motor, Bible stories, music and games all occur during this time.
8:50- 9:00 a.m.
12:50 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. Wash hands, set tables and prepare for snack.
9:00- 9:15 a.m.
1:00- 1:15 p.m. Snack served family-style with children joining in prayer then serving and passing food to themselves and others. This time allows for social unstructured conversation and the learning of proper social table manners.
9:15-11:00 a.m.
1:15- 3:00 p.m. Children in small groups explore various centers that have been set up in the room: religion, art, cooking, premath, prereading, language, science, fine motor and gross motor.
11:00-11:15 a.m.
3:00- 3:15 p.m. Outdoor play—weather permitting. In inclement weather, children will use gymnastic equipment and games for gross motor development, using playground balls or beanbags, indoors.
11:15-11:30 a.m.
3:15- 3:30 p.m. Circle time: review day’s activities, present stories and say departing prayer.
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Excerpted from the preschool's website

source: