Junior Kindergarten Class Overview
The Junior Kindergarten is for children who are 3+ to 5 years and is designed to nurture your child’s early academic, social-emotional, and creative skills until they transition into kindergarten. It’s designed to nurture your child’s early academic, social-emotional, and creative skills. The class will have a maximum of 20 children with two co-teachers and an assistant teacher.
The class focuses on supporting the 3 year old’s increased independence along with their desire to work and play with others. Every day, children have the opportunity to engage in playful and hands-on experiences that support a child’s sense natural curiosity as they engage in art, dramatic play, block exploration, science investigation, games, and more. Through these daily experiences, the children build their language, their cognition, and their relationships with others.
The class also focuses on supporting the 4 year old’s desire to learn and create. Daily experiences are created so that children can construct their own understanding of the world, talk about their understanding of the world with peers and teachers, and practice this understanding in small groups as they look at focused strategies in early literacy and math.
In the Junior Kindergarten class writing, reading, and math experiences are authentic and focused around helping the children build the underlying foundation that set the stage for deep understanding of the subjects. Children, for example, can be seen writing their names on a clipboard as they wait their turn for a material, drawing in their science notebook as they make observations of ladybugs, developing their spatial awareness as they consider which block would fit best in a structure, and building their number sense as they set the table with enough plates for all the children to eat lunch.
Every day, the children also visit our large, indoor playground where they are invited to climb, run, slide, swing, and build the gross motor skills that are central to their larger development.
We understand the importance of helping the Junior Kindergarten children develop a positive self-concept by increasing their independence. Children in the Junior Kindergarten class are given age-appropriate responsibilities such as setting the table for meals and serving their own food, helping prepare their items for rest time, maintaining the classroom environment, and taking care of classroom pets.
The junior kindergarten program at Creative Scholars is designed to support the child’s intellect, creativity, and ability to work with others that will help them become innovative, considerate, and engaged individuals ready to enter kindergarten with confidence.
Snacks and an organic lunch are included in the cost of tuition.
A Trip Around The Classroom
We introduce everyday objects in new and unexpected ways to spark creativity. These young students are provided the freedom to manipulate different materials in an organic and unstructured, allowing for exploration and experimentation. Their artistic endeavors and self-directed explorations fun and an important learning opportunity. They can explore a variety of concepts, from fine motor skills to experimentation.
Our large, open-ended toys provide our junior kindergarten students with endless play opportunities. These tools of learning help to fuel creativity and let their imaginations drive learning. As they create, they work together to learn collaboration, cooperation, and teamwork skills.
Sensory play continues as an important source of learning for our junior kindergartens. Messy play encourages creativity, experimentation, and out-of-the-box thinking.
Dramatic play allows our young students the opportunity to explore roles and activities they experience throughout their day. Using their imaginations, they step through activities like washing dishes and preparing food.
Science and math learning takes shape through a variety of organic materials and experiences. Our junior kindergarten students are given the time and space to explore the materials allowing them to fully explore their features like texture, weight, and size.
We encourage a variety of messy creative fun. Art supplies mixed with natural elements provide important outlets for sensory and experimental artistic expression.
STEM and high-quality problem-solving are integrated seamlessly throughout our students day-to-day activities. This helps children begin a lifelong love of engineering and scientific inquiry.
Experimentation opportunities allow little learners the chance to combine unlikely materials to explore cause and effect through direct observation. Manipulating these materials and activities provides additional support for fine motor skills.
Group play is an important part of social development for these students. They’re learning empathy, social problem-solving, cooperation, while they nurture friendships with their peers.
Gross motor play is an important part of our students’ days at Creative Scholars. The students have ample time to run, jump, and play. Organized obstacle courses provide ways for young minds to explore spatial problem-solving while they exercise their developing bodies.
Our teachers serve our students as they nurture and enrich the children’s educational journey. They serve as guides to help the children explore their interests and learn deeply about the world around them.
Fun and engaging activities are a cornerstone of our approach to early learning. Children learn best when they’re enjoying the educational process.
More Classroom Photos
