| Parents are always curious about how Landmark incorporates academic concepts into a preschoolers day. Our theme-based curriculum provides so many opportunities to introduce language, math and science skills in a fun and playful way. We use stories, music and games. Traditional preschool materials like playdough are used for free play activities that children enjoy, and that also strengthen fine motor skills. Then we sit down with the children and use the playdough to make some letters. By using a material that’s fun and familiar to the children, learning about the letters becomes a very enjoyable activity too. We find that small groups with the teacher sitting and playing with children are the ideal way to introduce concepts such as letters and numbers. All kinds of benefits arise from that kind of small group interaction as well. The teachers can facilitate social interactions between the children in the group, model language, and listen carefully to the child’s responses to be sure he/she has understood. The social and cognitive aspects of the child’s development are closely linked and we believe it is important to create an environment that supports both. Teachers seek to address all aspects of a child’s development. Learning to share is a life skill as important to your child’s future success as learning about letters.
An additional benefit of these structured small group activities is that children who may have learning difficulties are more likely to be identified early on. When a teacher engages a child daily in an activity involving one to one interactions and specific tasks it, is easier to see when a child is having difficulty. Whether it is related to speech, the ability to follow simple directions, or difficulty using scissors, crayons or paints, experienced teachers recognized when a child’s development does not appear to be typical and will communicate with parents.
One of the things we are really passionate about at Landmark is creating a classroom environment that fosters literacy skills. We were very excited to see so much interest in the topic of building literacy with young children at this year’s National Association for the Education of Young Children convention, because this has been an important part of our program for many years. We know that children don’t begin building literacy skills when they walk through the door of their Kindergarten classroom, it begins long before that, and it’s made up of so many different things. We also know that Landmark’s program, which helps children begin to build relationships between phonemic awareness, phonics and sight word recognition skills, provides an excellent foundation for children as they progress with their education, as these skills are key to developing both fluency and comprehension
Every time you sit and read a story with your child, you are providing a great literacy skill building experience. In our classrooms, we love to read to the children, but we can do so much more, which is tremendously exciting to us! We have all kinds of great games and activities to introduce children to letters and the sounds they make, and all the wonderful things they can do with them. Children love to learn to read their names, and when they can actually write them, that is a very big accomplishment for them. Parents sometimes get really focused on the idea that their child isn’t “really reading” until he or she can pick up a book and read it, but there are so many emergent literacy skills to celebrate with your child. Hearing the rhymes and patterns in words, or recognizing environmental print, like the logo for their favorite fast food restaurant are steps on the road to reading that are real accomplishments for your child too, so take the time enjoy those proud moments with your child.
At every age, the activities are tailored for the developmental needs of the children. As they mature, the curriculum shifts to provide age appropriate activities.
Our school day involves free play, art, and recess each day, as well as a variety of activities to stimulate and engage your child in spoken language, exposure to writing and reading, alphabetic awareness, and phonics and phonemic awareness, and math activities. It’s a great balance, the program works really well for so many children. We believe that the activities we offer provide children with an important foundation to build upon as they move forward. We are committed to making each child’s introduction to literacy, and to school, a positive experience. We have a great student to teacher ratio, and we can really personalize the instruction to meet each child’s needs. While Landmark has been around for many years and has a long, rich tradition, of teaching phonics to young children, this is not your grandmother’s phonics program. We have filled our schools with the best and the brightest teachers who are innovative, creative and filled with enthusiasm for what they do.
With so much going on each day, keeping parents informed is important too! At Landmark, we like to share with the parents by sending home sheets that let mom and dad know what we are doing in the classroom. That way parents can talk to their child about their day, or maybe enjoy the story they read in class together at home. |