The Preschool Program (ages 2-6 years)

Children learn in a more stimulating environment than the Infant program. Our preschool program comprises a wide variety of learning materials and growth strategies. These children are still learning to master movement in order to become independent, and continue to expand their vocabulary. They are also developing their ability to concentrate and learn problem-solving strategies. They are primarily interested in ‘what’ and ‘where.’

Following our philosophy, Chinese and English are integrated into all the activities practiced in our program environment. Children acquire Chinese and English by absorbing from the comprehensive variety material and engaging in authentic communication in a natural environment. A variety of our designed materials and cards with realistic images as well as books allow children to follow their interests and to reinforce their language skills at the same time.

• Language learning occurs while engaged in meaningful activities, our immersion model allows a child from a Mandarin-speaking family to acquire English with ease, while continuing to strengthen his or her home language.
• Through the curriculum and informal interactions, children absorb two languages (English and Mandarin). Over time, children can express themselves easily both orally and in writing in both languages, the concrete exposure helps to bridge abstract concepts to the delight of the children.
• Because of the multicultural nature of our school community, the cultures of the languages are also taught through celebrations, festivals, and presentations.
• In both languages, grammar is introduced through grammar symbols and objects.

Chinese -- the basic characters are introduced in the form of hands-on activities, providing the child with the visual cues and cognitive associations that can help him/her find meaning in the characters which may otherwise seem abstract.

Children learn the phonetic sounds of letters instead of learning the alphabetical names in sequence.
Sound analyses and symbol identification enable the decoding of words.
They learn to read by first connecting sounds together to build words, followed by phrases and sentences.
The sounds are reinforced because language acquisition is integral to enabling children to listen to the sounds in words, encode words and progress into reading.

Daily living exercises, including care of self - washing, grooming, dressing, etc. and care of environment - polishing mirror/wood, sweeping, etc.

• Child practices coordination
• Strengthens his/her concentration skills
• Develops sequential thought processes
• Learns constructive work habits by completing tasks
• The child’s need for order is also satisfied
• Cleans up and puts away each item in its place at the end of each activity

Grace & Courtesy

• Learns to negotiate social relationships
• Learns how to communicate with appropriate behavior and language

Sensorial materials: visual, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, auditory

• Children in these formative years absorb knowledge through impressions formed by their senses
• Help children distinguish, categorize
• Relate new information to what they already know

Child learns facts and skills by performing mathematical operations with ingeniously, designed hands-on materials

• Give children the understanding of mathematical concepts in their early years from concrete to abstract.
• They can joyfully assimilate arithmetic without the drudgery of rote memorization.

• Children use puzzles and globes to learn physical geography. Children gain an awareness of the world around them by exploring other countries, customs, food, music, climate, languages, plants, animals, etc.
• Discovers the names of continents, countries, and oceans, as well as land and water forms.
• Colorful flags of the world introduce political geography. To help raise their consciousness about other people, and thus increase their understanding and compassion for all peoples of the world
• Learns through using books, magazines and postcards. Highlight significant features of our earth.

• Encourages children to care for living plants and animals around them, Stimulate children’s natural curiosity, Foster a love and appreciation for all living things.
• Further exploration occurs through projects, experiments, and gardening
• The plant and animal kingdoms are studied in an orderly fashion
• Physics and astronomy include learning the attributes of the planets in our solar system and the law of gravity

• Art activities are a part of our everyday work time in the prepared environment, to nurture the great joy children find in creating.
• The process, not the end product, is emphasized, to nurture good work habits and qualities that are key to learning.
• Children are encouraged to explore their imagination and develop self-expression through using a variety of materials, to learn different artistic techniques.

• Music, creative movement and drama form part of an ongoing developmental process, the body is a child’s first instrument; through it, movement and music are explored
• Children learn songs, chants, dance, finger plays and rhythmical games in Chinese and English.
• Help children refine their auditory sense and their ability to differentiate tones

• Two-years-old and those older may have an opportunity to go on field trips.
• Parents/Guardians will be notified and will help with the carpool.