Little Kings Preschool

Early reading is a predictor of later success in life, so being able to get ahead or catch up in preschool is key. We know focus on cognitive areas such as ABCs and 123s matters enormously. For example, how well a child reads at the end of first grade predicts how well they read in later grades, graduation rates, and even their income level as an adult. Lewis Cass will help ready your children to advance beyond age norms and nurture children who are behind so they catch up in these early years.

Art is an important part of your child’s early childhood education, regardless of whether you think he will grow up to be another Picasso. Children are active learners, and making art is a hands-on activity that expands imaginations and exercises creativity. It also develops fine motor control, eye-hand coordination, and sharpens children’s powers of observation.

Just as gross motor skills enable your child to perform important everyday tasks, such as getting out of bed and going downstairs for breakfast, fine motor abilities allow for increasing independence in smaller but equally significant matters: opening doors, zipping zippers, brushing teeth, washing hands, and so on.

When combined with increasing hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills also open new doors to exploration, learning, and creative expression. In fact, research shows that emphasis on purely intellectual activities—memorization of letters and numbers, for instance—is far less useful at this stage than pursuits that encourage fine motor abilities and hand-eye coordination.

Relationships

The connection between child and teacher is more important than any curriculum. This is what every parent knows by instinct: nice teachers matter, especially for very young children. This is the first time in many instances that your child will be away from you for any extended period of time. It is very important that these new adult relationships with a teacher be nurturing and positive.

Play and have FUN!

Most parents assume if there is a focus on ABCs and 123s, there is little room for play. Great preschools do both, and success in the early years of a child’s education often allows children opportunities to explore the building blocks of literacy and math through play.

Other kinds of play are just essential as well. Imaginative play, for example. Some form of daily “pretend play” improves emotional/behavioral skills, which predict academic performance later. When you visit the school, look for a costume corner, art on the walls, pretend kitchen sets, and pairs or small groups of children working together creating and collaborating.