Early Childhood Philosophy

WEST SENECA CENTRAL SCHOOLS

UNIVERSAL PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAM

FAMILY HANDBOOK

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. WELCOME

1. PHILOSOPHY

1. NEW YORK STATE LEARNING STANDARDS FOR PRESCHOOL

1. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

1. TYPICAL SCHOOL DAY

1. READING AND WRITING FOR PRESCHOOLER

1. COMPREHENSIVE STUDENT ATTENDANCE POLICY

1. ANSWERS TO COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. FORMS (Emergency Contacts; Photo, Video and/or Audio Tape Release; Computer Network/Internet Use Agreement)

*PLEASE FILL OUT AND RETURN TO YOUR CHILD’S TEACHER

WELCOME

Thank you for enrolling your child in the West Seneca Central School District’s Universal Prekindergarten Program. We would like to welcome you and your child to our program. Our faculty, staff and community partners are looking forward to working with you and your family, as we provide a wonderful year for your preschooler. When home and school work together, great things can happen!

This Family Handbook should be helpful in answering some of your questions about our program. Hopefully, this will provide you with some basic information regarding the preschool program, as well as some commonly asked questions. If for some reason, you do not find an answer to your question in this handbook, please feel free to contact our office 677-3151 or your child’s teacher.

Northwood Elementary – 677-3640

Allendale Elementary – 677-3660

EduKids Kelly Drive – 677-4063

EduKids Seneca Street – 675-4553

Page 1 Preschool – 674-6979

WEST SENECA CENTRAL SCHOOLS

EARLY CHILDHOOD PHILOSOPHY

The West Seneca Central School district believes that the child is the major focus of the early childhood school program.

Each child brings unique experiences, expectations, emotions, attitudes, and abilities to the classroom. It is essential that the individual characteristics of each child be accepted, understood, and nurtured.

Four year old children construct their understandings of the world through continuous interaction with their environment. Through spontaneous activity, play and guided experiences children gain confidence in their abilities.

This program is designed to meet the needs of four-year-olds. It is a comprehensive program that is developmentally appropriate and activity oriented. The objective is competent, self-reliant, independent learners.

NEW YORK STATE LEARNING STANDARDS

By the end of preschool, four year olds are expected to know the following:

• Identify and produce spoken words that rhyme (e.g., rhymes, poems, songs, word games) including word families (e.g., c-at, b-at, s-at)
• Count or tap the number of syllables in multisyllabic words to show awareness of the syllable as a discrete unit
• Count or tap the number of words in a spoken sentence to show awareness of the word as a discrete unit
• Recognize and identify letters of the alphabet, especially those in own name
• Read own name
• Recognize and identify environmental print including signs and labels
• Show interest in reading for different purposes (e.g., gaining information about the world and others)
• Make predictions about story events
• Retell stories with attentiveness to the sequence of events and main ideas
• Ask and answer questions about the content of books
• Show interest in a range of preschool-level texts, such as alphabet books, stories, poems, and informational texts
• Write some uppercase and lowercase manuscript letters, especially those in own name

• Count the items in a collection and know the last counting word
• tells how many items are in the collection (1 to 10)
• Count out a collection of a specified size 1 to 10
• Verbally count by 1’s to 10
• Recognize numerals (0-5)
• Use and understand the terms first and last
• Develop addition and subtraction readiness with sums up to 4
• and subtraction involving one to four items, using manipulatives
• Duplicate simple patterns using concrete objects
• Develop language such as bigger, longer, and taller to discuss
• Relate specific times such as day and night

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The West Seneca Central School District believes that the child is the major focus of the early childhood school program.

Each child brings unique experiences, expectations, emotions, attitudes, and abilities to the classroom. It is essential that the individual characteristics of each child be accepted, understood, and nurtured.

Four year old children construct their understandings of the world through continuous interaction with their environment. Through spontaneous activity, play and guided experiences children gain confidence in their abilities.

The classroom has learning areas or “centers” with sufficient quantities of child accessible books, supplies, and materials. The teacher uses a combination of individual, small and large group instruction to develop early literacy and mathematics.

The table below explains some of the centers and learning activities you may see in your child’s class.

Center Material Learning

Typical Day

Arrival Quiet Free-Play Activities

Whole Group Time Opening and Calendar Activities

Shared Writing

Read-Alouds/Shared Reading

Learning Centers Small Group and Independent

Learning Center Activities

Sharing Time Oral Language Activities

(songs, fingerplays, chants)

Read Alouds/Shared Reading

Snack Time

Gross Motor Activites Outdoor Activities

Integrated Language Activities

Dismissal

PRINT CONCEPTS

 Have your child identify the title, author, and illustrator of books.

 Reinforce that reading takes place from left to right and top to bottom of pages.

 Reinforce how to hold a book correctly and turn pages front to back.

 Encourage your child to point to words as you read or as they read.

TALKING ABOUT BOOKS

WITH YOUR CHILD

• Ask your child questions about what you are reading.

• Encourage your child to ask questions about what you are reading.

• Encourage your child to make predictions about what will happen next in the book.

• Make connections or encourage your child to make connections between the book and their own lives or other texts they have read.

Vary the Types of Books You Read with Your Child

 Most children are very familiar with narrative texts or story books (because of bedtime stories).

 Many children tend to struggle with reading expository texts or information books when they come to school because they are not exposed to them as much as they are to stories when they’re younger.

 Read stories, information books, poetry, biographies, songs, magazines, newspapers, signs, etc. with your child to make sure he/she is familiar with many kinds of texts.

It is recommended that you allow your child to choose books that appeal to him or her from the library.

Mother Goose Rhymes

Traditional Fairy Tale

Alphabet Books

Counting Book

Books by any of the following authors:

Aliki

Jan Brett

Norman Bridwell

John Buringham

Virginia Lee Burton

Eric Carle

Joy Cowley

Donald Crews

Alexandra Day

Dr. Seuss

P.D. Eastman

Donald Freeman

Mem Fox

Paul Galdone

Gail Gibbons

Ezra Jack Keats

Daniel Kirk

Leo Lionni

Bill Martin Jr.

Patricia McKissack

Laura Numeroff

H.A. Rey

Anne Rockwell

David Shannon

Iza Taprani

Rosemary Wells

Vera Williams

Audrey Wood

Commonly Asked Questions

What do I do when my child is absent?

Please call your child’s school to inform them your child will be absent. (Allendale Elementary 677-3660, Northwood Elementary 677-3640, EduKids Kelly Drive 677-4063, EduKids Seneca Street 675-4553, Page 1 Preschool 674-6979) Send in a written excuse when he/she returns to school.

When should my child stay home from school?

If your child has any of the following symptoms, we ask that they stay home from school:

*A temperature of 101◦ or any fever accompanied by:

A cough with deep breath

Earache or draining ear

Spasms of cough

Sore throat

*A rash of any kind until diagnosed, treated or diagnosed as harmless by your child’s physician.

*Coughing and sneezing from very bad colds, accompanied by purulent discharge.

*Diarrhea and/or vomiting the previous evening or before school.

*Red, runny or matted eyes-may be pink eye (conjunctivitis). Please call your doctor.

*Bronchitis

*If they are unable to participate in normal activities.

What should be done if my child will need to be picked up from school by someone other than a parent?

We will need written permission from you if there are any changes in your child’s dismissal procedure. If someone else will be picking up your child, please include his or her name on the note. Let them know that we will require identification.

How will I know if school has been cancelled due to bad weather?

Prekindergarten will be cancelled when West Seneca Central Schools are closed. Local TV and radio stations broadcast school closings.

What sorts of family/parent events take place during the course of the year?

Prekindergarten has an open house, a math day, a literacy day, parent/teacher conferences and field trips. You are also encouraged to volunteer in the classroom on a regular basis.

What can I do to help my child learn at home?

Love, play, read and talk to your child. A child, whose emotional needs have been met, is more likely to be successful outside the home. Children learn by playing - through play they learn to understand their world. Reading to your children is one of the easiest ways to prepare them for more structured learning that is required later in their school careers. It provides them with ample opportunities to increase their language skills and their ability to sustain attention. On top of that, reading is incredibly pleasurable for both you and your child.