(714)538-7800 | 157 S. Malena Drive | Orange 92869

(714)730-5458 | 1111 El Camino Real | Tustin 92780

All about our Blue Birds…

In order to provide the best possible care for your child, we feel it’s important for us to work as a team.  You the parent and the caregivers both play a valuable roll in your child’s development.  With mutual respect and clear communication, your child’s growth at Adventures In Learning can be a happy and rewarding experience.

As your child enters the Blue Bird classroom they begin the second phase of their preschool experience at Adventures In Learning.  With their increasing physical and intellectual capabilities come increasing expectations and responsibilities.  Meeting these challenges on their own is an integral part of a child's developing self-esteem.

The majority of their inside time will be spent participating in “Learning Centers” based on the weeks “Focus Skills” and theme.  These are small group activities set up by the teachers to encourage a structured yet fun learning environment.  The main purpose of these activities is not to force or push your child to learn something before they are ready.  If your child is not ready we will not force them to participate.  However, we feel there are some children who are more than ready for these types of learning activities and we want to provide those children with that challenge.

These are some of the various skills and abilities we will be working on:

Physical

• Coordinate large muscles, as in balancing, running, jumping, hopping, throwing, kicking and catching a ball, and riding a tricycle
• Coordinate small muscles, as in painting with a large brush, making balls and snakes with clay, holding a crayon with fingers rather than fist, cut across paper with scissors (not snipping) and putting 10-15 piece puzzles together.  Don’t expect your child’s work to be picture perfect.  His joy and interest in cutting and coloring are much more important than the finished product.
• Begin to draw human figures (usually head and legs)
• Eye hand coordination (ability to string beads or lace following a sequence of holes)
• Ability to copy horizontal lines, vertical lines, circles, cross, diagonal line
• Ability to trace letters
• Zip and unzip

Self Help Skills

• Dress self with guidance
• Pour  from a small pitcher
• Assume simple responsibilities
• Follow simple directions
• Participate in clean up time
• Feeds self
• Willing to taste new foods
• Share toys and treats
• Skills communicating with other children and adults

Social & Emotional Skills

• Ability to follow two step directions (put your hands on your head and walk to the door)
• Ability to make decisions and choices
• Ability to make friends and begin to play cooperatively
• Can attempt to resolve own conflicts with words
• Exercises self control
• Share toys and treats
• Skills communicating with other children and adults
• Ability to work independently
• Ability to work in a group
• Say goodbye to Mom and Dad and switch focus to a task
• Develop affectionate but not clingy attachments to friends and teachers.

Language and Literacy

• Speak in 4 to 6 word sentences
• Take an active part in conversations
• Uses present progress verb (He is jumping) and past tense (He walked home)
• Uses correctly: I  You  Me  He  She
• Understand and ask simple questions using: Who  What  Why  Where
• Identify at least 10 familiar objects when asked.
• Understand gender – boy/girl
• Ability to describe action in a picture (The girl is combing her hair)
• Ability to memorize and repeat finger plays or songs
• Understand same and different
• Understand opposites (up – down, stop – go, fast – slow, open – close, etc.)
• Understand spatial relationships (over, on, top, in front of, above, etc.)
• Enjoys listening to books
• Asks questions about books
• Answers questions about books
• Identify own name in print
• Matches letters
• Tracking from left to right on a printed page or teaching easel

Cognitive Development

• Recognize basic colors
• Recognize basic shapes
• Rote counts to 10
• Recognizes 4 to 5 numerals
• Count 3 to 5 objects
• Understand the concept of “one”
• Match colors
• Categorizes objects

Phonics will be introduced using ZOO PHONICS®

Sample Daily Schedule

The following is a sample daily schedule for all preschool age children.  Please refer to posted schedules and weekly lesson plans in classrooms for the specific times and planned activities.

In addition to the lesson plan activities there will be various activities set up during outside time as well.  For example you may find that your child did some wet chalk coloring outside, helped make play dough or played a game of duck-duck-goose.

6:30 – 8:00       Free Play & Breakfast

8:00                 Story Time

8:30 – 9:00       Playground Time

9:00 – 9:15       Snack

9:15 – 9:30       *Grouptime – roll call, calendar, introduce theme and Zoo Phonics letter/sound of the week, story and songs.

9:30 – 10:45     *Language Arts – Zoo Phonics, *Creative art,*Cognitive / Structured Learning,*Manipulatives and Free Play

10:45 – 11:40    Playground Time – Outside Learning Centers

11:45                Lunch

12:30 – 2:30     Naptime

2:30 – 3:45       *Music and Movement,*Science and Discovery

3:45 – 4:00       Snack

4:00 – 4:45       Playground Time – Outside Learning Centers

4:45 – 5:30       Free play inside / Table Activities

5:30 – 6:00       Classrooms combine for story time

*LESSON PLAN ACTIVITIES