PACA’s Preschool purpose is to offer an environment for both teacher and student that will be a reflection of the home and family. This is a critical time in the development of a child’s perceptions of self, others, the world, and God. God has created each child with a unique developmental timetable, so the preschool curriculum must encourage acceptance of each child as an individual. The curriculum must allow for differences in ability and interests while encouraging well-rounded development in every facet of the child’s life.
PACA’s Preschool offers a wide range of play experiences, including
open-ended art, dramatic play, science adventures, music, manipulative
play, read-aloud stories, and many others. A balance of
child-initiated and teacher-directed activities helps to prepare
children for future academic growth and development.
We understand that to educate means to provide an environment where there is personal care, where play is part of learning, and where there is a supervised learning process. When integrated these should contribute to the development of motor, cognitive, emotional, social and spiritual skills of the child.
In 1 Corinthians 13:11, we read: “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” Children do not learn the way adults do, or even the way other children do. They differ from one another in their learning styles, but most learn best by doing. As we learn from the gospels, Jesus taught by using real-life illustrations and everyday examples. He involved people in His teaching/learning process.
The primary learning of young children takes place in play and in interactive learning experiences. Children thrive when they have the opportunity to explore and experience the world around them. Play experiences enable them to organize and understand themselves and their world.
Through these experiences and activities, there is an environment in which the children are able to experience the world and gain a unique internal understanding about people, feelings and the various areas of knowledge. The child learns in oriented activities, in which the teacher observes the interaction between the children, their previous knowledge, their uniqueness and diversity. The activities offer different challenge levels according to their age and are significant, allowing problem resolution to occur.
The opportunities to experience the world around them encourage children in their intellectual development. As they interact with their environment, they gather information from which they are able to make assumptions and test them. The children’s experiences form the basis for their knowledge and enable them to find meaning and order in their world. Reading to the children and letting them create their own stories enhances language development. Introducing the alphabet and number concepts prepares them for later formal academics.
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