OUR PHILOSOPHY

St. Mark's Preschool (Nurturing Center) is a ministry of St. Mark's Lutheran Church. St. Mark's Nurturing Center assists families in building a strong Christian foundation for their children, and in cultivating the love of learning about the world in which they live. This is achieved by employing staff who will bring the love of Jesus Christ and His teachings into the classrooms each day, and by celebrating the inquisitiveness of the young mind.

GOAL

Our goal is to establish a relationship of love, trust, and support that will nurture the child and to help his/her their young mind to bloom. We seek to have a developmentally appropriate environment that encourages and inspires not only a love of acquiring knowledge but also the joy of loving the Lord with all their heart.

OUR PROGRAM:

• is state licensed
• has qualified, caring staff
  
• has a religious curriculum
  
• has a developmental curriculum
  
• has a parenting library
  
• provides center orientated classrooms
  
• provides a safe, challenging playground
  
• has an indoor gymnasium
  
• includes a pre-kindergarten class
  
• provides cooking experiences
  
• has a computer in each room
  
• builds positive self-esteem
  
• allows free choice time
  
• has circle times
  
• provides field trips(4's & 5's)
  
• promotes learning concepts through play

Feb. 22, 2008

WHAT'S NEW AT ST. MARK'S PRESCHOOL?

We are very excited to let you know about some new things we are offering for the 2008-2009 school year.

We will be using some of our Market Day money to purchase academic curriculum for phonics/literacy, math and science. These programs would be used for all grade levels in varying degrees. While we will not compromise our philosophy of 'learning through play,' we do recognize that preschool children are ready to explore the academic world. Children at this age have a natural curiosity for learning. Our goal is to develop a lifelong love for learning about the world around them.

Beginning next year our Pre K class will be called Pre K Plus. Children must be 5 by January 1 or enrolled in Kindergarten for the '08-'09 school year to qualify for this class. This class will be geared for the older children and the academic content will reflect the age level. We are also offering it as a supplement to Kindergarten. If your child is enrolled in Kindergarten next year and you are looking for enrichment opportunities while they are not in school, this may be the class for your child.
Beginning in the fall of 2008 we will offer a class for 2 year olds. If your child turns 3 by March 1 and fully potty trained we would love to have them come to school. In this class, children will learn about shapes, colors, rhyming and more. There will be lots of opportunity for sharing and learning to play together. This class will be the perfect first school experience in a caring Christian environment.

The music classes have been a tremendous success this year! Next year, the children will receive music instruction twice a month during their preschool day from the B Sharp music staff. Research indicates that young children taking music lessons have a greater ability to grasp concepts that are essential to math and science. Coordination and concentration are also improved. Music is 'brain food.'

To encourage more families to sign up for an afternoon spot, we will be offering a reduced tuition rate for all pm classes. There will be no difference between am and pm classes as far as the quality of your child's education.

If you have any questions about these offerings or would like to more information about our preschool, please call and we will be happy to help you.

Linda Culley
Director

Our Staff...

We are very blessed to have a loving, caring staff with long term experience and very little turn over rate. Our staff has been with us 10 to 20 years with the exception of one staff member who is starting her 5th year. All of our teachers have their teaching degree as well as many of our assistants.

We are a Christian preschool that teaches to the whole child. We address their social emotional, their physical, their academic and their spiritual well being. Learning how to share and work together, as you see in the picture above is just as important as knowing their ABC's. We also help the children to become independent learners and thinkers. Skills such as zipping their coats and packing their school bags, are important for kindergarten readiness.

Each class has two circle times a day. One circle is their Jesus time, where they hear Bibles stories, apply the Bible story to real life, and sing songs. We are in a Lutheran church, but we teach general Bible stories that you are probably familiar with. We have families from many different faiths as well as families that are un-churched.The second circle time relates to the theme the children are learning about.The children hear stories, sing songs, and do finger-plays.

The classes work on numbers and the alphabet- talking about the sound and shapes of the letters. Above you see a class brainstorming words that begin with the letter V.

We teach academics through developmentally appropriate ways. The children learn in a way that makes sense in their world. Learning takes place all throughout the day. Parents ask their children, What did you do at school today? The response, I just played, is what we like to hear. We don't use a lot of worksheets, drilling or memorization.

Here on this birthday board, you see an example of academics through play. The children decorated the people to resemble themselves and then created a bar graph according the months of the year.

The children are making observations of an insect that someone found in their backyard. After observing they could then use markers and paper to draw the bug. Many times in preschool, the learning that takes place is not always in the lesson plan, but prompted by the students.

The children are doing sign language while they are singing the 'ABC' song. Also included in our curriculum for the 2007-2008 school year will be Spanish and music through B Sharp Music.

There are computers in every classroom. The games are academic and we view computer time as a choice, just like playing playdough or building in the blocks.

The social aspect of preschool is very important. Learning how to get along and take turns are important life skills. Making and playing with friends is a highlight of the day. Here you see two friends hanging out in the snap house in the classroom.

Snack time is a very important part of the preschool day as well. On this particular day,the weather was a hot 86 degrees and juicy watermelon was the perfect treat! We are DCFS licensed so the snacks need to be pre packaged. We send home a snack suggestion list and we always recommend that you ask your child for some input as to what they would like to bring. We are very aware of the growing population of children that have food allergies and we are well equipped to handle each child's needs.

We are very fortunate to provide the children with an indoor gymnasium or an outdoor playground. The children need time in the preschool day to be able to run around and get their wiggles out. Then when it is circle time, they are able to sit and be a listener.

A Peek Inside the Class Room...