Four Year Old Program:

This is the year your child will experience for the first time more pre-academic themes and activities which will challenge and delight the ever inquiring mind of your very active 4-year-old. However, be reassured that this will not be at the expense of hands-on activities, field trips, playtime or sharing and learning together, which is the trade mark of St. Matthew School.

The new curriculum will add to their adventure into the big world of finding out What, When, Where and How.

Some themes for the year will include:

COLORS	SEASONS	SHAPES	HOLIDAYS	MATCHING
WEATHER	CLASSIFYING	DAYS OF THE WK/MO	SIZE	CREATIVE ARTS
OPPOSITES	GAMES	"ME" BODY PARTS	BIBLE STORIES	TEXTURES
NEIGHBORHOOD	MANNERS	NUTRITION	COOKING	FIVE SENSES
SCIENCING	COUNTING	SONGS	FINGERPLAY	DINOSAURS
NUMBER RECOGNITION	ALPHABET-UPPER AND LOWER	BASIC SAFETY-FIRE, POISON, STRANGERS	CALENDAR	CUTTING

Resources consist of our PLDK-R Kit, Peabody Language Development Kit and our companion Book/Workbook About Me.

Our Primary curriculum resource is entitled, according to our children, P. Mooney, for he is the main puppet and soon becomes their very dear friend. This PLDK Kit is used by all the 4-year Pre-kindergarten classes and has two main purposes.

One aim of the program is to stimulate overall oral language skills especially the improved ability of the children to express ideas in sentences. This skill improvement should be especially noticeable in our verbal 4-year-olds.

Secondly, the aim of the program is to advance the children's cognitive skills. A balanced approach to lesson construction was adopted when the Kit was revised. Activites do not concentrate on a few skills. The intent is to stimulate a broad range of divergent and convergent cognitive abilities.

It is not a primary aim of the PLDK-R series to enhance academic skills. Obviously he academic subjects need to be taught well in their own right. Therefore, as a companion to our PLDK Kit we have added a Book/Workbook About Me.