FANTASTIC 4'S
Our Four Year Old Extension Programme.
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The aim of Future Kids Extension programme is to support children in becoming confident competent learners which will set them up for success in school and life in general.
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This will be achieved by providing activities to help develop foundational literacy, numeracy and social skills required before the formal reading and writing
process can begin.
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We aim to provide children with opportunities to prepare and practise these skills through different experiences which extend each stage of their personal development and learning.
WHAT DOES THE PROGRAMME INCLUDE?
Our 4 year olds meet daily in groups with a teacher for approximately 30 minutes.
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These take place from Monday - Friday before lunch.
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We use a variety of activities, and responses to support this programme and keep the attention of the children including: Memory Games, Listening Games, Auditory Bombardment (hearing sounds repeatedly until they are learned), Finger Exercises, Manipulative Games, Stories, Songs and Finger play, Cutting Activities, Social Skills such as Turn Taking, Sharing, Contributing and Following instructions.
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We will be focusing on one letter per week but also reviewing regularly the sounds, names and shapes of each letter as well as adding shapes, colours and numbers.
PARTNERING WITH PARENTS
Our aim is to work with parents to develop a constructive environment for children which encourages positive attitudes toward learning.
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We want to create opportunities for success both in our centre and in the future of our children.
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We aim to reinforce the life skills you teach at home by extending them at preschool. Everyday responsibilities which seem simple, such as putting bags away and looking after their belongings, help children become independent, disciplined and organised which will set them up for success in all areas of life.
FOUNDATIONS OF LITERACY
Rhyming:
Research shows that children who can understand about rhyming words have a head start in learning to read and even more to spell.
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Letter Skills:
As well as recognizing letter shapes, learning the most common sounds that each letter makes will give children a head start.
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Direction:
Print goes from left to right, so children will need to be familiar with where to start each line and which direction to go in.
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Concepts of print:
This is all about knowing how to handle books - holding them the right way up, turning the pages in sequence, exploring the pictures, knowing that the words can be read to tell a story.
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Motor Skills:
Before children can practice writing letters it is important that they have a good pencil grip and control. We provide various activities to support such fine motor skills.
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Language Skills:
The more experience children have of language, the more easily they will learn to read. Your child needs to hear and join in conversations (with adults and children), and listen and tell stories and poetry of all sorts.
HOW CAN PARENTS HELP?
The most important thing you can do to foster learning in your child, is to provide opportunities for the use of vocabulary through talking and listening. This can be done simply by reading stories, talking about pictures and having everyday conversations. Quality conversations with your children will provide them with a model of vocabulary and how it is used in everyday settings. Talking helps them to conceptualise things and to form and understand ideas.
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Each week on the noticeboard we will display what is being taught in the Four year old programme so you can continue it at home. Feel Free to look at the walls in the four year old room as well to get a feel for what we are doing. Each child also has a work book that their parent or whanau can view.