* infant nursery * preschool * TK * Kindergarten *
Le Petit Elephant Junior Kindergarten provides an environment for your child to explore and expand his/her knowledge before entering into Kindergarten. Junior Kindergarten bridges the gap between preschool and kindergarten; created to meet the needs of older “fours”, younger “fives,” or a five year old that is young at heart. LPE provides a warm, loving, and safe place for your child’s educational experience. LPE hopes to instill a life-long love of learning by the community that the child experiences. Our experienced and highly educated teachers provide an integrated, theme-based curriculum designed to teach all the areas of development that will meet your child’s spiritual, social/emotional, physical and cognitive/intellectual needs. With these goal in mind, we focus on the ABC’s of early development:
Academics - we foster a love of learning and reading in a child-driven, teacher-facilitated curriculum inspired by nature and a healthy, green, organic lifestyle. Our play-based Junior Kindergarten program shows children how fun and rewarding learning can be while preparing them for the social, emotional, academic and behavioral demands of Kindergarten.
Behavior - we believe that appropriate behavior and learning valuable social skills is a crucial part of a child’s education, and it is important to start early. Responsible behavior and good choices are modeled, recognized, and rewarded in ways that become intrinsically motivating and benefit children for the rest of their lives.
Creativity- creativity is a very important measure of intelligence, and innovation is regarded as one of our society’s most coveted traits (think Google or Apple!) When a child learns to think creatively, it opens up a whole world of possibilities. Children learn best through creative play, and we encourage our children to pretend and use their imaginations without hinderance from adults. (This is a mindful departure from traditional Montessori philosophy which encourages children to use items only in specific ways/uses.)
The preschool years are full of excitement and wonder. Each day is full of important times of growth and development. Junior Kindergarten instruction takes place in a flexible, play-centered and developmental environment attentive to the social and emotional stages of each child. In Junior Kindergarten, the child has the added benefit of an entire year of learning through exploration and play in a language rich environment and a small group setting. The Junior Kindergarten focuses on fine and large motor skills, social/emotional development and a love of learning in which prepares the children’s brains and bodies for the academic challenges ahead.
At Le Petit Elephant, we strive to cultivate in each child:
- Pride in their ability to complete tasks independently
- Creativity in every subject matter (not just art)
- A sense of belonging and confidence in themselves
- Respect for self and others
- Enthusiasm for learning and exploration
- A love of nature and music
- A passion for reading and story-telling
- Confidence in public speaking
We hope that you will choose LPE to share your child’s academic successes!
TK/JrKindergarten Philosophy