St. Mark's Lutheran Preschool Philosophy
Purpose
The purpose of St. Mark's Lutheran Preschool is to be in partnership with the home, providing the 3, 4, and 5 year old child with a warm, caring environment and developmentally appropriate experiences that promote social, emotional, cognitive, physical and spiritual development.
Objectives
St. Mark's offers a warm Christian environment where the child can feel secure and stimulated to discover and explore:
1. the child's relationship to God,
2. the child's relationship toward self,
3. the child's relationship to others,
4. the child's relationship to God's world.
Jesus said, "Let the children come to me." (Matthew 19:14)
Organization
Our Preschool offers a Christian educational experience and therefore includes:
1. qualified, degreed, Christian teachers,
2. religious instruction as shown in our objectives,
3. developmentally appropriate play and learning experiences,
4. attention to the individual needs of the child
Program Goals
Through the activities in our Preschool curriculum, the children will:
1. Grow spiritually so as to -
• develop a sense of trust
• realize their need for God's love
• know Jesus as their personal Savior
• respond to God's love
• feel secure in God's love and care
• see themselves as God's children
2. Grow emotionally so as to -
• develop a positive self concept
• be free to risk failure and be comfortable with mistakes
• develop a sense of security and trust
• show independence and self-responsibility
• channel emotions into appropriate and acceptable outlets
3. Grow socially so as to -
• learn to play, work, and communicate with peer and adults
• adjust to group situations
• accept others even though they may be different from self
• develop a sense of community
• accept change in environment and routine
4. Grow physically so as to -
• develop large and fine motor coordination
• develop eye-hand and eye-foot coordination
• become aware of his/her own body
5. Grow intellectually so as to -
• continue to develop language use and understanding
• develop pre-reading skills such as: visual discrimination, auditory discrimination, understanding of symbols, love of and interest in books
• develop pre-math skills such as: sorting and classifying, understanding of symbols, time and space
• develop an ever-increasing attention span
• complete tasks begun
• initiate his/her activities
6. Grow creatively so as to -
• view him/herself as a unique individual created and valued by God
• express ideas in his/her own unique way
• be free to create artistically using a variety of media
• develop his/her God-given talents and abilities