I teach based on the belief that 3 to 5 year old children can absorb any information we provide to them!  They are much smarter and are typically more willing to learn than most of us adults!  Therefore, we have a very rich curriculum filled with literacy, math, science, social skills, and religious education.  Join me on a typical day at the Crusader Academy! 

When the students arrive they hang up their backpacks and belongings and sign-in.  They pick out their snack for the day and proceed to the tables for our warm-up activity. After they complete their warm-up, they work with math manipulatives and games until everyone has completed the task. 

After our warm-up, we practice our gross motor skills with "Left, Clap! Right, Clap!"  This helps us distinguish our left hand from our right as well as coordination.  Today, let's do it like a duck! "Left! Quack, Quack, Quack! Right! Quack, Quack, Quack!"  Then we recite our Pledge of Allegiance and one of our prayers:  Our Father, Hail Mary, or Glory Be.

Now we "Tip-toe, Tip-toe!" to the Magic Carpet for circle time.  Here we practice so many skills it is hard to list them all!  We work on letter recognition and sounds, number skills, counting by 5's and 10's, even and odd numbers, vowels and consonants, number families, temperature and components of thermometers, weather, months of the year, days of the week, nursery rhymes, Bible stories, Catholic Christian values, bones and organs of the human body, seasons and holidays, and much much more! We then read a daily story and sing songs!  

After circle time the students are released for 20-30 minutes of free time.  They are able to choose from any of our room's centers: Dramatic Play, Blocks, Reading, Listening, Arts and Crafts, Science, Writing, Dress Up, and various themed boxes off our play shelf.  This is a fantastic opportunity to practice our manners and social skills! 

Then it is finally time for a snack!  Little tummies need some extra TLC!  During snack we are quizzed on things we have learned over the past week and that day.  Also, we may learn a simple math or science skills during this time. 

Now we practice our fabulous writing skills!  Miss Kara demonstrates from the board as we journal key words or phrases, and eventually sentences and short stories that contribute to our education for the day!  We sound out words and phrases and put our incredible imaginations down on paper for others to share! This is a huge advancement for our reading skills!