The Gesu Preschool program provides a nurturing, faith based environment using developmentally appropriate activities and materials.  A center based curriculum supports the discovery and construction of knowledge through exploration and experimentation.  Multisensory activities enhance growth in all developmental domains, encourage natural curiosity and seek to foster a joy of learning. Our curriculum is based on the Ohio Department of Education state standards in the content areas of English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science.  We welcome the opportunity to support and partner with our families.  We also offer Parent/Teacher conferences twice a year in November and March. Communication between home and school is ongoing through daily contact at arrival and dismissal, weekly classroom updates, and monthly calendars. Parents are encouraged to volunteer in our classrooms. 

Weekly Schedule Options for Preschool

Three Year Old Program: The child in this program must turn 3 by September 30th. The child is potty trained and is able to handle their own bathroom needs. Most children turn 4 during this school year. Three year old students progress to the 4-year-old program the following school year!

  1. Option One: 2-day class that meets Monday and Tuesday morning from 8:20 – 11:00 AM.
  2. Option Two: 3-day class that meets Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings from 8:20 – 11:00 AM.
  3. Option Three: 4-day class that meets Monday – Thursday afternoons from 12:00 – 2:40 PM.

Four Year Old Program: The child in this program must turn 4 by September 30th. This class works on kindergarten readiness skills. Most children in this class turn 5 during the school year. Most children go on to kindergarten the following school year or they move to the Pre-K class.

  1. Option One: Morning program that meets Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings from 8:20 – 11:00 AM
  2. Option Two: An afternoon program that meets Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons from 12:00 – 2:40 PM.

Pre-K Program: The child in this program must turn 5 by November 30th. Students in this class come from our 4 year old program. This program has children enrolled whose birthday misses the kindergarten cutoff date or needs an extra year to develop and mature. This class works to reinforce kindergarten readiness skills.

5 day Pre-K program: meets Monday – Friday from 8: 20 AM – 1:00 PM

CURRICULUM

Our preschool program is a center-based approach to learning.  Our goal is to foster a life-long love of learning for our students using a multi-level approach to meet the developmental needs of our young children while supporting their spiritual, emotional, social, physical and intellectual growth.  Gesu Preschool follows the diocesan preschool curriculum which is aligned with the State of Ohio preschool standards.  Our classrooms are filled with age-appropriate, hands-on activities and sensory activities to nurture growth in the following domains: spiritual, social and emotional, language arts, math, art, science, and motor skill development.

Spiritual Development

Spiritual development is an integral part of our Catholic preschool program.  A child’s sense of God and love for God begins with the examples set by their family and the acceptance and respect found in our classrooms.  We want to introduce our students to the wonder of God and the wonderful world that God created.  We begin by celebrating how each one of us is made in God’s image.  Each one of us is special and unique.  We celebrate the blessings of our families.  We celebrate our bi beautiful world and the wonders of nature.  We use age-appropriate songs and small prayer services to prepare our children to celebrate and participate in our church and this community.  Visiting church, celebrating the saints, singing songs of praise and thanksgiving and building an awareness of the wonder of God’s love for us helps to provide a strong faith foundation for our preschoolers.

Social and Emotional Development

Social and emotional development is a key goal for a preschool aged child.  Developing a healthy, positive self-image is essential to successful learning.  Learning experiences that support a child to develop healthy social interactions with peers, their teachers, and their sense of being part of a group, are an itegral part of social development.  Our program provides and supports opportunities for:
cooperative play, sharing, initiating play with peers, conflict resolution, following directions, developing a positive relationship with teachers, developing respect and care for others, growth of a child’s own self-help skills.

As we learn about each other and our families, Gesu preschool students celebrate that our families have traditions from the many cultures they represent.  Preschoolers are curious to learn about traditions for each family and how those traditions began.  We enjoy learning about a culture by taking a look at pictures, learning about food that is served, colors, songs, and language found within our families.  Learning about different cultures and backgrounds provides an opportunity to celebrate our differences and to see that God created all of us to be special and unique.

Language Arts

Language is the development of communication skills that enable a child to share their thoughts and ideas with the world around them.  At the preschool level, we are working and encouraging the skills of listening to our teachers and our peers.  We are expanding our vocabulary to support developing complex language that helps a child’s growing curiosity about the world around them.

The preschool classroom helps this process by developing concepts of print, comprehension of age-appropriate stores, letter recognition, and phonological awareness.  We grown in our language development as we are listening to and sharing stories, singing songs, learning fingerplays, and helping to create classroom charts by sharing our thoughts and ideas.

Mathematics

Preschoolers are beginning to develop mathematical skills.  They are learning about shapes and the relationship of shapes.  Preschoolers are working on learning patterning skills and acquiring number recognition.  They practice number sense by counting, using one to one correspondence and sorting.  Preschool children are exploring concepts of more or less, bigger and smaller, heavier and lighter as they compare items.  When working on a puzzle a preschool is learning spatial concepts and skills.  In water play a child is learning the effects of gravity and force as they scoop and pour water.  Block play offers the opportunity to explore the concepts of balance, weight, spatial awareness and gravity.  Our hands-on approach gives our preschoolers daily activities and opportunities to support their growth in the beginning concepts of math.

Social Studies

An awareness of our role in society begins with an understanding of family, community, and the broader world.  Our students begin learning these concepts with family history, community helpers, neighborhood, and relationships between people.  Our students develop a sense of belonging to different groups; for example family, friends, class, school, parish and community.

Science

Children’s natural curiosity leads to the exploration of our physical world:  studying living things, life cycles, habitats, and weather. Physical sciences include weight, measurement, shape and size.  Scientific inquiry leads to the study of air, water, and simple machines.

Motor Skills

Opportunities are provided within the classroom to develop fine motor skills through creative process art, writing, sensory experiences, and play with a variety of manipulatives.  Gross motor development is encouraged through large muscle play in the classroom, on the playground, and in weekly physical education classes.