At Providence Christian Academy’s Pre-Kindergarten Program, we recognize that young children grow and learn rapidly, and we embrace their natural ability to absorb knowledge.
Our program fosters growth in a safe, Christ-centered environment, using hands-on, theme-based learning with age-appropriate activities taught through a biblical lens. Along with an academically rigorous curriculum, we emphasize attentiveness, obedience, manners, love, and respect. Most importantly, we partner with parents to help shape each child’s moral character according to God’s Word.
3-Day Program
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
5-Day Program
Monday – Friday
Academic Hours
8am – 12pm
Small Class Size
13 Students per Classroom
Academics
As we help children grow in the area of language arts, our focus is on upper and lower case letter recognition, recognizing and reproducing rhymes, understanding how to look at a book, developing and sharpening listening skills, reciting simple poems and Bible verses, participating in group discussions, and expressing ideas through writing and drawing.
As we help children grow in the area of mathematics, our focus is on counting to 100 and number recognition, applying math concepts to solve everyday problems, collecting data and making predictions, imitating simple patterns, and predicting what comes next while recognizing the order that God created, identifying and describing attributes of common shapes, dividing a whole into halves, and recognizing coins.
As we help children grow in the area of science, our focus is on increased ability to classify, compare and contrast simple objects, explore cause and effect, participate in simple science experiments, develop an awareness of the properties of the Earth that God created, developing an awareness of sensory attributes of objects and how God created our bodies to perceive the world around us, observing changes that occur in materials and substances, understanding how God created humans, plants, and animals differently with needs for life and the ability to grow.
As we help children grow in the area of social studies, our focus is on recognizing each student’s role in their family, class, and community, respecting and listening to other viewpoints, God’s call for us to help others in need, memorizing personal information, Biblical and historical events surrounding holidays, recognizing the importance of patriotism, locating familiar places in community and school, and exploring various modes of transportation.
As we help children grow in the area of fine arts, our focus is on exploring a variety of art forms and art materials, sharing ideas about personal artwork, participating in music activities, moving freely to music, rhythm, and tempo, experimenting with a variety of musical instruments, expressing thoughts and feelings through creative movement, engaging in dramatic play with others, and exploring imitation and pretend through storytelling.
As we help children grow in the areas of health and safety, our focus is on teaching each student the importance of taking personal responsibility for their own bodies, simple actions that promote good health, making healthy decisions for their bodies, recognizing the importance of classroom and playground rules, seeking help from trusted adults, and responding appropriately to emergency drills and situations.
As we help children grow in the areas of personal, social, and spiritual development our focus is on helping students understand self-direction, personal space, developing an increased ability to control feelings and reactions, practicing good manners, showing respect, developing relationships with others, understanding basic Biblical Truths of 1. God Made Me 2. God Loves Me 3. Jesus wants to be my friend forever 4. Jesus wants me to treat others the way I want to be treated; understanding how to pray, memorizing monthly Bible verses, recalling characteristics of God for all 26 letters of the alphabet, and understanding the truth and importance of God’s Word.
As we help children grow in the areas of physical development, our focus is on allowing each student the opportunity to explore moving in space, understanding of positional words, developing and strengthening non-locomotor movements, using simple playground equipment, proper use of pencil grip, proper scissor position and use, increased awareness of self-space, beginning development of basic locomotor movements, demonstration of increased pincher control of small hand muscles, development of increased balance, and continued development of hand-eye coordination.
Unique PCA Pre-K Experiences
Pre-K Friday Friends
At Providence Christian Academy’s Pre-K Program, we believe that it is imperative for young students to have the opportunity to learn and explore various unique careers, hobbies, mission experiences, etc.
We host guests each Friday morning and create other memorable days like “Bike Day”, “Pumpkin Day” and “Fun Run”. Our guests have included SCUBA diving masters, doctors, nurses, dentists, veterinarians, pilots, plumbers, mayors, orchestra members, policemen, firemen, professional athletes, authors, artists, and many more! Our parents and PCA community are generally the first to volunteer to serve as Friday Friends for our Pre-K Program and we welcome the sweet family involvement!
Pre-K Chapel
The Spiritual Life of our students is at the forefront of everything we do at Providence Christian Academy. Specifically, in our Pre-K Program, we strive to help students understand God’s abundant love for them and all of His creation. We focus on teaching students four Biblical Truths that permeate our daily activities.
God Made Me
God Loves Me
Jesus wants to be my best friend
Jesus wants me to treat others the way I want to be treated
In addition to weaving these Biblical Truths throughout our daily activities, Pre-K students at PCA also learn attributes of God that correlate with each of the 26 letters of the alphabet, memorize monthly Bible verses, and attend a special Pre-K-only Chapel weekly in our Lower School Library.
Kindergarten Readiness
The Faculty and Staff at Providence Christian Academy work diligently to instill in each Pre Kindergarten student a love of learning that will allow them to seek God’s truth and will equip them with the tools for a lifetime of learning. As part of this, we recognize that God has created each student uniquely and that their overall maturity depends not only on academic readiness but also on maturity in the areas of social and emotional growth.
Thus, we strive to foster an environment that seeks overall developmental readiness above the limitations of only reviewing chronological age. Developmental testing of our students goes far beyond A, B, C’s and 1, 2, 3’s to include physical development of gross and fine motor skills, adaptive behavior, following directions, and social & emotional development. Parents have a very important opportunity to set children up for school success by making sure that they are placing them in a developmentally appropriate grade level, instead of making a decision on placement simply based on their chronological age. What parents choose now could set their child up to be the oldest or youngest in his graduating class; the leader or follower among his peers. We encourage parents not to take this decision lightly or assume that a child’s chronological age automatically means he is ready to progress. Parents very, very rarely (if ever) regret holding their child back to give them an extra year to mature during the PreK/Kindergarten years, however, many wish they would not have sent their young child ahead. This is particularly important for children with summer birthdays and for young boys. We believe that ultimately, seeking God’s Will through prayer for each child will yield the best results.
Social Studies