The Prekindergarten Program
Our Prekindergarten Program at St. Anne's School of Annapolis consists of a five-day week from 8:15 a.m. to noon each day. Extended Care is available before school from 7:15 a.m. and after school until 6:00 p.m. Prekindergarten students may also benefit from our Afternoon Enrichment Program (AEP) and additional community programs to enhance their school experiences.
Building upon our mission of intellectual, social, emotional, physical, and spiritual development, the St. Anne’s School Prekindergarten Program continues with curricula influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach and the Project Approach in a classroom setting led by a lead teacher and an assistant teacher.
A typical day in Prekindergarten begins with outside play, followed by morning meeting. At morning meeting, the children and teachers greet one another and discuss the day’s events, which may include updates and work that needs to be completed on long-term projects. Following morning meeting, children identify the Interest Areas in which they want to begin their day’s work. Work in these areas promotes learning across all important domains: cognitive learning; personal growth and development; social learning; language and literacy learning; and gross/fine motor development. Teachers equip Interest Areas to support skill development in each of these areas. Children spend most of their time in Interest Areas, moving freely and working on daily or long-term projects, conversing with friends and producing work that is important to them. During this time, teachers move about the room, facilitating play and collaboration, asking questions, supporting children’s thinking, extending ideas, and undertaking documentation of student work. Morning meeting is typically followed by one of the specialty classes. These include weekly visits to the media center, weekly instruction in music, physical education, religion, and science, and our unique buddy classes. The day ends with a reflective closing circle where children may report or reflect upon the day’s learning.
