K-Prep encompasses our entire preschool program with special age-appropriate instruction for 3 year olds, 4 year olds, and Young 5’s. At AppleTree and Gilden Woods, we understand that preschoolers need the freedom to explore, inquire, and engage. That’s why our comprehensive approach is so effective. We provide a developmentally-appropriate environment for hands-on learning that is stimulating and fun, so your child can grow, play, and learn at their own pace. They’ll love engaging in art, music, early math and science activities, and circle time – and you’ll love the confidence and mastery they develop.
3 to 4 years
Welcome to K-Prep Preschool!
Our K-Prep preschool program features age-appropriate instruction in a stimulating learning environment.
Composed of multiple research-based curriculums and learning tools, our comprehensive program is designed to fully prepare your child for Kindergarten success as they become problem solvers and lifelong learners. Your child will develop language, physical, social, and cognitive skills that will provide a strong foundation for his or her future educational journey.
The key components to our program are: Our proprietary C.O.R.E. Planner Curriculum including C.O.R.E. Language & Literacy, Get Set for School® (Handwriting Without Tears®), and our C.O.R.E. Values® Character Education Curriculum. These programs, combined with our qualified, experienced, and dedicated teachers are the ingredients to a recipe for success!
Intentional Teaching
Our Golden Apple Engagement Model promotes your child’s natural intrinsic motivation. Our teachers are trained in the current best practices in early childhood education and strive to be intentional in all interactions, looking for “teachable moments” when your child shows interest in the world around them.
Additionally, our teaching practices instill the belief that our abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. This is a contrast to the mindset that basic qualities, like intelligence or talent, are fixed traits that are either possessed or not. We discourage views of the self that include statements such as “I am just not good at counting” or “I can’t draw very well.” With support and guidance, we will encourage your child to see their skills as dynamic and developing.
Cooperative Learning & A Feeling of Community
During “Circle Time,” we gather as a group to share ideas, listen, develop attention span, promote oral communication, and learn new concepts and skills. While it’s a time for auditory memory, sensory experiences, and socialization, it’s also a time for fun.
Our “Circle Time” experience features many components that are frequently seen in school-age classrooms including using the calendar, making weather observations, and charting and graphing. We use this time as an opportunity to conduct story time, sing, learn finger-plays, and enjoy an assortment of games to support new knowledge, such as numbers, shapes, phonemic awareness, and letter recognition.
Our Woodland Friends Help Teach Values
We have designed a fun and rewarding character education program that features our eight Woodland Friends. The goal of this program is to prepare children to become morally responsible, self-disciplined citizens. Problem solving, decision making, and conflict resolution are important parts of developing moral character. These skills are crucial in children’s early school years, when making friends and learning go hand in hand! Our C.O.R.E. Values curriculum has the specific goal of teaching children about appropriate
- Choices
- Observations
- Reactions
- Efforts
When preschool children are encouraged to model positive character traits they excel even greater upon reaching Kindergarten. That’s why we begin focusing on these character traits on a deeper level with our three-year-old preschoolers. Our preschoolers often choose a favorite Woodland Friend based on similar interests and strengths. Each Woodland Friend posses unique personality traits and excels in different core subject areas.
Get Set for School
At this age, our teachers are continuing to develop your child’s foundation for handwriting success. Through Get Set for School® (from Handwriting Without Tears®), your child will begin enjoying activities such as Roll-A-Dough to form the important fine motor skills that ensure a correct pencil grip and eventually letter formation. This program incorporates child-friendly teaching strategies, such as using music and movement to bring lessons to life. Our lessons teach body awareness, cooperation, taking turns, listening, crayon grip, and drawing.
Nurturing Their Creativity
In our dramatic play learning center, pretend play and dress up are avenues for your child to express themselves creatively. Teachers allow children to play independently, guiding their interactions, and partner in their play to extend their use of imagination. The interest your child has in pretend play and dress up can expand into storytelling skills and your child’s teacher will be there to encourage this development.
We promote fine arts in our classrooms by providing an assortment of art materials and present creative piece opportunities.
Curriculum & Enrichment Programs:
- C.O.R.E. Language & Literacy Acquisition Program
-C.O.R.E. Values Character Education Program - Get Set for School from Handwriting Without Tears
- Adabelle’s Spanish Club
- Fun ‘N’ Fit Movement Education
- Music Appreciation
- For more information about our curriculum system, visit our Curriculum page.For more information on how our enrichment programs enhance the AppleTree/Gilden Woods experience, visit our Enrichment Programs page.
4 to 5 years
Our four-year-old K-Prep preschool program offers hands-on materials and a variety of learning centers to help your child grow socially and emotionally while mastering skills needed for future school success.
Fostering Kindergarten Readiness
Our unique K-Prep Preschool program is designed to ensure your child acquires the academic and social skills needed for elementary school success. Through engaging lessons and exciting themes that bring smiles to their face, your child will reach many academic goals. They will be learning every day and won’t even know it!
The World of Language and Literacy
Preschoolers ask questions about everything. This curiosity helps build their linguistic skills while they gain knowledge. At this age, your child’s intellect is growing rapidly; therefore, activities and conversations that help foster language development , writing, and reading skills are crucial. From big books to word walls, labeling, and alphabet fun, we prepare children for a future of life-long learning. We also feature enrichment programs, including a Spanish Club that further enhances your child’s language experiences.
For additional information regarding our Spanish Club and other enrichment programs offered, visit our Enrichment Programs page. For more information on the specific phonics and handwriting curricula we utilize, visit our Curriculum page.
Hands-On Learning Centers
As your preschooler matures, the surroundings and activities become more complex. Each preschool room has different play areas, also known as “learning centers.” Our learning centers include dramatic play, science and sensory, math and manipulatives, reading, writing, blocks and community, art, music and movement, computer and listening, and gross motor.
Each day we provide time for the little things that matter so much to preschoolers. Mastering tasks and skills such as tying shoelaces, buttoning jackets, and hand-washing allow your budding student to take more responsibility for their personal care and helps build self-esteem. Cutting with scissors, drawing, and painting are just a few of the additional activities incorporated daily to ensure your child is building fine motor control.
Growing Bigger and Stronger
It’s obvious that your preschooler can run, jump, and climb farther, faster, and better than ever before. Every day your child will benefit from further growth and muscle development by playing on our age-appropriate playground equipment or inside the gym during inclement weather. Playing with balls and climbing, running, jumping, and throwing balls will also encourage gross motor development. We’ll also offer gentle coaching when your child seems to need help. The good habits and skills he or she develops now are the basis for sports, dancing, and other activities that begin in middle childhood and could continue for his or her lifetime.
Curriculum & Enrichment Programs:
- The Creative Curriculum
- C.O.R.E. Language & Literacy Acquisition Program
- C.O.R.E. Values Character Education Program
- Get Set for School from Handwriting Without Tears
- S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Curriculum
- Tech Time with Terance
- Adabelle’s Spanish Club
- Fun ‘N’ Fit Movement Education
- Music Appreciation
For more information about our curriculum system, visit our Curriculum page.
Young 5’s
Why choose our Young 5’s program?
- Proven, research-based curriculum, that encourages hands-on learning
- Developmentally-appropriate activities promoting Kindergarten Readiness through a focus on social skill development while introducing phonemic awareness, emergent reading skills, and primer sight words
- Quarterly child assessments utilizing TS Gold® and Get Set for School® child records
Curriculum & Enrichment Programs:
- Readiness & Writing, Language & Literature, Numbers & Math from the nationally recognized Get Set for School® Program
- C.O.R.E. Values Character Education Program
- S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Curriculum
- Enrichment Programs – Gymnastics/Fitness, Spanish, Music Appreciation and Tech Time with Terance are included with tuition
Visit our Curriculum page for more information about our curriculum program.
