OACS News Service
 |
||
Prospective students experience Christian education through school readiness program BCS has introduced a five-week program for preschool-aged children who will be attending junior kindergarten (JK) in the fall. The school just wrapped up its first session yesterday, with kindergarten teacher Laurie Tuckey proclaiming it a “huge success.” Nine students participated in the two-and-a-half-hour program every Thursday morning at the school. Tuckey arranged for a supply teacher for her regular kindergarten class while she taught the program with the view that this allows parents considering kindergarten to get to know her and how she works. A favourite part of the Get Ready, Get Set, Read program was a weekly half-hour music component, taught by a music specialist, at the end of the session. Tuckey says she believes including the music as the class closed was vital to the success of the whole program as parents arriving to pick up their children could see firsthand the energy and excitement created by the singing and musical activities. Five of the students who attended the readiness program are now enrolled in the school for the fall. “It’s been a good way to get people to try the school,” says Tuckey, noting this can be especially effective for families who are “sitting on the fence” about Christian education. BCS will be offering a second school readiness session beginning in early May with plans to run the program again in the spring of 2011. Tuckey notes that while she develops the curriculum, the concept of the program comes from principal Bob Moore of Guelph Community Christian School (GCCS). GCCS has been offering a similar program for three years — called Ready, Set, Read — also with positive results, according to Moore. “Because we had determined that JK was the entry point for our school, we work quite hard to try to fill up our (kindergarten) class and encourage people to think of us as their JK option and then hopefully we do a good job and they stay with us (to Grade 8),” says Moore. GCCS offers two sessions of its school readiness program in the spring, also with a view to promoting the school, as well as introducing families to kindergarten teacher Hieke Klapwyk, who is gaining notoriety as “the best junior kindergarten teacher in the city,” says Moore. The GCCS kindergarten class is full for the fall, which the principal links back to the success of the school readiness program. Moore qualifies that Ready, Set, Read is not intended to be another activity to “push and hurry children along,” a challenge many parents grapple with today as they try to balance supporting their child’s development and pushing them too hard too soon. “We set the goal as readiness, . . . (It’s about) finding out where the children are in their stage of development and then trying to take them to the next stage,” he says. Schools interested in setting up a similar program can contact Tuckey or Moore at their respective schools. If you have feedback on this article please contact michelle(at)axiomnews.ca, or call the newsroom at 800-294-0051.
|
The OACS News Service is independently written and produced. The stories are researched, written and posted
by Axiom
News Service without prior editorial approval from either
OACS or their members. |
|
