The 2011-2012 school year marks the start of a new enhancement to our Preschool and 4K curriculum at Apple Ridge Academy! This literacy component is called Let’s Begin with the Letter People®, and is founded on the latest research on Early Childhood Education. The primary focus of this cur-riculum is to prepare students to learn how to read and write. Although Let’s Begin with the Letter People® primarily focuses on early literacy skills, it is an all-encompassing curriculum that also includes: developing story knowledge, science/math/technology skills, personal and social development, health and safety, and artistic skills. Moreover, some of the early literacy skills that children will work on include: print awareness, phonological and phonemic awareness, alphabetic knowledge, writing and spelling, and vocabulary development.

Children will become familiar with “The Letter People,” unique characters who are associated with a letter, a special identifying characteristic and a song. These characters will get your children talking, moving, interacting, experimenting, drawing, counting, and ultimately will help prepare them to learn to read and write. The program also provides opportunities for differentiation, ensuring that all children will be challenged regardless of their developmental level.

We will be able to measure your child’s progress throughout the year using the GOLD® Assessment System. These assessments will help us to measure where your child is developmentally and academically. More specifically, we will be monitoring students’ progress with regards to socio-emotional, physical, cognitive, linguistic, literary, mathematic, scientific, social studies, artistic, and English Language Acquisition (if necessary) objectives. You will be able to see these assessments during Parent-Teacher Conferences!

This curriculum is aligned with the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards, the recognized standards for high-quality early childhood education in Wisconsin.

When teachers are up-to-date on research, they know what to do and why certain teaching strategies work. In turn, they are able to make decisions that promote learning and development and positively impact the lives of children and their families.

Children will graduate from our program with the skills they need to succeed as independent, self-confident, curious learners who can work well with others.