Prodigy Preschool Program uses Merit Academy’s Reading Readiness Program.
Prodigy Preschool Program’s curriculum is designed to give the students a jumpstart in reading. The students master both uppercase and lowercase letter recognition. They also learn all the sounds that each consonant and vowel makes to prepare them to read phonetically. The children learn how to read each other’s names as their introduction to sight words. The teacher will read daily 3-5 excellent books to the children to capture their imagination and instill in them the love of reading.
To develop their auditory discrimination skills, the students play a variety of games. They listen to audio tapes of animals to learn how to identify animal sounds. This skill helps the children tune into particular sounds that relate to learning. For instance, they need to learn the difference between “b” and “d,” and “f” and “sp.” They also play games like Chase the Bell to determine from which direction sounds are coming. For visual discrimination skills, the students play games like 4 Sequence Cards and President’s Memory Game, or they copy patterns using beads or colored/shaped blocks. Developing the ability to see patterns will help prepare students for reading and math.
The students begin to write their names and trace dictations from stories to tell the teacher. The students also cut shapes with scissors, sew cards with yarn and needles, and participate in many creative activities that encourage fine-motor control. The students will each have his/her own word box. Sight word flash cards will also be placed on objects in the classroom to encourage the connection between an object and the written word.
To stimulate their imaginations and appreciation for reading, the students enjoy listening to the teacher read classic children’s literature daily. The reading list consists of award winning books.
To encourage language development, the teacher will ask the children questions that will prompt a descriptive response. The teacher may show a picture and ask what’s happening, or she may ask the child to make up a story based on the picture. The teacher may also present a series of pictures and ask the student to pplace cards in the best sequence. Then, the student can tell the story using the illustration cards. The teacher listens carefully to the children as they speak to encourage them to use new words to communicate.
Sample Curriculum
- Do visual discrimination exercises
- Do auditory discrimination exercises
- Perform small-motor skill exercises
- Follow oral directions
- Listen to classic stories read by the teacher
- Learn name and address
- Summarize stories
- Repeat vowel and consonant phonetic sounds
- Identify the names of upper and lower case letters
- Learn sight vocabulary