Preschool / Day Care in Monmouth County, NJ

Presbyterian Nursery School:
Presbyterian Nursery School (PNS), located in the Bayshore area of Aberdeen Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, is a private Christian school offering an excellent pre-school program for 3 and 4 years olds of all faiths and backgrounds. PNS continues to prepare children for life by building a healthy self-image, promoting trusting relationships, and developing the necessary skills for success in school and beyond.

Language:
- Listening (follows directions, attends to story during circle time, attends to peer during show and tell)
- Orally retells events (dictates story after trips and holidays), learns and verbalizes finger plays, retells story, makes relevant verbal contributions during circle time, describes picture, uses opposites and rhyming words
- Recognizes written name and classmates’ names, writes first name, recognizes simple words (“stop”, “Mom”, “Dad”, “love”) and begins attempt to write
- Verbally identifies letters in first name, names and identifies many letters of the alphabet, begins to associate letter with sound at beginning of word
Self
- Verbalizes first name, last name, address, phone number; names body parts

Social Studies:
- Basic facts and concepts associated with historic and traditional events, seasons, and holidays (fall, Christopher Columbus, Johnny Appleseed, Election Day, Thanksgiving and Native Americans, Christmas, Hanukkah, winter, Martin Luther King, Jr., Presidents Washington and Lincoln, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Spring, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Summer)
- Family make-up
- Community helpers

Math:
- Counting, to 15-18, and forward and backwards to 10
- One-to-one correspondence
- Identifying numerals 0-10
- Verbal problem solving, estimating
- Classifying objects by color, size, and shape
- Developing and “reading” bar graphs
- Sequencing by size
- Measuring, using balance, scale, ruler, and unit cubes
- Name shapes (circle, triangle, square, rectangle, diamond)

Physical:

Gross Motor Skills:
- Full body movement (run, walk backwards, march, gallop, skip, hop on one foot, climb, bike-ride)
- Arm-eye coordination (ball catch and throw)
- Rhythm (clap hands, chant, use of rhythm instruments)Fine Motor Skills:
- Finger strength, dexterity (playdough, crayons, paint brushes, scissors, lacing)
- Eye-hand coordination (bead stringing, puzzles, connect dotted lines, reproduce shapes)

Musical:
- Songs, fingerplays, chants are learned
- Rhythm instruments are used; bells, shakers, kazoos are made and used
- Marching and dancing to recordings
- Coloring and painting to music

Science:
- Scientists predict (guess) then test (experiment) to see if their prediction is correct; then chart results
- Name colors, create through mixing paints
- Plants grow from seeds and bulbs, and need sun, soil, and water to grow
- Object sinks or floats in water
- Animals’ habits, habitats, foods; farm animals, nocturnal animals (bats, owls, raccoons), backyard birds, penguins, bears and other hibernating animals, family pets, sea creatures
- Healthy bodies need food, exercise, rest and love
- The five senses help us learn about the world
- We live in families and in a home (our house has an address)

Spiritual/Values:
- Prayer: saying grace before eating snack, remembering sick classmates
- Christian holidays and traditions (Noah’s Ark, Christmas as baby Jesus’ birthday, Easter as Jesus with us always, new life in Springtime, the cross as reminder of Jesus, Jesus as carpenter)
- Sharing holiday traditions of classmates (Jewish celebrations of Hanukkah and Passover, Hindu Diwali, Chinese New Year)
- Kindness and good manners are modeled and shared