Preschool
Our preschool program is divided into two classrooms, Tigers and Kangaroos. The Tigers classroom serves our three and young four year olds who are already fully potty-trained. The Kangaroo class serves our four year olds and five year olds until they leave for kindergarten. The main difference between the two classrooms is that the Kangaroos class focuses more heavily on school readiness using Virginia’s early learning guidelines.
Similar to our other classes, our preschoolers enjoy circle time. However, the circle times last a little longer and include a larger range of activities that are more appropriate for this age group. The children not only sing songs and listen to stories, but they also are given the opportunity to speak in front of the group to share ideas and experiences and to make connections. This type of activity will aid in their development of confidence and comfort with using language to effectively communicate with others.
Learning centers are also available to small groups of children to facilitate pre-reading and writing skills such as phonic and letter recognition and math activities such as sorting, classifying, estimating, and counting using one-to-one correspondence. Children who are already emergent readers are guided to become more competent readers and encouraged to love books.
We use the Handwriting without Tears curriculum to teach the children pre-writing skills. This curriculum is an innovative approach to instruction because it offers a variety of experiences to guide the acquisition of the skills needed to write. For example, children might elect to use playdough to model a set of letters from cards or they might use blocks to form the letters, to name a few. The Kangaroo class will also be using the Handwriting without Tears workbook in addition to writing in their very own journal. Eventually, we hope to also have computers in the Kangaroo classroom as well.
We also introduce our preschoolers to social studies and science. We recognize the importance of teaching the children about the world around them and the communities they live in. We believe that acquiring such knowledge and experiences at an early age will encourage the preschoolers to become responsible and active members of society. Bright Start subscribes to Weekly Reader. A copy is sent home with each child on a weekly basis so that he/she can share social concepts and topics with their families.
We observe nature during our outside time and extended walks around the community. The children also begin to feel secure as part of the community where the center is located because they can watch activities as they occur in the neighborhood through our large wall of windows in the classroom. For example, they might enjoy watching dogs being walked, snow or rain falling, cars, trucks, buses, and bicycles as they pass, and people as they walk and talk. In addition, the children in this class are invited to attend the music and movement class each Thursday and music class on Tuesdays for Kangaroos and Wednesdays for Tigers for an additional fee. The third Monday of every month is story time with Ms. Kim from Alexandria Public Library.
The goal of Bright Start Preschool is to have the children learn to try, experience success, develop confidence within themselves and others, and an intrinsic motivation to learn.
Coya is the lead teacher of the Tigers Classroom. She has been working with children for 11 ½ years. She has been with Bright Start for over 4 of those years. Coya loves working with children and has obtained her CDA. She finds enjoyment in playing with and talking to the children. She currently lives in Washington, DC, and loves to spend time with her husband and 5 year old daughter in her free time.
Kita is the lead teacher of the Busy Bugs Classroom. She has been in child care for 6 years and has been at Bright Start for 4 of those years. Kita loves working with young children and has achieved her CDA in Preschool. Kita loves to teach the children and finds excitement in having them to explore and learn new things. Kita currently lives in Maryland with her fiancé and 2 daughters and loves to spend time with her family, shop, and go out to restaurants during her free time.
Freweini,”Ms. Freta”, is one of the lead teachers of the Kangaroos class. She was born in the Eritrean City of Asmara, where she grew up with her mother, father, brothers, and sisters. Freta has been working in child care for 8 years and is in the process of receiving her CDA. She enjoys doing art projects and playing with the children outside. She currently lives in Annandale and loves going to the movies, working out, and having picnics with her family during her free time.
The lead teacher of the Kangaroos class is a new comer to Bright Start. Her name is Haroula Foukara. Ms. Haroula started as a substitute teacher working in several of our classes over the past few months. She comes to us with 5 years of experience with working in a variety of capacities with young children. Haroula prides herself in the fact that she has “always known that she wanted to work with kids”. At the age of 16, Haroula began teaching tennis to children between the ages of 2 and 10 at a private school near her home. Since then, she has worked with Middle School students in Fairfax County with the School-Aged Child Care (SACC) program, and she has also taught children tennis at another privately owned school. Haroula has also been studying to receive her Bachelor’s degree and licensure in elementary education at George Mason University where she has accomplished several field experiences and internships at local elementary schools in Alexandria working with children from grades kindergarten through first. She is expected to receive her degree this spring. Haroula comes from a small family of Greek descent and has one younger sister who she adores. In her free time, Haroula enjoys scrapbooking, reading, and traveling.