The Edmond Sun

Local News

Related Photos

  • PATTY MILLER | THE EDMOND SUN Sunset's Early Childhood Development Center's pre-k students Ian Ward, Chloe Mathis and Ethan Hoots read books about circus characters during their activity time in Vicki Self's class.

    051811 sunset pre-k5.jpg

  • PATTY MILLER | THE EDMOND SUN Chloe Mathis and Tiyanna Pickens are trying to balance the clown as they load his arms with wooden spools. The girls are in Vicki Self's pre-k class at Sunset Elementary.

    051811 sunset pre-k3.jpg

  • PATTY MILLER | THE EDMOND SUN Pre-kindergarten students Kodie Parkinson and Nathan West try to walk on stilts as part of their circus unit in Vicki Self's class at Sunset Elementary.

    051811 sunset pre-k4.jpg

  • PATTY MILLER | THE EDMOND SUN Mason Priest, Hudson Privratsky and SaNaaya Pettie put together puzzles of circus animals as they practice their fine motor skills at Sunset Elementary.

    051811 sunset pre-k1.jpg

Discussion

May 23, 2011

Pre-k gives students jump-start on learning

Patty Miller The Edmond Sun

EDMOND — The Edmond Public Schools Early Childhood Development Center at Sunset Elementary is completing its first year as a pre-kindergarten and kindergarten center.

With four half-day classes of pre-kindergarten students and four classes of kindergartners meeting each day, Sunset’s ECDC teaches about 160 students, said Sunset principal Joann Simpson-Miller.

“Personally I believe our Early Childhood Center has been extremely successful,” Simpson-Miller said.

“For some of these children it has been their first experience in a school setting where they are learning phonics, numbers, basic reading skills, social skills and motor skills.”

Simpson-Miller said she would encourage parents to enroll their children in pre-k classes for next year if they have not done so already.

“We have a beautiful, brand new facility, and we will have hot breakfasts and lunches available each day in the Early Childhood Center for our students,” Simpson-Miller said.

By state law, group sizes for Oklahoma’s pre-k program are set at 20 and child/staff ratios cannot exceed 10 to 1.

At both Sunset Elementary School and Clyde Howell Center (an Early Childhood Center that houses only pre-k and teaches 60 children a day), the end of school does not mean the end of learning.

Students at both schools were practicing the skills they have been taught during the year. Whether advancing the development of fine motor skills or participating in sensory experiences, Edmond’s pre-kindergarten students were having fun while they were learning across the district.

In Julie White’s classes at Clyde Howell, the students were studying Building a Community using the ocean as the stepping off point.

“We tend to do broader units under the umbrella of Building a Community,” White said. “We start the year with what we see in our community like colors, shapes and things that fall within our natural environment. Studying parts of their world helps them connect better.”

Throughout the year the students will study communities including the school, family, seasons and traditions, among others.

“During the year we use a time we call ‘Huddle’ to pinpoint and look at specific skills and concepts we want to develop and reinforce,” White said.

On Wednesday the pre-kindergartners were working in their activity centers, singing songs about the sea and a whale, listening to a story about a fish who gave all of his beautiful scales away to other fish who needed them and by doing so became part of the community, and preparing and eating a blue Jell-O snack that looked like the ocean with a gummy fish swimming in it.

All the time a student, who was the “helping hand” for the day, was leading the class as the students practiced punctuation, spelling, counting, motor skills and more.

Last Tuesday in Vicki Self’s pre-k class in Sunset’s Early Childhood Development Center, the students were participating in a Circus unit as they practiced motor skills by balancing on a tightrope (a wooden beam on the floor), walking on stilts, drawing things that have to do with a circus, putting together puzzles of circus animals and reading circus stories at their self-selected activity centers.

They even practiced their counting skills as they counted out their self-serve snacks of seven circus animal cookies.

Every Monday the learning units change for the Sunset students.

One week was Chicka Chick Boom and the children learned new words like top and bottom. They studied the letter C in capitals and lower case, the color red, the shape of a circle and the numbers 0, 1 and 2.

During Bone Business week the children learned the letter X, the words over and under, the color orange, the shape of an oval and the number 3.

“Young children learn developmentally,” Self said. “They learn by doing and they learn through each other.”

 

pmiller@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 171

Text Only
Local News
  • $6.8B budget crosses final hurdle

    House members found enough votes late Thursday afternoon to approve the state’s $6.8 billion budget for next year by a vote of 52-42. This came after an earlier vote failed by four votes in the House Thursday morning.

    May 25, 2012

  • Santa Fe principal resigns

    Edmond Santa Fe High School principal Earl Kirkpatrick resigned Thursday to explore possibilities in the field of ministry. His last day is June 30.

    May 25, 2012

  • devin derrick 2012.jpg Hollywood dreams do come true: Edmondite develops film, music career

    It’s all about being in the right place at the right time.
    At least that is what Edmond resident and 1990 Edmond High School graduate Devin Derrick will tell you about his rise to fame in the music and movie businesses.

    May 25, 2012 1 Photo

  • ASK A LAWYER: Trusts provide options for difficult heirs

    Q: We have a grown daughter who has a gambling problem. We want to provide for her in our will, but also want to protect her share from being wasted after we die. How can we do this?
    A: Your situation is not unusual. Most of us know at least one person who has difficulty handling money for one reason or another.

    May 25, 2012

  • 5-26 Pets

    This is a list of animals that have been found and are at the Edmond Animal Shelter, at Interstate 35 and Covell in the Cross Timbers Municipal Complex. Call the shelter at 216-7615 for more information.

    May 25, 2012

  • 5-26 Police and Fire

    Information in this column is gathered from city fire incident logs and police incident reports.

    May 25, 2012

  • Make-A-Wish Oklahoma hosts Lexus raffle

    Make-A-Wish Oklahoma will once again partner with Lexus of Tulsa and Eskridge Lexus of Oklahoma City to raffle off a new Lexus, raising funds to support the organization’s efforts to grant the heartfelt wishes of children diagnosed with life-threatening medical conditions in Oklahoma.

    May 25, 2012

  • Edmond youth are encouraged to make a difference

    The Edmond Youth Council programs are opportunities for students 15-18 years of age to learn about municipal government and potentially impact future city policies.

    May 25, 2012

  • Hiebert graduates from Field Artillery training

    Army Pfc. Cody A. Hiebert has graduated from the Field Artillery Firefinder Radar Operator Advanced Individual Training course at Fort Sill, Lawton.

    May 25, 2012

  • arcadia lake 3.jpg Police: Comply with lake rules during holiday period

    Summer vacation, hot days and a holiday weekend spell heavier traffic on Arcadia Lake, and police want to remind guests about rules and what happens if you break them.
    May 23 was the last day of school for Edmond Public Schools and the long Memorial Day holiday period has come.

    May 25, 2012 6 Photos