Young Fives Program

Children enter kindergarten with a range of skills, both physical and cognitive. Often, children who turn five years of age after August will have a significantly different level of development than children approaching their sixth birthday. For this reason, Reach Academy will offer a Young Fives program. The full-day program is designed for students who have a summer or fall birth date and could use additional time to develop readiness skills.

The development of fine motor skills in preparation for kindergarten is an important part of Young Fives. After activities which strengthen muscle development, students will have many opportunities to use pencils, crayons, and scissors and will be instructed as to their proper usage.

Students enrolled in Young Fives will have the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of activities designed to help them make the adjustment to the school environment and working in a group. It is important that children learn to function well in the classroom environment. This will include getting along with other children and cooperating with adults other than their own parents. Young Fives students will learn to take turns and wait without interrupting, along with other social skills which teach the children to reason and make decisions. They will also work diligently to develop their listening skills, social/emotional skills, literacy, language, and mathematical reasoning.

Research shows that children must first have a strong base in language: rhyming, patterning, playing with words, listening to stories, etc. From the first day till the last, Young Fives students will be saturated with these concepts in a fun, yet challenging way.

Assessments
The classroom teacher will consistently monitor each child’s progress, starting at the beginning of the school year and continuing throughout the year. Teachers will give one-on-one assessments on a regular basis and will also be attentive to the daily work each child completes in the classroom.