• The Verona Preschool Program

         Our preschool program is located at Laning Avenue School, operates on a Monday through Friday schedule, and follows the Verona Public Schools District Calendar. Morning sessions are from 9:00 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. and is designated for three-year-olds. The afternoon session is designated for our four-year-olds who attend from 12:30 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. On scheduled half days, the times for each class is modified to each run for one hour and forty-five minutes. 
     
         The Verona Board of Education offers an integrated preschool experience for residents of the community between the ages of three and five years of age. The program seeks to provide a safe and nurturing learning experience in which children can play and learn. Special needs and typically developing children are placed together in our integrated learning environment that utilizes a developmental approach. Children are immersed in a variety of planned activities that promote readiness skills, language, and social/emotional growth. The daily routine includes small/large group experiences, circle time, play time, snack, motor activities, and language activities. Below you will find additional details.
     

    Classroom Activities:  As part of our curriculum based program, below are some activities that students will be taught.

    • Art: Process art and produce art using materials such as paint, play dough, crayons, markers, glue and scissors
    • Language: Literature, story retell, dramatics, seasonal vocabulary, finger play, weekly classes with Speech/Language Specialist
    • Math: Shapes, colors, sequencing, quantitative concepts, measurement, number recognition, counting
    • Science: Classification, life cycles (butterflies, plants), weather, animals, nature
    • Music: Singing, movement, musical instruments, performances
    • Dramatics: Puppetry, role-playing, dress-up
    • Sensory & Motor: Puzzles, manipulatives & exploration of a variety of sensory materials (e.g., shaving cream, water, sand, macaroni, etc.), obstacle courses, outdoor playground, weekly movement group facilitated by Motor Specialists
    • Interactive White Board: Hands-on, interactive computer activities

     

    Activities Parents Can Do at Home:  Below you will find some developmentally appropriate activities that parents can use with their children at home.

    Speech and Language Activities
    - blow and pop bubbles 
    - blow pin wheels 
    - use straws to drink 
    - use noisemakers (party horns, blowers, etc.) 
    - make animal sounds
    - Name and describe objects your child find interesting (elaborate on its color, texture, size, shape, and use) 
    - Tell stories together about things you are doing 
    - Listen to your child, respond to comments, questions, and ideas 
    - Play games with your child 
    - Pretend with your child
    - Read to your child (read road signs, cereal boxes, store advertisements, billboards, children's books, nursery rhymes, etc.)

    Gross Motor Activities 
    - play ball games (catch, kick, roll, etc.) 
    - playground activities (seesaw, swings, slides, monkey bars, merry-go-rounds, ladders, climbing, running, etc.) 
    - ride a tricycle/bicycle 
    - encourage child to hop, skip, jump, gallop 
    - bounce on a trampoline 
    - use a ball to knock down milk cartons (bowling) 
    - follow the leader/ "Do as I do" 
    - Perform jumping jacks, stretching, tumbling, balance beam walking, standing on one leg, wheelbarrow walking, jump rope, etc.

    Fine Motor Activities
    - stringing activities (use a shoe lace and string cheerios, fruit loops, buttons, uncooked noodles, and other materials)
    - arts and crafts ( squeeze glue bottle, using a hole punch, twisting pipe cleaners to make shapes, using stickers, stamp pads, using scissors to cut and snip, make a collage, etc.)
    - play board games with your child (e.g., Memory, Don't Break the Ice, ElePhun, Checkers, Don't Spill the Beans, Bed Bugs, Trouble)
    - play with Etch-a-Sketch and Lite Brite
    - use stencils to trace pictures and shapes 
    - make and play with playdough
    - finger paint with your child (use paint, shaving cream, silly foam) 
    - play with clothespins 
    - play with small objects and place in a slot (put pennies in a piggy bank, put pegs in a pegboard, put bingo chips on matching number/color) 
    - complete developmentally appropriate puzzles with your child
    - throw bean bags at a target, into a hoop, into a box 
    - encourage your child to paint at the easel