Early Childhood VPK

Our faith based VPK program serves children who turn 4 by September 1.
Some of the most critical learning on the Parkway campus takes place in our VPK classrooms. It is there that our school’s youngest students learn everything from the alphabet to social skills to foundational biblical truth.

Our principles for pre-K are founded on the Word of God.
We believe we are effective when we respect God’s developmental design by recognizing that young children think, grow, and learn differently than older children and plan for age appropriate strategies.

We seek to communicate and collaborate effectively through partnership with parents in the education of their child.

We model God’s unconditional love while upholding biblical Christian values.

At Parkway we seek to implement developmentally and age appropriate researched practices based on how young children learn and grow.

We teach to the whole child: spiritual, social, emotional, physical, and cognitive.

Our classrooms provide activities that include teacher guided instruction and child -initiated exploration.

We provide for play as a vital part of a young child’s learning experience as as he or she experiences God’s world, expresses him or herself, learns to manage relationships, regulate behaviors, and foster imagination.

Curriculum

Developing skills that enable little ones to do school.

Jesus Christ is our focal point in Bible class. Bible memory verses, songs, and finger plays encourage little ones to put their faith and trust in Him. Students learn that the Bible is the true Word of God. Students learn about sin and their need for forgiveness through Jesus our Savior. Stories are presented that give an overview of creation, the time Jesus lived on earth, and Bible heroes. They learn to talk with Jesus through prayer, worship Him through song, and apply biblical truths through their actions in and out of the classroom.

One week of the school year is dedicated to each letter of the alphabet and its sound. Stories, games, songs, and crafts introduce the letters to our four -year olds. Our goal is introduction and exposure to letters and sounds. Students learn that letters are put together to make words. Consonants and vowels are introduced as the two kinds of letters in the alphabet.

Pencils, markers, and crayons are available to our students in our writing centers for free play. In each class, each letter is “written” during the week using tactile materials such as Play-Doh, cotton balls, and marshmallows. These activities strengthen small motor skills, preparing little fingers to hold a pencil. Students are introduced to the correct way of holding scissors as well as printing posture. They practice coloring within the lines, cutting on straight and curved lines, forming numbers and letters, and printing their name.

Many books are read to the children each day. They learn that print represents words. Children practice pre-reading skills by dictating stories to us, or sharing a book simply based on the pictures. We read many stories which relate to the subjects we are studying that week: Bible, language, math, science, and art. We read for enjoyment as well. Reading readiness skills are taught including positional words, rhyming, identifying likenesses and differences in pictures and letters, and sequencing pictures and thoughts.

We read stories, sing songs, and play games to help children understand number sense. Numbers 1-20 are introduced. Students learn to sort objects by color, size, and shape. They learn what a pattern is and practice making one of their own. Students are given practice sorting, graphing, counting out objects, comparing sets, and measuring.

We use our five senses to investigate and explore God’s creation. Students learn about an animal each week that goes along with letter recognition. Weather and the change of seasons are taught.

Lessons on families, emotion, friendship, self-regulation, relating to peers, being part of a group and learning empathy our all part of our curriculum. Important people and events in our country’s history are taught seasonally.

In order to fully develop our students’ education, we instruct them in the areas of art, music, physical education, and library/reading time. These specialized areas of instruction are an integral part of the curriculum and development of our students.

Pre-K students are guided through lessons that help them develop critical thinking skills. Using games, group activities, and hands-on materials students learn to problem solve, reason, strategize, and express their thoughts verbally. They are taught to consider all the possibilities when playing games, comparing, classifying, sequencing, patterning, and planning.

Young children are open and willing to see the world in so many ways. Students are given the opportunity to create something new and original in an encouraging environment.

Kindergarten

Creating an atmosphere where learning takes place and imagination is stimulated.

Curriculum

Kindergartners learn that the Bible teaches who God is: Creator, Savior, and Lord. They learn to talk to God through prayer. They learn that the Bible tells the story of how God gave special promises to Abraham and his descendants. Kindergartners learn that the Bible tells the story of how God sent His Son, Jesus to be born from one of Abraham’s descendants. Jesus came to be the Savior of His people. They learn that the Bible teaches that everyone has sinned and is separated from God. His plan for salvation is in Christ alone and that we bring honor to God when we walk in His ways.

Kindergarten students begin the school year learning to recognize the letters and sounds, beginning consonant sounds, blends, and short and long vowel sounds. They continue to learn longer words throughout the year as they apply the phonics rules.

The students are introduced to the correct printing position and how to properly hold a pencil. They are introduced to the alphabet letters, where they are positioned on the lines and how to correctly print the letters. They learn to correctly print their names, first and last, short vowel words, color and number words, sight words, poems, Bible verses, and short stories.

Students learn reading readiness skills, how to identify vowels, consonants and their sounds. Students are grouped into reading groups as they begin reading through a variety of reading series. Students learn sight words and review them with flash cards.

Kindergarten students will listen to stories and talk about what God’s message might be in the book. They will learn about setting, character, plot and story -telling patterns. The students will also learn about authors and their works and learn the difference between fiction and nonfiction books.

We begin with learning shapes, days of the week, months of the year, patterning, graphing and the concrete and pictorial stages of numbers 1-100. The students sort, classify and count objects. They learn about place value up to the hundreds place, how to add and subtract, mental math exercises and story problems. They also learn about telling time to the hour and half hour and the value of coins.

Kindergartners will begin to classify between living and non-living items, along with seasonally related concepts such as hibernation and estivation. Animal studies include bears, penguins, and birds. Nutrition and food groups are introduced and the basic organs of the human body are explored. Farms and harvest as well as weather and graphs, changing seasons, and the five senses are also introduced.

We begin the school year with the basics of personal responsibility and good manners in various places at school such as the classroom, bathroom, hall, recess, and lunchroom. We learn about school rules, community and community helpers. We learn the pledge of allegiance and some of the history and meaning of the American flag and symbols of our nation. Figures such as Christopher Columbus, Pilgrims, Native Americans, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are all explored in the fall and early winter. The new year, winter fun, President’s Day emphasizing George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are introduced with accompanying lessons and crafts.

Kindergarten students will begin to identify and draw differences in lines and shapes and will identify colors as primary and secondary. They will recognize the difference in art media and use them to begin to appreciate God’s gift of the visual arts. The students will learn to communicate ideas that are personally important and talk about their own art and the art of others. They will learn to be good stewards by taking care of equipment and tools.

Students will have a variety of musical experiences focusing primarily on singing and moving. Students will learn to match pitches with others, move with a steady beat and will recognize and perform basic rhythm patterns. They will also grow in music appreciation by listening and responding to selections of music in varied styles.

Kindergarten students will learn that God has specially designed their body to move in many different ways. They will learn basic locomotor and non-locomotor movement and balance skills, as well as how to move, secure and strike an object. The students will learn to give their best effort and cooperate with others in games and class activities.

Students will be taught a basic introduction to a computer and its parts. They will learn to open and close programs and use Kid Pix to learn about computer drawing tools. They will begin to apply skills by learning to open, close, save, add text and print a document.

Elementary School

Education is a life-long process that includes developmental goals and milestones along the journey. Parkway Christian Academy has the privilege of partnering with families early on in their educational journey to provide a strong, biblically-based academic foundation in the formative years of childhood development. Our teachers are passionate about the opportunity to help our students navigate these incredibly important transitional years.

Required courses:

    • Bible
    • Language Arts
    • Math
    • Science
    • Social Studies

We provide our students with a strong phonetic approach to reading in the early years of development and then guide them to think critically as they learn to read in the upper elementary grade levels.

Students are taught a comprehensive and thoughtful approach to thinking and writing as they learn to write essays, poetry, and learn the fundamentals of putting together a research paper.

In math, our students are taught through a cyclical approach to concepts and have the opportunity to accelerate in math through a process that measures student math achievement.

In order to fully develop our students’ education, we instruct them in the areas of art, music, physical education, Spanish, study skills, and technology. These specialized areas of instruction are an integral part of the curriculum and development of our students.

Middle School

The middle school academic program (7th and 8th grades) provides a solid foundation in core subjects while also allowing students to pursue other areas of interest through our elective offerings. Our teachers are committed to the discipleship of our middle school students by integrating a biblical world view into every subject they teach.

Required courses:

Bible

Language Arts

History

Math

Science

Physical Education

Electives:

Art

Band

Choir

High School

Parkway Christian Academy offers an academically challenging curriculum. These classes are carefully designed to provide the necessary academic foundation as a student moves from 9th to 12th grade.

Required courses:

Bible
English
History
Math
Science
Foreign language study (college preparatory)

Electives:

Choir

P.E.

Art

Yearbook

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