• Early Childhood Program is recognized by National Association of the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) as exceeding criteria for accreditation.
• NAEYC works to raise the quality of programs for children from birth through 8 years of age. It is firmly rooted in the belief that early childhood experiences have an enormous impact on a child's educational development. Our Early Childhood Program proudly upholds the higher set of standards expected of NAEYC accredited programs because we believe that this will benefit our children by developing them into lifelong learners better prepared and equipped for success in school.
• The Early Childhood Program of Saint Mary of the Angels School utilizes Creative Curriculum within the classroom setting. Children learn through exploration, hands on experience, learning centers, and interactions with teachers and peers.
• The children exceed the norms for mastery levels for three and four years of age, and are well prepared for success in Kindergarten and First Grade. The focus of the Early Childhood Program is Literacy, Mathematics, and early Writing skills.
• Preschool and kindergarten teachers implement the teachings of Piaget and Vygotsky, two early childhood development specialists.

The goal of the St. Mary of the Angels PreKindergarten Program is to help our children develop spiritually, emotionally, cognitively, physically and socially. We provide a warm, loving and safe environment for your child.

The daily prekindergarten routine is important because it provides a sense of security and consistency for a young child. Our routine includes time for active listening in both group and independent learning activities and center time. Physical activities are developed through outside and inside play, as well as through structured gym exercises. There is also quiet time for independent learning and rest.

Spiritual development begins with prayer and Bible stories and continues throughout the day by sharing with and caring for one another. The children learn that we are a Christian family; God is our Father, Mary is our Mother in heaven and we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

Emotional and social development are important aspects of the daily learning process. We feel it is important for children to learn about, understand and respect the feelings of others. We hope that all of our children will learn to solve their problems with others in a kind, peaceful and Christian manner. During free play and center times, the children interact with each other and develop independence by sharing ideas and talents, by making decisions and problem-solving together, by taking turns, by using table toys and manipulatives, and through dramatic play and writing activities. Children learn best through real-life activities where the imitate their role models: parents, friends and teachers.

Language development is intertwined in almost all daily activities. Circle time is also a time of sharing ideas, reading stories, performing plays, having class meetings, and learning through music and movement activities.

Creative expression is valued in our classroom. Children are given a chance to express their individuality through a variety of media such as paint, markers, crayons, chalk, clay and paper. We encourage children to experiment with different creative techniques.

We believe that parents are the primary educators of their children. We welcome parent involvement through prekindergarten classroom activities, parent-child activities that are completed at home, parent visits and field trips.

SMA Early Childhood Program utilizes the curriculum of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and the Creative Curriculum.

Creative Curriculum

The focus of Creative Curriculum is broken down into four parts: Social/Emotional Development, Physical Development, Cognitive Development, and Language Development.

Social Development
We nurture a strong sense of self and prosocial behavior amongst our students. Our students develop the ability to adjust to new situations, to recognize their own feelings and manage them appropriately, to adapt to routine, to recognize the feelings of others and respond accordingly, and the ability to use thinking skills to resolve conflicts.

Physical Development
Our staff encourages the physical development of our students through a focus on both gross motor and fine motor skills. Students demonstrate basic locomotor skills, balance, coordination and also control of small muscles and the mastery of handling tools used for writing and drawing.

Cognitive Development
We nurture problem solving, logical and symbolic thinking skills of each student. Our staff encourages academic curiosity, the exploration of cause and effect and the application of knowledge in a new context through question and answer, and various activities.

Language Development
We emphasize both active listening and active participation in conversation: encouraging students to ask questions, answer them and also express opinions and observations.