The Depth and Breadth of an Enriched Program

Early Childhood Years at Renbrook School
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2865 Albany Ave.
West Hartford, CT 06117
860.236.1661 www.renbrook.org
Renbrook School
Br inging Lear ning to Life
The Depth and Breadth of an Enriched Program
Thank you for your interest in the Early Learning Center at Renbrook School. Many of the most crucial skills children
need to be life-long learners are formed during these early years of school. Promoting and protecting positive learning
dispositions such as creativity, curiosity, perseverance, resilience and initiative are at the heart of our program.
Preschool warmly welcomes children who are 3 years old, followed by Junior Kindergarten for 4 and 5 year old
children. Our Early Childhood students discover the joy of learning in an encouraging and creative environment. We
use themes and projects to integrate thinking skills; promote positive social interaction; and enhance each child?s
social, emotional, physical and cognitive development.
Our youngest students enjoy classes in the arts, music and movement, world language, physical education and library;
they use the school's two gymnasiums, playgrounds, nature trails, pond and other highlights of the campus. In addition,
as beloved members of the Renbrook community, they form long-lasting relationships with older students across all
grade levels, within a safe, nurturing environment enjoyed by all.
Our Resources
Responsi v e Cl assroom® is an approach to teaching that creates a safe, challenging, joyful classroom, and a
school-wide positive climate for all children. Responsive Classroom®helps to meet all children?s needs ? academic,
social, emotional and physical.
Handw ri ti ng Wi th out Tears® is a method of instruction that was developed by an occupational therapist. It is an
age-appropriate, hands-on method that helps students integrate the skills necessary for proper letter formation. The
program is kinesthetic, providing many different tactile experiences.
Story Ex pl orers is a Junior Kindergarten (JK) literacy enrichment program. Students read examples of classic
children?s literature and then do follow-up exploratory activities/projects, relating to art, writing, music, science, hiking,
cooking and field trips.
Ev eryday M ath emati cs® and Si ngapore M ath are research-based curricula in which children learn through games
and activities that turn mathematical learning into fun, cooperative learning experiences. These programs focus on
concrete, real-life examples; repeated exposure to mathematical concepts; practice of basic computational skills; and
use of multiple methods and problem-solving strategies.
Soci al Dev el opment
Ph ysi cal Dev el opment
Children learn to:
Children work on:
- initiate, accept and plan play activities
with their peers
- seek help appropriately from teachers
and peers
- develop interpersonal skills such as
cooperation, sharing and compromise
- participate in a group/class environment
Em o t i o n al Dev el o p m en t
- self-help, fine motor and gross motor skills
- developing control over their body
- manipulating and utilizing art and writing tools
with increasing control and confidence
- engaging confidently and safely in daily outdoor
playtime
Cogni ti v e Dev el opment
Children:
Children develop their ability to:
- separate well from parents and
caregivers
- use language to express their needs and
feelings
- be independent, resilient and
persevering
- delay gratification
- follow classroom guidelines and routines
- be curious and eager learners
- explore, investigate, describe and demonstrate
new understandings
- are provided opportunities for discovery and
development through themes, play,
whole-group and small-group activities
- focus on developing early learning skills in
language and literacy, mathematics, science,
social studies and world languages
The Depth and Breadth of an Enriched Program
Children learn through themes and play with a focus on the following areas of skill development:
Language & Li teracy
Li steni ng Children learn to listen and focus for increasing periods of time and follow directions with
growing complexity.
Speak i ng
Children increase their vocabulary, speak to others clearly, respond appropriately to questions, and
contribute to group discussions.
Readi ng
Preschool children are surrounded by and involved in literacy every day in natural and authentic settings.
Literacy is an integral part of the daily schedule in Morning Meeting, story time and centers. Junior
Kindergarten children increase phonological and phonemic awareness using rich, child-centered,
interesting activities and games that focus on skills such as identifying letters/letter sounds, rhyming and
phoneme isolation, blending, and deletion. Junior Kindergarten uses the Story Explorers program to
increase the children?s interest in and love of books.
Wri ti ng
Children develop their fine motor skills and use of writing tools using Handwriting Without Tears. The
program starts in Preschool and continues through Junior Kindergarten. Junior Kindergarten students learn
writing readiness skills, and use journals to collect and inspire their writing throughout the year.
M ath
Children develop a keen understanding of numbers and number sense. Preschool and Junior Kindergarten use
manipulatives and games to practice skills such as:
- rote counting, counting objects and understanding math concepts
- number recognition and writing, graphing and patterning simple measurement, estimation and understanding
geometric shapes (2D/3D)
The Everyday Mathematics program, along with Singapore Math, is used by Junior Kindergarten to create
challenging and fun math activities.
Soci al Studi es
Children learn about the community in which they live and go to school, and discover similarities and differences in
people including characteristics and culture, and they become familiar with map skills.
Worl d Languages
Children are introduced to French and Spanish during their years in The Early Learning Center. French is taught
instructionally through songs, stories, dance, puppets and games. Spanish is used as an enrichment language in
the Art classroom. The goal of the program is to help the children become comfortable listening to, speaking,
singing and learning in a second language, and they learn about different cultures.
A rt
Children experience and experiment with a variety of mediums and techniques. They create artwork that has
personal meaning and start to use line, shape, texture, form, color and pattern within their work. They view and
discuss artwork from many cultures and styles. Cooperation is explored and enhanced as children create group
work and share their work with others.
The Depth and Breadth of an Enriched Program
Li brary
Visits to the school's library helps foster a student's love of literacy; the program covers specific library skills that
are age appropriate. The extensive library holdings include books suitable for our youngest students. Read alouds
help children fine-tune listening skills. All students are encouraged to check out books.
M usi c & M ov ement
Children progress from simple songs and finger plays to complex melodies and creating their lyrics. They learn
how to follow a steady beat and explore musical concepts like pitch, volume and sound duration. Children learn to
express feelings and ideas through music and discover music from different cultures and languages. At the same
time, they increase their ability to move with balance, control and coordination, and explore creative movement.
Ph ysi cal Educati on
Children explore and develop gross motor skills, eye-hand and foot-hand coordination. They work on skills like
body and spatial awareness, transfer of weight, and skipping. Important social, emotional and cognitive skills are
also reinforced while learning to follow rules and directions and practicing taking turns.
Et h i c al
Co u r ag eo u s
Cu r i o u s
Sel f -Aw ar e
I n n o vat i v e
V i si on of A Renbrook
Graduate
Resi l i en t
So c i al l y Ad ept
Gl o bal l y Li t er at e
Reso u r c ef u l
El o q u en t
Ren br o o k at a Gl an c e
Founded by parents in 1935
Enrolling 400 students in Preschool ? Grade 9
Before-school and extended-day programs
Located on a picturesque 75-acre campus on
Avon Mountain
A diverse and inclusive school community
Financial assistance available
Accredited by the Connecticut Association of
Independent Schools (CAIS)
Co n t ac t t h e Ad mi ssi o n
O f f i c e To d ay
To learn more about how Renbrook School
Brings Learning to Life, visit us online at
www.renbrook.org, contact us by email at
admission@renbrook.org or call the Admission
Office at 860.236.1661
Member of the National Association of
Independent Schools (NAIS)
2865 Albany Ave.
West Hartford, CT 06117
860.236.1661 www.renbrook.org
Renbrook School
Br inging Lear ning to Life