Lake Center Christian School

                                                                                                      May 17, 2011

 Dear Preschool Parents,

Welcome to Lake Center Christian School’s new preschool program!  I am so excited to get to know you and your children! Thank you for your interest in our program.

There are going to be a lot of positive things happening in our room this year! The whole world is potential curriculum for the preschool child, and our curriculum acknowledges and supports the interests that emerge from the daily lives of the children. The classroom curriculum will be based on the Emergent Curriculum, also called the Project Approach, in which the children are active participants in learning projects rather than passive observers.  In an Emergent classroom, this is accomplished by utilizing the children’s expressed interests, the teacher’s observations, and her knowledge of developmental stages and the Ohio Early Learning Content Standards. Interaction between the teacher and the children will contribute to ideas to study throughout the year. We can cover the many fine motor, language, social, math, gross motor, literacy, and writing skills of preschool within any project. Play is also an important part of this approach to learning.

We will start our year exploring the truth that we are unique creations of God. We will learn about ourselves, our bodies, our families, our homes…anything we can think of! We’ll also learn about making friends, getting to know each other, how we are alike and different, and how we can love our neighbors as ourselves.  As the school year progresses, our interests and topics of study will change, but the commitment to meeting the needs of the children will not.

To let you know a little about who will be with your children all day, let me introduce myself.  My name is JoAnn Barber.  I actually taught at LCCS many years ago! I am returning to LCCS to teach after years of being a stay-at-home mom and a preschool teacher at Malone University’s Weaver Child Development Center.  I graduated with a degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education. I have a husband named Jeff, who is an architect, and four daughters.  Julia has just finished her freshman year at Malone and is an LCCS graduate.  Jody is 17, Jennifer will be a freshman at LCCS, and Jayne is 6. My church is First Friends in Canton. I also have a very naughty dog named Jemma.

So, now you know a little bit about me and the classroom. I am looking forward to meeting you.  Look for more information as we get closer to school in the fall.  I hope you have a great summer with your family!  If you have any questions, please contact me through the LCCS main phone number, 330-877-2049.

In His service,

JoAnn Barber