Pre-K for 4 to 6-Year-Olds - North Aurora, IL

Pre-K Program

For children ages 4 to 6
Half Day: 8:00 AM – 11:15 AM
Full Day: 6:30 AM – 6:00 PM

Polka Dot Dragon Preschool is a place where your child will fall in love with learning. We work to help your child build confidence in themselves and acquire necessary self-help skills. Your child will be in a safe, secure environment where they can thrive while being surrounded by teachers that truly care about them and are invested in their success. Our goal is to provide your child with a fun-filled experience that will excite them into bringing their newly mastered skills home to share with you.

Children Playing a Ball - Preschool in North Aurora, IL

Our curriculum for our Pre-K program has been expertly developed by Polka Dot Dragon’s owner and director Miss Wendy. Miss Wendy has over 30 years of experience in the classroom and she utilized that experience to craft a program that incorporates both old school and new learning techniques. This program directly builds off of our Preschool Program to solidify previously-taught skills while introducing new ones. It involves a mix of whole class and small group learning activities to prepare each child for kindergarten.

Fine motor skills are first introduced in our Preschool Program and are fine-tuned in our Pre-K Program. Your child will practice writing upper and lowercase letters and cutting both easy and complex shapes. Your child will also gain more experience and independence with using media such as glue and paint for crafts.

A key aspect of the Pre-K Program is mastering pre-reading skills. These skills include letter identification of both upper and lowercase letters and learning letter sounds; the skills are taught with flash cards and our Letter People program that is introduced in our Preschool class. In the Letter People Program, each letter is introduced with a different character and a catchy song to help your child commit it to memory.

At Polka Dot Dragon Preschool, your child will be introduced to over 30 sight words which, once acquired, will aid them in moving on to independent reading. The sight words are posted in the classroom to allow the children to gain familiarity with them and we also encourage parents to put them up at home to continue their learning outside the classroom. They are used in our Little Readers (level 1 books) and reviewed daily.

The Polka Dot Dragon’s Pre-K class practice their pre-reading skills every day. Our students have independent reading time where they spread out in the classroom to read for 15 minutes. We allow the children to familiarize themselves with and grow their love for books while helping them to put their sight words and knowledge of letter sounds to use. The teachers will often read as well, modeling the skills for the children to see. Along with reading, your child will have the freedom to exercise their creativity by making their own stories during this time. Our goal at Polka Dot Dragon Preschool is to provide a fun-filled experience paired with learning so that your child will be excited to learn and reach skill mastery.

Math skills are taught with the “Math Their Way” curriculum. While learning to count is important, we also want your child to have the knowledge of one-to-one correspondence, place value, and graphing. Each day begins with a calendar review where your child will learn number order and be encouraged to predict what numbers will come next. The class also uses a number line to easily identify numbers and their places. Additionally, we keep a 100-day chart, adding each day we have been in attendance until we reach the 100th day of school. Basic addition and subtraction will be introduced as the class progresses. By the end of the program, the children will be able to identify numbers 1-20, but many of our children leave the Pre-K program having a solid understanding of numbers up to 100.

Graphs are used weekly to add value to numbers. We create the graph topics to go along with our weekly themes. Examples of graph topics include how many girls are in the class compared to how many boys, what each child’s favorite season is, and how many children are afraid of spiders compared to how many aren’t afraid. The graph subjects are designed to be more personalized to add value in your child’s eyes when they see that they are included as a part of each graph.

Every week a new theme is introduced and learning is focused on that specific topic. An assessment of prior knowledge on the subject is held at the beginning of that week through discussion. All activities and lessons during the week (art, math, reading, songs, graphs, games, etc.) are related to the theme and aim to increase your child’s knowledge in that area. Many of our themes focus on science and social studies topics. The themes include: apples, transportation, American Indians, rain forests, Chinese New Year, and much more. Each Friday ends with a fun theme-related activity for the week which could include a related snack, nature walk, or special guest. Every week brings a new opportunity for the children to become excited about and discover new aspects of the world around them.

Pre-K students strive to be independent and here at Polka Dot Dragon Preschool, we make sure to always be encouraging while also providing support whenever needed. We recognize that self-help skills are key for a smooth transition into a kindergarten classroom. We help your child learn how to handle their bathroom needs, dress for the outdoors, open snack packaging, and display appropriate manners independently. A discipline system is set up in the classroom to help monitor your child’s behaviors and information on how well they are doing will be made available for you daily.

Self-control and sharing adult attention are put into practice every day and manners play a big part in our classroom setting. Children are expected to treat each other and adults with respect. We help the children become empathetic to each other’s needs, learn the importance of citizenship (we say the pledge daily and sing “My Country Tis of Thee”), find value in taking care of the environment, and learn to be a role model for others. We find that our Polka Dot kids challenge themselves to meet these expectations and become the best that they can be.

Music & Movement is an integral part of each day in our classroom and acts as motivation for our students. There are songs for every weekly theme; your child will learn new dances and be involved in many activities that will get them moving and having lots of fun. Art activities are also an important part of each day. Theme-related art projects are completed daily and focus on being a creative outlet while also teaching the children how to follow directions. Your child will paint, cut, color, and build in our classroom. The children are also able to let their imaginations and creativity flow freely in drama lessons, acting out folktales and nursery rhymes. A nursery rhyme is discussed and memorized each week which will allow your child to increase their vocabulary and rhyming skills while opening opportunities for fun discussions within the classroom.

Polka Dot Dragon students are encouraged to be independent thinkers. Classroom discussions help the child become more self-confident in developing their own thoughts and responses. Socialization is a must for children of this age. Your child will work in small groups, large groups, and with partners so that they can gain essential social skills and learn to adapt. Friendships are developed, but kindness is expected for everyone. The children enjoy free-time experiences to build on their peer relationships. Outside the school, play dates with their peers and birthday parties become an important part of their social development.

The classroom setting is divided into learning areas. These areas include science/math center with plenty of STEM activities available for your child to use including learning tools such as microscopes and balance scales. There is a block area that includes many varieties of blocks to build with, the usual favorite being our Lego collection. There is a library section with over 500 books to choose from and a dramatic play area that changes every season (can be a beauty shop, a vet clinic, or a flower shop).

Typical Daily Schedule

6:30-8:30
Open free time where children can cooperatively play
8:30-11:15
Class begins at 8:30 with teacher-directed circle time. This includes morning welcome, the Pledge of Allegiance, calendar time, flashcard review, theme introductions, pre-reading activities, an art activity, and story time. The class then has a nutritious morning snack, whole group library time, small group STEM activities, free choice center time, outside recess, and small motor writing practice
11:15 – 12:30
Lunch is served
12:30 – 2:30
The children have nap time followed by an afternoon snack
2:30 – 4:00
Class resumes with puzzles and math games and an afternoon teacher-directed circle time. During circle time, the children will review the lessons for the day, have additional flashcard practice, and enjoy story time
4:00-6:00
Outside recess and free exploration time until pick-up

All children who meet the 4-6 age requirement, have basic self-help skills, and are potty trained may enroll in our Pre-K program. The class is designed to expand on basic skills, so your child will be assessed for what basic skills they have prior to entering our class. We guarantee your child will be well prepared for kindergarten, not only with the acquisition of basic skills, but above and beyond. They will be ready to start reading, have better self-confidence, and have found a love for learning that will motivate them in school.

The Polka Dot Dragon Pre-K program is led by our very own director Miss Wendy as well as a few assistant and student teachers. Miss Wendy has been teaching for 30 years and has owned & directed Polka Dot Dragon Preschool for 22 years. She loves to read, travel, and cook. She has two grown children who grew up attending and working at the preschool. Miss Wendy loves all her students and is grateful that her job includes giving them the skills to set them up for success in their lives. One of her favorite things is seeing Polka Dot Preschool alumni around town, and the joy in their faces when she addresses them by their name (even years later).