Preschool Programs

Our Vision

At A Child First Preschool, we believe that a child’s natural love of learning is best nurtured through play, hands-on experiences, and age-appropriate educational activities. Play is not only fun and exciting, but also a powerful avenue for learning when paired with educational opportunities in music, physical fitness, and art.

Our program fosters both group and individual learning experiences, offering your child the chance to grow socially and academically. We carefully plan and implement activities that stimulate curiosity, exploration, and discovery, encouraging children to actively engage with the world around them.

With a balance of structured and unstructured activities, we help children develop essential academic skills, emotional regulation, social skills, and the self-confidence needed to thrive in kindergarten and beyond. Our goal is to create a learning environment that is academically stimulating, socially nurturing, and most importantly, incredibly fun and secure.

We proudly offer enriched preschool and junior kindergarten programs for children ages 3-6, who have not yet started grade one. Children who are six years old and enrolled in grade one are not eligible for our program.  Children must be toilet trained to attend preschool and children entering 4-year-old and Jr. Kindergarten classes must turn 4 years old by the end of December and must be toilet trained.

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Early Childhood Intervention Services

A Child First Preschool Inc. partners with Kids Developmental Services (KDS), an independent Early Childhood Services operator. Alberta Education and Childcare fund KDS, and this funding can provide support to the child in their preschool classroom, if they meet eligibility criteria. The child must be between the age of 2 years 8 months and 4 years 8 months on August 31^st of the school year to be eligible. Alberta Certificated teachers coordinate the child's program once the child is approved for funding. The child will have access to Behaviour Strategists, Speech-Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists and classroom aide support, depending on their areas of need.

If parents have concerns about their child's development and are interested in having their child screened, they should complete a New Application by following the secure link:

https://schoolcloud.ca/KDS

Our programs include:

Our 3-year-old program incorporates everything mentioned above, along with a variety of exploration centers, story time, arts and crafts, free play, and imaginative play. Children will engage in activities that support the development of both fine motor and gross motor skills, while interacting with a range of manipulatives, toys, and games. These experiences help foster creativity, coordination, and social skills, all while allowing children to explore and learn in a fun, dynamic environment.

Daily "circle time" in our program includes activities focused on colors, numbers, shapes, days of the week, months of the year, and patterning. We place a strong emphasis on developing pre-printing skills, including proper pencil grip, hand placement, finger strength, and fine motor activities. Throughout the year, each child will work on their own learning booklet, where they will practice numbers, shapes, and pre-printing skills in a hands-on, engaging way.

Additionally, we hold yearly parent/teacher conferences to keep you informed about your child's progress and development, ensuring that you are always up to date on how they are doing.

All our activities, both structured and unstructured, are thoughtfully designed to help children develop the necessary academic and social skills, as well as emotional development, self-regulation, and peer skills (such as taking turns, interacting, and sharing with others). These activities are intended to set a strong foundation for a successful transition into kindergarten.

Our 4-year-old program incorporates everything mentioned above, along with a variety of exploration centers, story time, alphabet literacy bags based on the letter of the week, arts and crafts, math activities, free play, and imaginative play. Children will continue to engage in activities designed to develop their fine motor, gross motor, and printing skills, as well as interact with a range of manipulatives, toys, and games. These activities provide a well-rounded approach to learning and growth, helping prepare children for their next steps in education.

Daily "circle time" will include activities such as colors, numbers, days of the week, patterns, and months of the year. Additionally, each week will feature alphabet literacy bags based on the letter of the week. Each literacy bag is filled with fun and educational items, as well as stories, all designed to teach letter recognition, proper letter formation, and letter sounds. These bags provide a hands-on, engaging way for children to explore the alphabet and build foundational literacy skills.

Our strong focus on literacy includes the use of the Pre-Kindergarten Handwriting Without Tears (HWT) early literacy program to introduce your child to printing capital letters and numbers with proper sequence and formation. HWT teaches letters and numbers in a developmental sequence, ensuring that each child learns the correct order and formation.

When combined with our alphabet literacy bags, letter and number books, and hands-on manipulatives, this approach provides a comprehensive early literacy experience. Throughout the year, your child will work on their own Handwriting Without Tears Workbook, which they will be excited to bring home at the end of the year. This workbook represents a significant accomplishment, and children take great pride in sharing their progress with you!

All our activities, both structured and unstructured, are carefully designed to foster the development of essential academic and social skills, emotional growth, self-regulation, and peer skills (such as taking turns, interacting, and sharing with others). In addition to supporting these key areas, our program helps prepare your child for the structure and flow of kindergarten, ensuring a smooth and successful transition.

Our Junior Kindergarten Program:

All our programs are designed to prepare students for a smooth transition into kindergarten by academically and socially equipping them for a confident start. We align ourselves with the Alberta Education Kindergarten standards. While still incorporating everything mentioned above, our enriched Junior Kindergarten program is longer than our other programs and offers more in-depth academic activities, including:

• Development of reading readiness skills (letter recognition, formation and sounds)
• The use of pre-kindergarten sight words
• Handwriting Without Tears for both upper case and lower-case letters

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