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Program

Our Preschool program is open to foreign and Japanese children who want to play and learn in a multi-cultural environment taught in the English language. Our school uses the Zoo-phonics program, which actively captures a child’s attention with 26 animal shaped signals and sounds. The Zoo-phonics method helps children to read and write at a fast pace and have fun too! We accept students from 2-6 years of age, but for younger children, we do offer a head start with our Mom and Baby class. If you need the information of this class, please contact us.
Our Preschool provides an array of opportunities that promote self-esteem, social well-being, English language ability and healthy child development. A day at Gingertree International School consists of going to the park, singing songs, making crafts and working in learning centers that enhance math, science and social studies skills(you can find more details below). Our classes are also very small, the maximum ratio of students to teachers is about 1:4-5 in our Missy Mouse（2-3years of age class）and Robby Rabbit class（3-4years of age class） and 1:5-6 in our Deedee Deer（5-6years of age class）.

What’s Zoo-phonics?

The Zoo-phonics program was created in 1984 in Jamestown, California by the author, Georgene Bradshaw, with her sister, Charlene Wrighton. They both hold Masters Degrees in Education and Curriculum, with credentials in Regular and Special Education.
This unique language arts program puts emphasis on the kinesthetic method, which significantly increases children's memory. Zoo-phonics is a well-balanced curriculum spanning the entire language arts spectrum by teaching children systematic phonics, as well as rich literature and language development.
Now, thousands of schools nationwide in the U.S. are using Zoo-phonics to teach phonics, reading, spelling, and writing. In June, 2001, a non-profit organization called "Educators for Phonemic Awareness", spent two years testing 170 language arts program in the U.S and chose Zoo-phonics as the No.1 program in efficiency of learning, fullness of curriculum, and cost effectiveness. The best advocates of the program are the children themselves, who learn to read quickly and easily with the help of their animal friends.

Time Table

→Time Table

Curriculum

The Gingertree daily curriculum consists of the following.

Zoo-phonics Time

M: Learn animal names for each letter of the alphabet, with corresponding sounds and signals. This is accompanied by six vocabulary words.
R: In addition to a review of the above, they also learn to read and spell “CVC” words like: cat, pet, dog and tug. Start reading simple sentences from the zoo-phonics original mini books.
D: Learn about harder phonics rules called, ‘blends/Diagraphs/I say my own letter name/Bossy Ellie’. An example of a sentence with all these rules in it would be: I ate my whole lunch at home. They also practice reading longer sentences including new rules.

Magnet Board Time

M: Learn to match a zoo-phonics’ animal magnet to a corresponding letter of the alphabet.
R&D: After completing the magnet matching, which gives the children the ability to grasp the relationship among 26 animals, phonics sounds, lowercase and capital letters, they start playing “make it say”, a game in which they practice spelling out the weekly vocabulary words with the magnet letters and then read them.

Circle Time

M: Practice greetings and simple self introductions. Sing monthly songs with dance and learn about the calendar (days of the week, months and the dates) with the daily weather. Start the practice of finding the child’s own name from many name tags.
R&D: Get to know more about classmates and teachers through small talks about what they like, did and want etc. Sing monthly songs and learn about the calendar including season names and seasonal events.

Fine Motor Skills & Writing

M: To prepare for writing, the children first strengthen their hand muscles by playing with Lego, building blocks and working on simple paper practice like tracing on straight and curbed lines, connecting dots, coloring and cutting.
R: Start tracing and writing the alphabet, the child’s own name and the CVC words. We practice “Rainbow Writing” with which they write a letter in three different colors..
D: The students have a weekly journal in which they write about anything they like. They also write sentences related to the monthly Zoo-phonics’ rules and themes.

Social Studies

M&R&D: Learn how to deal with problems that we may be faced with at the playground, at school and at home. Learn how to interact and share things with one another in a positive way. We also teach them about manners and courtesy.
R&D: They also learn how other people in other countries interact with one another.

Math

M: Learn how to count, recognize numbers 1-10 and start learning some simple addition like 1+1=2 by using cubes.
R: Learn simple addition and subtraction with single digits. Besides that, they learn things like light/heavy, few/many, empty/full and also learn about patterns.
D: Practice writing numbers, adding and subtracting. We will also review shapes, patterns and measurements of time.

P.E.

M&R&D: It is very important for children to move around and use their energy in a positive way. We sometimes go to the park and play some games like ‘stop and go’ and ‘catch a bubble’ as a group.
D: They also spend 15 min doing some exercise and stretching everyday. The teacher checks each child’s balance, flexibility and coordination.

Science

M: Learn about the sun, moon, flowers, human body and the five senses.
R&D: Depending on the monthly theme, we have a great time learning about the planets, animals, dinosaurs, mixing colors, transportation, insects, the human body and much more.

Arts and crafts

M: Start practicing coloring, cutting, pasting and making simple crafts like “cards.”
R&D: Everyone gets to do some cutting, gluing, painting and coloring. Some of the crafts are related to the monthly theme, math or science theme. Start making some simple crafts individually like Valentine’s Cards and as they gain finer motor skills and confidence they move onto group projects.

Game

M&R&D: We implement many different games to help reinforce English in a fun way. Some games use a timer, beach ball, chairs, playing cards and team work.

Snack & Lunch Time

M&R&D: We eat together, listen to music and have conversations that teach expressions like: yummy/yucky, what’s that, what are you eating or drinking, I’m full and I like/dislike this.

Love & Safety

M&R&D: All of the above in done is a safe and loving environment. We teach our children to work and play as a team. No one is ever left out.

Saturday Preschool

We also have Saturday Preschool. This class has extra special curriculum using Disney textbooks mixed with Zoo-phonics program for the children of 3-6 years of age who attend our weekday preschool or afternoon kindergarten classes. The tuition is separated from regular Preschool’s. The tuition list is here

• 1- Reinforce: This is a fantastic opportunity for us to check and explain about the Zoo-phonics’ sounds and signals in detail. Giving the students this extra help is the advantage they need to excel in reading and spelling.
• 2- Resolve: We check to see the individual’s weak points. Then we work on helping that student by also proving appropriate homework.
• 3- Review: Some students come more than others during the week. We go over shapes, colors, numbers and greetings. This helps to keep all the students at their required level.
• 4- Recreation: We employ many games to help study in a fun environment. The students make new friends and their love and interest for English grows. The newer students have an extra chance to feel more comfortable in a ‘class type’ environment.

Tuition

The tuition sample is here. Please contact us for further information.