Mount Isa Christian College: Prep
The Prep Year is for children who turn five by June 30th in the year they start school.
Mount Isa Christian College has offered a full time Prep for some years. The school offers the Prep curriculum taught from a Christian perspective. Children are taught about God through the Christian Studies teaching programme, in weekly chapel services and through the general curriculum. Like Preschool, Prep is play based, but foundations are laid for later schooling.
Children will learn their basic reading sounds (phonograms) through the LEM Phonies Reading and Spelling approach. They will also learn basic numeracy to prepare them and give them confidence for their primary schooling. Our Approach to prep is to make the beginning of formal schooling a positive experience by encouraging children to develop important skills and attitiudes. By the end of their Prep year we aim to have children:
- Comfortable about interacting with their peers
- Comfortable speaking about and praying to God
- Have a sound foundation in basic literacy and numeracy
- Positive about books and reading
- Confident that they are able to learn and achieve
- Contributing positively to their peer and other relationships
- Growing in their ability to use their bodies and manipulate materials
- Growing in their willingness to accept responsibility
What will my Child learn in the Prep year?
The learning experiences in the Prep Year will help your child to:
- Know and Respect God
- Take on responsibilities and become more independent
- Respect and co-operate with others
- Make sensible choices about their health and safety
- Develop their physical skills
- Develop their oral language
- Develop their understanding of literacy and numeracy
- Develop thinking and problem solving skills
- Use their imagination and creativity
- Learn about their environment
How does Prep help my child for Year 1?
The Year 1 Curriculum builds on the Curriculum in the Prep Year. It is designed to provide the foundation that children need for success in later schooling, International research has identified several factors that influence success at school. These are:
- Independence
- Social Learning
- Health and Physical development
- Language Development
- Early understanding of literacy and numeracy
- Ability to think and solve problems
- Imagination and creativity
- A positive approach to learning
What will I see my Child doing?
Your child will be:
- Praying with others
- Learning single phonograms
- Investigation interests and making choices
- Talking with teachers and other children
- Planning with their teacher about the things they might do and carrying out their plans
- Designing and making things
- Singing, dancing and painting
- Hearing stories from the bible
- Listening to children's stories and poems
- Repeating nursery rhymes
- Playing games indoors and outdoors
- Climbing, balancing, jumping
- Planning and sharing in make-believe play
- Using Computers to draw pictures, make signs, play games and find out about the world
- Taking part in everyday experiences like gardening, cooking and tidying up.
- Writing and copying signs during their play
- Learning about size, shape, weight and measurement as they construct things indoors and outdoors