Infancy has
an immense influence on the personality and further development of a child.
That is why we regularly adapt the program of the Preschool groups at accadis
International School Bad Homburg to pedagogical and methodological
developments. The accadis ISB Preschool Principals, Sandra Josephowitz and
Katja Reinders, detail the Preschool program below.
The Immersion Method
The basis
of the accadis ISB curriculum is the immersion method. The children bilingually
immerse themselves into the languages English and German from day one onwards.
In each group there are two teachers – one English-speaking and one German-speaking.
In the sense of "one face, one language", each teacher exclusively communicates
with the children in his or her mother tongue.
Individually Supervised
It is
particularly important for us to promote each child holistically. We pay
attention to the children's individuality, awaken the joy of learning, promote
linguistic expression, communicative knowledge, motor skills, cognitive and
creative abilities.
Daisies and Sunflowers
Our Preschool
groups are age-mixed. Thus, the younger children benefit from the older ones.
The children in the Daisy groups are two or three years old. The children in
the Sunflower groups are three to five years old. The weekly schedule for the
three to five year olds includes a lot of exercise indoors and outdoors,
handicrafts and painting as well as time for free play and the first school
elements such as learning letters and numbers.
The day begins
Even in Preschool,
day structures give the children security. In the morning circle, the children
get to know the seasons, the calendar and the weather during 30 minutes of play
– the older children even get to know the letter of the week. Using a playful
approach, they look at colorful pictures with objects whose names begin with
the respective letter. In this way, we work through the complete alphabet
during one school year.
Consolidating the Alphabet
The letter
of the week accompanies the Sunflower children beyond the morning circle. Every
week we read them stories in which it often appears. They also design
worksheets dealing with the letter of the week. Thus they gradually consolidate
their knowledge of the alphabet. Many Sunflower children can write some letters
at the end of Preschool.
The World of Numbers
The older Preschool
children learn numbers in a similar way – up to 20 digits during the year.
Mathematics as a school subject is taught from the Primary Class entrance level
. Sunflower children already have some basic numeric skills for this school
subject and have less inhibitions about this course.
Little Artists
Art and
creativity have a firm place in the accadis ISB Preschool weekly schedule. The
children paint or do handicrafts on a daily basis, e g. season respective. Even
during free play in the group, they let their creativity run free every day.
Outdoors
Sport and fresh air are an integral part of the
daily program. This is why the Preschool children play on the accadis ISB
playground at least one hour a day. In addition, they do age-appropriate sports
in the Preschool exercise room. Here we work together with the sports teachers
of the other accadis ISB school levels. We cover all elementary movement areas
of early childhood development such as climbing, balancing, running, jumping
and throwing.