Our Beginning

 

St. Mark's Episcopal Preschool began as our congregation's response to the lack of pre-k offerings on the Gulf Coast in the mid-1960's. In the decades since, it has earned a reputation as one of the finest early education institutions on the Coast. Teachers in our area often comment how well prepared our graduates are when they arrive in their classrooms for kindergarten.​​

Our Three Year Old Program

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The Pre-K 3 program uses ABeka curriculum resources to teach pre-reading and pre-math skills.  

 

Letters & Sounds for 3s  is a beginner ABC book for young children.  It is also coordinated with the Animal Alphabet Friends flashcards.  Each new letter is introduced by an animal friend.  This animal helps the children recognize the letter as well as learn the letter’s sound.  Each animal has a song in the Preschool Curriculum/Lesson Plans that helps reinforce the sound learned.  The Animal Alphabet Friends CD contains the sing-along for each animal friend.  This books is also designed to teach early writing skills.  Children learn letter formation and practice hand-eye coordination as they glue items to the letter shapes. 

 

Numbers & Skills with Button Bear has 72 skill sheets that help children sharpen their listening skills, follow directions, and practice hand-eye coordination as they learn number concepts 1-15.

Our Four Year Old Program

 

The Pre-K 4 program uses ABeka's systematic phonics program that teaches children to read at an early age.  

 

Our numbers program emphasizes the  basics in counting, number recognition, and number concepts.  Readiness Skills features coloring pages, directed art pages, and activities designed to aid young children in developing writing readiness hand-eye coordination, visual perception and listening and thinking skills.

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The Preschool Phonics and Numbers books introduce number concepts and the writing of numbers from 1-20, counting objects as well as coloring pages.  The Phonics pages provide guided activities in:  Short and long vowel sounds, simple consonant sounds, blending of consonants and vowels, and words containing one and two vowels.

Chapel & Bible Stories

 

The Preschool Bible Curriculum presents scripture through the telling of the stories of the Old and New Testament. Bible time sets the pace for the entire day by being positive and emphasizing how much God loves each of us.

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The Bible Coloring Sheets may be enjoyed by children at home or at school. These pages are designed to be used after the stories have been taught in Bible time, not as a substitute for the Bible lesson. 

 

Bible story time, the most important half hour of the school day, reinforces all the teaching about character and Christian living we present throughout the day.  This activity is designed to bring these truths to mind again later in the day.

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Once a week we journey over to the Church, to the Godly Play Atrium or sometimes the outdoor Chapel where one of the clergy of St. Mark's presents a Chapel service for us. They lead songs, share Bible stories and teach special prayers such as the Lord's Prayer and our St. Mark's Preschool Prayer. When we are all finished, we take turns ringing the giant Church bell.

 

Parents are always welcome to join us for Chapel!