Our Junior Kindergarten activities include encouraging creativity, exploration, and discovery in a developmentally appropriate learning environment. We place a strong emphasis on learning through play. The children develop their self-concept, and are exposed to reading and math readiness skills, and fine and gross motor development in an age-appropriate setting. Early literacy skills are an important component in our pre-kindergarten program. Lesson plans with cognitive activities and group discussions based on children’s literature. Children also dictate stories that are then acted out with the help of their friends, allowing their own words to come to life. We also use masterpiece art to support our curriculum through a weekly artist study. We learn about the life and art of each artist by discussing featured works and exploring techniques with a variety of materials. Many of the artists we study have pieces on exhibit at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, so our year culminates with a field trip to the museum for students and their parents. Our Pre-Kindergarten class participates in Open Time.