In Pre-Academic Development we focus on basic skills (such as fine motor skills and gross motor skills) and character education.  With the emphasis being on maintaining the current skill levels of our students, we review these basic skills in new and exciting ways in the classroom.

In the classroom we use games, crafts, books, music and other programs to teach and maintain recognition of shapes, colors, numbers, and letters.  We continue practicing printing skills using hand-over-hand methods, independent tracing, as well as basic pencil skills such as proper positioning and holding.

Using different manipulatives, we will continue to improve fine motor skills, and we continue to practice tasks that require such fine skills such as lacing, buttoning, and even zipping. It is important to maintain these fine motor skills so as our students can continue to live as independently here on campus as they can. We also work on gross motor skills to keep our students up and moving by using movement and dance. Even in our small space we have enough room to get down! (And they do!)