The ability to understand the subtleties of language, to think and articulate that thought clearly with others is fundamental to a child’s success in both life and school.  Researchers have determined the window from birth to around age eight as essential for a child’s literacy development.  Park Prep Academy helps promote students’ literacy development by continually immersing its students in literacy-rich experiences.  Daily read-alouds, interactive storytelling, theatrical puppet performances, and more enhance these experiences in a developmentally appropriate, attention-expanding, and motivational way.

Alphabet letter shape and sound recognition are practiced both informally and formally and reinforced throughout the students’ daily experience at Park Prep.  Whether creating letters from play dough or grocery shopping only for items beginning with a certain letter, the students experience this learning organically as part of their day to ensure a playful and meaningful connection to the learning process.

As students progress through the academy, they begin to understand that written words correspond to spoken words and that words are comprised of letters.  They begin to take a much more active role in their literacy development as they begin to make these types of literacy connections.  Invented spelling is a key example of this.  Like all learning at Park Prep Academy, the emphasis is on the conceptual process of acquiring these skills rather than the simple right and wrong of it all.  A preschooler who draws a picture of a giraffe then writes, “JRAF” underneath is praised for his efforts since it is developmentally appropriate to not hear all of the letter sounds.  Through practice and exposure to an abundance of literacy materials, the child begins to learn and recognize word patterns and incorporates the additional letters overtime.