1

Dear Parents,

We welcome you to our Early Childhood Stimulation (ECS)

Program. Thank you for your confidence in our Catholic Education

System.

ECS caters to the needs of a child in all domains of development;

physical, motor, language, cognitive, socio- emotional, and creative

and aesthetic appreciation; and ensures correlation with health and

nutrition aspects.

Early childhood care and education programs emphasize the child’s

holistic development and extend beyond assisting the child’s

transition to formal schooling. Our aim is us to help your child

develop maximally.

Please be reminded that this is a Catholic School. You have

consciously chosen to enroll your child in our program.

ALL CHILDREN ATTENDING ARE REQUIRED TO

FOLLOW OUR CATHOLIC TEACHINGS AND OUR

CATHOLIC PRAYERS, AS IS THE CASE AT ALL OUR

SCHOOLS!

If your child is sick, please keep him/her home until fully recovered.

Should you have concerns, feel free to come in to discuss in an

amicable manner. We are expecting your fullest cooperation at all

times.

Thank you.

2

The main goal of the Foundation for Catholic Education is:

To have the interest of education and upbringing at heart, in

accordance with the Roman Catholic Faith.

Vision/Philosophy:

Our Roman Catholic schools are committed to quality education to

meet the needs of the modern child.

Staff members of the Foundation Catholic Education are dedicated

to the development of each individual student’s potential. Our

schools aim to educate intellectually, spiritually, socially,

emotionally and physically.

With Experiential Education, the student will be taught both the

cognitive and the affective skills needed to become effective world

citizens. The child will learn to discover knowledge for him/herself,

to solve problems, to be a critical reader and thinker, to develop a

healthy curiosity and to be open-minded.

The child will be encouraged to give witness to his/her faith by

his/her own way of life.

Our aim is to form pupils with a social conscience, a desire for

racial justice, compassion for those who suffer, and zeal for

common goal.

The school assumes this responsibility in cooperation with the

child’s primary educators, the parents, the parish and the

community.

3

Mission Statement Catholic Schools

The Mission of the Catholic School is:

Commitment to strive and motivate each child to achieve according

to his/her ability, by creating a loving and privileged environment,

where learning can be enjoyable, meaningful and a challenging

experience.

Mission Statement of Early Childhood Stimulation (ECS)

ECS offers an early encounter with the Catholic faith and caters to

needs of a child in all domains of development; physical, motor,

language, cognitive, socio-emotional, and creative and aesthetic

appreciation; and ensures correlation with health and nutrition

aspects. Early childhood care and education programs emphasize

the child’s holistic development and extend beyond assisting the

child’s transition to formal schooling.

Our ECS Goals:

To satisfy the child’s basic needs for love, self-worth, belonging,

respect, fun, enjoyment and success, by engaging the child’s senses

and the Multiple Intelligence, namely: Visual/Spatial,

Musical/Rhythmic, and Bodily/Kinesthetic.

To foster the development of factual knowledge, skills and training,

which will enhance this early learning.

To provide a developmental appropriate curriculum whereby

children will be engaged in hands-on activities which will lead to

discovery learning and addresses all domains of learning.

4

To provide a safe, rich, stimulating, and child-friendly learning

environment that offers opportunities for exploration.

To provide a well-rounded schedule that meets the needs of all

students.

To reinforce positive behavior with praise and positive

reinforcement.

To build a good relationship between school, family, parish and

community.

Learning will take place through:………….

Play

Indoor and outdoor play, which requires material to develop their

gross and fine motor skills, such as toys, blocks and other outdoor

construction material.

Language Arts

Children’s vocabulary is developed through Bible stories, which is a

must, stories songs, rhymes, puppetry and role play activities. The

children will be encouraged to speak in sentences and to listen,

through a number of listening activities.

Music

Singing for enjoyment, action songs, using various percussion

instruments, ring games and expressive movement activities.

Mathematics

Sorting, numbers, patterns, exploration of space, position, blocks,

making comparisons using sand and water table activities.

5

Creative Activities

Modeling clay/play dough, finger-painting, drawing, tearing, cutting

and pasting. Role play in the Home Center.

Community Outreach

Field Trips and Guest speakers will also be organized. You will be

duly informed.

Our ECS Program:

Personal Development

-knows and says his/her first and last names

-knows his/her age

-knows where he she lives

-knows and says names of mother and father

-calls the teacher(s) by name

-knows he/she is like others

-knows how he/she is different from others

-knows and names his/her body parts

-matches the senses to sense organs

-describes his/her feelings/emotions

-knows that he/she belongs to a family

-knows that families are different

-discovers that God made all things

-practices good health habits

-begins describing toys, pets, friends, etc.

6

Listening and Speaking Skills -gives an answer when asked a question

-speaks clearly in complete sentences

-follows oral directions

-repeats sounds heard correctly

-waits his/her turn when speaking in a group

-enjoys listening to and telling stories

-enjoys reciting nursery rhymes

Reading Readiness

-recites the alphabet

-recognizes some letters and sounds

-recognizes some colors

-knows some positions

-chooses picture books to “read” for enjoyment

-turns the pages of a book one page at a time

-tells a story using the pictures in the book

7

Mathematics Readiness

-chooses suitable material for the task

-explains clearly what has been done

-recognizes sameness in objects

-matches by color, shape, texture

-sorts for different reasons

-say counting words in order 1, 2, 3,...

-counts how many objects in a set to...

-recognizes and names some numerals

-uses simple number language: same, more,...

-copies/makes simple patterns

-uses correct language when filling containers

Fine Motor Skills

-strings beads

-ties his/her shoe laces

-holds and uses crayons correctly

-cuts on a line with scissors

-assembles simple puzzles (3-6 pieces)

-colors pictures

-does finger-painting

-paints with a paint brush

-makes models with play-dough

-tears and folds paper

8

Physical Development

-walks forward and backward with ease

-walks on a beam

-balances on one foot

-hops on one foot, two feet

-throws/catches a ball to/from a partner

-kicks a large ball forward

-bounces a large ball

-skips

-jumps like a frog or rabbit

-knows his/her limitations

Social-Emotional Development

-shows respect for all teachers

-plays and shares with peers

-obeys the agreements made at school

-works well in small groups

-does not disturb others while they are working

-recognizes own emotions and emotions of others

9

Dress Code:

White polo shirt, navy blue short pants or pants-skirt, navy blue or

white socks, with black sneakers.

Children are expected to wear uniform at all times, except on

birthdays.

Girls’ hair must be neatly combed at all times. EXTENTIONS AND

BEADS ARE NOT ALLOWED. No large hoop earrings, nail polish

or tattoos.

Boys’ hair must be cut as low as possible. HAIR PATTERNS ARE

NOT ALLOWED. No shaved eyebrows, earrings or tattoos,

Children are not allowed to wear excess jewelry to school (chains,

rings).

The school will not be held responsible for lost or broken jewelry.

Send a change of clothes, in the event your child should have a

mishap. This will avoid us having to call you.

Give your child opportunities to dress him/her self at home. This

will foster independence.

School Fees

School fees are paid in advance. You are kindly asked to pay on

time, as the entire operation is highly dependent on these fees.

If fees are not paid for 2 consecutive months, your child will not

be allowed at the school.

10

Important Agreements

PLEASE ADHERE TO THE FOLLOWING:

-Slice and wrap cake (no whole cakes) for birthdays or send

cupcakes.

-Not too many candies, (preferably fruit, juice, Jello in

party-bags)

-Do not give children money.

-Call only in emergency situations.

-Give your child a washcloth in a zip-lock bag daily.

-A clean sleep-mat must be sent to the school every Monday.

-Try not to let your visits be disturbing or distracting.

-Drop off and pick-up on time. A fee will be charged for late

pick-up.

-Sign and return answer forms the day after receiving a letter.

-Do your utmost to attend all meetings and come to the school when

you are called.

-Close the gate behind you when entering and leaving.

-When your child goes to Group 1 at any of our Primary schools,

he/she will have to undergo the screening process and you will

have to sign specific documents at that particular school.

-All Parents will then have to participate in all 3 workshops of the

Active Parenting Now 3 (APN3) program.

-Catholics have preference at all times.

11

Vacation Schedule

2015 - 2016

Staff Information

Coordinator / Teacher: Ms. Esther Gumbs

Assistant Teacher: Ms. Shadira Thomas

Assitant Teacher: Ms. Regina Rabess

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

We appreciate your confidence.

Summer Vacation 3 – 14 August 2015

Midterm break 5 - 9 October 2015

St. Martin Day 11 November 2015

Kingdom Day 15 December 2015

Christmas Holidays 21 Dec. 2015 – Jan. 1 2016

Mid-term break 8 & 9 February 2016

Easter Holidays 24 – 28 April 2016

Carnival Vacation

Queen’s birthday

Labour Day

25 April – 4 May 2016

Ascension Day 4 & 5 May 2016

Emancipation Day 1 July 2016

Summer Vacation 6 – 29 July 2016

First day of the new

school year

Monday, 15 August 2016

12

0

Foundation Catholic Education St. Maarten

Walter Nisbeth Rd. 3

P.O. Box 404, Philipsburg

Sint Maarten N.A.

Tel.: +1-721-542-3821/542-3858

Fax: +1-721-542-2302

E-mail: info@catholiceducationsxm.org

Website: www.catholiceducationsxm.org