Sacred Heart Preschool, 235 Nevin St., Lancaster, is accepting registrations for the 2024-25 school year. The school offers Tuesday and Thursday classes for 3-year-olds and a variety of class scheduling options for 4-year-olds.

Lessons are geared to children's natural curiosity and sense of wonder, and offer opportunities for them to gather information through all of their senses. The students paint on the ceiling like Michelangelo, form clay pinch pots like the Native Americans, and create stained "glass" art like Louis Tiffany. They also experiment with finger paints, modeling compound, and glue. Mad Lab days are filled with science experiments that fizz, pop, erupt, and change color. Through a variety of dramatic play opportunities, the students practice social interactions and the conversations of being kind, compassionate friends. They are taught that a values-based community that consistently treats both adults and children with respect is integral to the definition of school.

The curriculum at Sacred Heart Preschool strives not only to prepare students for the specific academic skills of kindergarten, but also to prepare their minds and hearts to embrace curiosity and to love learning. Children play with letters and sounds, as surprise visitors from Alphabetland lead surprise excursions, and along the way, the students learn to sound out words. Movement is a planned element of learning. For example, to build a phonics understanding of the letter R, children make their bodies into the shape of an R, draw an R in the sand, and make a "rrr" sound like revving the engine of a racecar while they run around the gym. As part of playing with toys, the students count the toys, sort them, compare quantities and make graphs. Songs are used to help children remember lessons.

Sacred Heart Preschool's philosophy of education is to embrace the essence of little children - their inquisitiveness, their wiggles, their messes, their noise, and their wonder.

For more information, visit http://www.sacredheartschlanc.org/preschool or contact Sheryl Krahulik at skrahulik@sacredheartsch.org.