Enrichment Programs
*Enrichment programs are included in the monthly tuition for all programs.
Our Enrichment programs are designed to help preschoolers of any age become a well-rounded individual. In order to provide children with a correct and strong base we have partnered with professionals to come to our facility to provide sessions to the children.
Music
Our music classes are provided by Music Garten.
It is never too early to bring children in touch with music. All children have musical potential, and pre-kindergarteners learn best through play: singing, playing instruments, and moving to the music they hear.
Music expands memory and assists in developing crucial language skills. Music exerts a multiplier effect on reasoning skills, especially on spatial reasoning-an effect that has been demonstrated experimentally. Music also reinforces such logical and perceptual ideas as beginning and ending, cause and effect, sequence and balance, harmony and dissonance, as well as arithmetic concepts such as number, enumeration, and timing.
As preschool children not only listen to and respond to music, but also learn to make music by singing and playing instruments together, they create important contexts for the early learning of vital life skills such as cooperation, collaboration, and group effort.
Guided music experiences also begin to teach young children to make judgments about what constitutes “good” music, thereby developing in them the rudiments of an aesthetic sense.
Music contributes strongly to “school readiness,” a foundational education aim of the American people for all our children, as expressed in our National Education Goals. Music experiences can help children prepare to learn to become literate as it helps them become more aware of and focused on the phonemes that make up the language or languages they will need to excel in school. When children develop musical skill and understanding, they are developing basic cognitive, social, and motor skills necessary for success throughout the educational process. They are preparing skills that will apply to language, to literacy, and to life itself. (Excerpt from Start the Music: A report from the Early Childhood Summit, Sponsored by NAfME, 2000)
Physical Education
PE classes are provided Stretch-n-Grow:
Stretch-n-Grow fitness incorporates the fundamentals of fitness, motor skill development, and Fun! They offer exciting classes each week at our school. Each week they will bring in new equipment for the children to work with and a new theme with fun music. Nutrition discussions and anatomy lessons are taught at the end of each class. Your children will LOVE fitness!
The curriculum includes Components of Fitness (strength, flexibility, balance, endurance, agility, coordination), fundamental motor skills (locomotor, nonlocomotor, manipulative, weight maneuvers), and FUN – and that is why kids LOVE Stretch-n-Grow!
The coaches that come to teach the class are Certified Youth Fitness Trainers, Care-Giver Qualified & Screened by DFPS and are also trained in CPR/1st Aid.
ABOUT THE OWNER:
Since 2005 Tonia & Eric Velasquez have owned and operated the Stretch-n-Grow franchises in McKinney, Allen, Wylie, Sachse, The Colony and NOW Frisco, TX! Tonia, a wife and mother of 2 wonderful kids combined her passions for children and fitness to wipe out childhood obesity! She is dedicated to partnering with childcare facilities in improving the quality of life for our future generations. Tonia is a life-long exercise enthusiast as well as a former collegiate athlete. Tonia played soccer for Dallas Baptist University where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business. Tonia is a CPR/1st Aid Certified, a Group Fitness Certified Trainer, and a Certified Youth Fitness Instructor.
Yoga
Yoga classes are provided by Kids Dance Fitness.
Children derive enormous benefits from yoga. Physically, it enhances their flexibility, strength, coordination, and body awareness. In addition, their concentration and sense of calmness and relaxation improves. Doing yoga, children exercise, play, connect more deeply with the inner self, and develop an intimate relationship with the natural world that surrounds them. Yoga brings that marvelous inner light that all children have to the surface.
Our Yoga classes are designed to combine fun yoga poses with stretching, balance, skills and focus, improving the flexibility and concentration of our children. During the yoga class, we work with nice and relaxing music, providing the kids a relaxing environment in the class.
Yoga is GOOD for everyone and with Kids Dance Fitness, it is a lot of FUN!!!
Spanish
According to studies at the Cornell Language Acquisition Lab (CLAL), children who learn a second language can maintain attention despite outside stimuli better than children who know only one language. Teaching young children how to speak a second language is good for their minds. For this reason, Aspiring Minds Montessori has selected Spanish as part of our enrichment program.
Ms. Julia Martinez is currently conducting our Spanish classes. She uses music and materials that teachers use in the class to introduce children to Spanish language. She has worked at the Spanish School House and the American Montessori.
Art Skills
At Aspiring Minds Montessori we believe Art is an important part in children’s development in the areas of Motor Skills, Language Development, Decision Making and Visual Learning.
Motor Skills: Many of the motions involved in making art, such as holding a paintbrush or scribbling with a crayon, are essential to the growth of fine motor skills in young children. According to the National Institutes of Health, developmental milestones around age three should include drawing a circle and beginning to use safety scissors. Around age four, children may be able to draw a square and begin cutting straight lines with scissors.
Language Development: For very young children, making art—or just talking about it—provides opportunities to learn words for colors, shapes and actions. When toddlers are as young as a year old, simple activities such as crumpling up paper and calling it a “ball” helps child learn word with association.
Decision Making: According to a report by Americans for the Arts, art education strengthens problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. The experience of making decisions and choices in the course of creating art carries over into other parts of life. “If they are exploring and thinking and experimenting and trying new ideas, then creativity has a chance to blossom,” says MaryAnn Kohl, an arts educator and author of numerous books about children’s art education.
Visual Learning: Drawing, sculpting with clay and threading beads on a string all develop visual-spatial skills, which are more important than ever. Even toddlers know how to operate a smart phone or tablet, which means that even before they can read, kids are taking in visual information. This information consists of cues that we get from pictures or three-dimensional objects from digital media, books and television.
We at Aspiring Minds Montessori have incorporated Computers in our curriculum but our emphasis is higher on Montessori education and other enrichment programs. We believe that in order for child to become a well-rounded individual he/she needs to first get exposed to activities that will develop their handwriting and motor skills before exposing them to electronics in addition to their current exposer at home.