Pre-K

The Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) is Michigan's pre-school program for four-year-olds. GSRP helps children get ready for school, increases attendance and reduces the number of children who repeat a grade by almost one-half. The programs provide strong family involvement/parent education components as well as preschool education. To be eligible a child must have two of the 8 identified risk factors and more than 50 percent of the children must be low income.

Here at Benton Harbor Charter, our mission is to empower students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to achieve education and person success as lifelong learners and responsible citizens. In order to promote early literacy with child in the GSRP program, special emphasis is give to the areas of language, literacy, and social skills.

What classrooms provide:

Activities that target letter recognition.
Activities that emphasize letter sounds.
Activities that show how to use books.
Activities that emphasize words and their meanings; as well as increase vocabulary.
Provide a positive first school experience.
Make transitioning into kindergarten easier.

What children learn:

To identify letters of the alphabet, shapes, numbers, and name recognition.
To identify that letters and sounds make up words.
To build large and small muscles.
To build social skills that will allow students to learn and develop friendships and work in group situations in a friendly and safe environment.

The Creative Curriculum approach is about teaching children to:

Learn to plan many of their own activities, carry their choices out, and then discuss with other children and their teacher about what they have worked on in school.
Become independent, responsible, confident and ready for success in school.
Gain knowledge and skills in important content areas such as language and literacy, art, mathematics, social relations, art, and large and small muscle development.