Helping Out The Mailman For A Day

St. Joachim School’s Pre-K students learn about community helpers and play mailman for a day.

St. Joachim’s Pre-K class had an exciting time last Thursday. After finishing their unit lesson about community helpers as part of their social studies class, students were “mailmen for a day”. An educational walk took them to the mailbox on 20th Street in Costa Mesa, where they dropped off their personal letters and sent them on their way with the US mail.

The Pre-K class busily worked on their special “letters” which consisted of drawings for their fellow students. The letters were finally put into handmade US Mail delivery pouches before being mailed off. The little mail pouches were sewn by the children and featured a US Mail delivery truck.

Each student took a pouch, put the special letter into it and lined up to go to the corner mailbox on 20th Street. The walk itself was an educational adventure and along the way, Mrs. Rametta, the Pre-K teacher, pointed out and talked to the students about traffic stop signs, the bus stop and the difference between a personal mailbox and an official US mailbox. The children learned about the importance of an address and that each of them has a different one that is unique for his/her family. Passing by a water hydrant, Mrs. Rametta asked the class if they knew what it was. A little girl raised her hand and said proudly, “This is a ‘water hybrid’ for the firemen”.

Upon arriving at the mailbox, the students dropped off the letters and examined the mailbox itself, discovering a second opening for the mailman to collect their mail and put it on his truck. The US mail project finalized the ‘community helpers project’ where students learned about ‘who is taking care of our city’ and talked about policemen, firemen, the work of a veterinarian and trash collection.

The Pre-K program at St. Joachim is an exceptional program that offers the right balance of an academic and developmental curriculum. “The academic curriculum here at St. Joachim offers a great way for the children to be introduced to the more guided structure later on in Kindergarten,” Mrs. Rametta points out. “It prepares them, both playfully and age-appropriately, for grade school”.

The curriculum includes religion, language arts (letters and sounds of the alphabet and early writing and pre-reading skills are introduced), math (confident comprehension of numbers and patterns) and social sciences (projects on topics like ‘community helpers’, ‘animal families’, and the ‘ocean’). During their weekly music lesson, students learn about different instruments and music around the world. Arts and crafts are part of the daily schedule.

Families interested in enrolling their children for Pre-K at St. Joachim are encouraged to register soon for the three-hour morning or afternoon sessions. Enrolled Pre-K students will have priority in Kindergarten enrollment the following year.

St. Joachim Parish School is a private Catholic school located on 1964 Orange Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92627. More information on the school is available at (949) 574-7411 or online at www.stjoachimparishschool.com .