Mind & Body Matters

COA Mind & Body Matters program is one of a kind and supports the development of the whole child. Combining four powerful components, our system is designed to educate young minds, advance reading skills and convey the benefits of nutrition and fitness. This platform supports the fundamental belief that parents and educators play a crucial role in helping children develop a passion for education, the written word, fitness and healthy eating choices. As child development experts, we believe it is our duty to bring the best in resources to the children and families we serve. That is the COA difference and what we call the “COA Experience.”

Current research calls reading aloud to children “...the single, most important activity for building the knowledge required for success in reading.” When children learn to read, they possess a key that opens the doors of knowledge in the world.

The foundation for learning begins in infancy. Toddlers and preschoolers are especially eager to learn and are influenced greatly by adults reading to and with them. Our Bentley book series encourages students to follow our Jack Russell mascot, Bentley, on all kinds of exciting adventures!

Traveling Bentley

An offshoot of the book series is our interactive Traveling Bentley program, where Bentley visits every COA school throughout the year meeting our children and opening up a world of imagination and possibility. Traveling Bentley is used to create exciting social studies activities. He has landed on Plymouth Rock, seen the Empire State Building, been offered a Philly

Cheese Steak and sat in the dugout at a Chicago Cubs baseball game. As he travels, schools send photos, storyboards and little souvenirs to the next center. Children can also volunteer to care for Baby Bentley over the weekend. Sharing Bentley’s exploits and care duties support constructive decision-making, planning and self-management in our young ones. Like Traveling Bentley, Baby Bentley encourages children and parents to create family adventures with the little guy over a weekend. Bentley has his own email address, and families are encouraged to send pictures and keep a weekend journal.

Six times a year, children draw pictures and write sentences that go along with the book’s current theme. Then, “Bentley” writes his portion of the story, the books are published and distributed to each classroom in all our schools. Then the fun really begins.

Early literacy is typically cited as the most important academic skill in school readiness. Language is critical for learning across the curriculum. 

What is it?

Children are born communicators! They can’t wait to share their ideas. Listening to what the world has to say is evident as they develop. These skills are critical because knowledge is transmitted by the following methods: gestures, verbal

language and written communications.

Birth through five years is the time when the foundation for all learning is laid. Now is the time a child’s brain needs to have positive and diverse skills etched onto it. The preschool years offer a unique opportunity for adults to provide experiences that are critical to the ongoing development of the listening, speaking, reading and writing skills that precede a lifetime of learning.

Why is it important?

1. Alphabetic knowledge: Children identify letter names and their sounds.

2. Book knowledge: Children demonstrate knowledge about books.

3. Comprehension: Children understand language.

4. Concepts about print: Children demonstrate knowledge about environmental print.

5. English language learning (if applicable): Children use English and their home language(s), including sign language.

6. Phonological awareness: Children identify distinct sounds in spoken language.

7. Reading: Children read for pleasure and information.

8. Speaking: Children express themselves using language.

9. Vocabulary: Children understand and use a variety of words and phrases.

10. Writing: Children write for many different purposes.

Development

Ages 3-5 years: Children hear rhymes: mail, pail, sail, and alliteration: fee, fie, fo, fum.

Age 5-6 years: Children begin to hear chunks of words and syllables: din-o-saurs. Beginning and ending sounds and middle sounds begin to appear.

Age 6-7 years: Children hear, segment and say phonemes (distinct units of sound that distinguish one word from another).

Components of Comprehension:

1. Vocabulary building: Learning new words and their meaning.

2. Prediction: Saying what will happen next in a book or story.

3. Connection: Relating pictures and text to real life.

4. Retelling: Recalling actions and events from stories.

How we support the components of comprehension:

1. Learning new vocabulary words: Use a new or unusual word in a sentence.

2. Making predictions in a story: What will happen next? Use drawing, acting or words.

3. Making connections in stories: What do you think the mouse might say if he could talk

4. Retelling (remembering) a story: Don’t interrupt the flow of a story too often. Have the children retell the story by acting it out, describing the beginning, middle or end. Draw a picture of what the main character did, etc.

Bentley Books

Current research calls reading aloud to children “...the single, most important activity for building the knowledge required for success in reading.” When children learn to read, they possess a key that opens the doors of knowledge in the world.

Our Bentley book series encourages students to follow our Jack Russell mascot, Bentley, on all kinds of exciting adventures!

Children draw pictures and write sentences that go along with the book’s current theme. Then, “Bentley” writes his portion of the story, the books are published and distributed to each classroom in all our schools. Then the fun really begins.

Bentley Journals

Children write to represent ideas, children use writing and/or ask adults to take dictation and then read what has been written. Writing begins with scribbles, moves to symbols and then to the actual formation of letters. We introduce formal writing in our PSI and PSII classrooms in our Bentley Journals. In Pre-K, our writing becomes more sophisticated and in-depth.

Sight Words

Sight words are an integral part of every child’s language development. We offer sight word activities in both English and Spanish. Sight words are commonly used words that appear a Sight words are used a lot in both spoken and written language, like "the," "come," "to," and "where." Children need to learn sight words because they make up many of the words used in early reading materials. A study shows that sight words account for up to 75% of the words in beginner-level books. Learning a lot of sight words helps children become faster and more fluent readers. When they know a sight word well, they don't have to stop and think about how to say or spell it.

Literacy Cards

Our Literacy cards are found in every literacy area in our preschool classrooms. The literacy area has a plethora of materials for forming and identifying letters and letter sounds. How do children develop alphabetic knowledge? They acquire knowledge in the following ways:

1. Realizing that printed text conveys meaning (seeing their name on a sign-in sheet).

2. Hearing the sounds letters make.

3. Recognizing alphabet letters (usually beginning with the first letter in their names).

4. Connecting some sounds to some letters (again, usually in their names).

5. Understanding that a word is a consistent set of letters (AND, again, their names).

It changes often. It is worked in daily. AND, it is the area where every learner will find success.

And now for the big concept –– READING! Children read for information and pleasure! So, how does reading develop? There are two abilities that conventionally lead to reading, decoding and understanding the meaning of a word. Young children are involved in the learning-to-read process long before they can read. When you read them a story, when they recognize fast food logos, when they know what kind of cereal mom buys –– they are invested in the reading process.

Guided reading has significant beneficial effects on helping children develop reading skills. It is one of the most effective tools not only to improve a student's fundamental reading skills but also to help the student develop higher level comprehension skills.

With guided reading, we help children:

1. establish fundamental skills necessary for proficient reading

2. identify weaknesses and strengthen specific skills

3. improve attention to detail

4. build fluency

5. expand vocabulary knowledge

6. develop reading comprehension skills

Guided reading is an instructional approach that involves small groups of 4-6 students working together with a teacher, focusing on their individual reading abilities and needs. The small group setting enables the teacher to closely observe and tailor instruction to each learner. Decades of research show that this close-knit approach is powerful and effective.

Our Spanish language mini books introduce young children to a new language in a fun and engaging way. But besides providing vocabulary, learning a second language from a young age has significant benefits for brain development in children aged 0 to 5!

Benefits of Second Language Learning in Early Childhood

1. Improved Executive Function: Learning a second language helps develop key cognitive skills related to executive function, like attention, focus, mental flexibility, problem-solving, and decision-making. By processing two languages simultaneously, the brain creates new neural pathways and strengthens existing connections, improving cognitive flexibility and the ability to adapt to different situations.

2. Enhanced Literacy: Studies show bilingual children have better development of phonological awareness, the ability to identify and manipulate sounds in language. This benefits their reading and writing skills in both languages.

3. Boosted Memory: Learning a second language involves memorizing new words, grammar rules, and syntactic structures. This continuous process of memorizing and retrieving information strengthens memory and overall learning capacity.

4. Brain Stimulation: Learning a new language is a continuous mental exercise that stimulates the brain and promotes neurogenesis, the creation of new neurons. This contributes to overall brain health and can have long-term cognitive benefits.

COA’s nutrition approach emphasizes the connection between mind and body. We believe that developing good eating habits can be learned and should start early in life. Embarking on this learning adventure early is the first step towards understanding the health and nutritional requirements that lead to a healthy lifestyle in adulthood. Families are busy with life’s day-to-day demands, so we created our Parent Blog support program. It is designed for working parents and contains quick recipes and planning tips that can help turn dinnertime into family time. Our intention is to help our families develop the healthiest solutions possible in any given situation –– even when “life” gets in the way. Also included in our nutrition program are healthy lunches and snacks. During snack times and lunch, our children eat “family style.” Children serve themselves and have conversations while eating. Table manners and please and thank-you are words we use. We encourage children to try foods they may not be familiar with and some foods that look funny or smell funny! Nutrition is at the core of healthy living and learning.

We know that young children are natural born movers and shakers. From the time they begin to walk, toddlers are wiggling and shaking all over. COA incorporates the physical development of young children through the new addition to the COA President’s Fitness Program by including Toddlers and Twos –– aptly called Shake, Wiggle & Grow.

Our Shake, Wiggle & Grow program provides age- and stage-appropriate activities developed by our physical fitness expert –– Christine McNutt, who is very passionate about fitness and the benefits it can bring people of all ages. She graduated from Rowan University with a Bachelor of Arts in Health Promotion and Fitness Management and a Master of Science in Kinesiology, specializing in Psychology of Human Movement, from Temple University.

Children as young as one and two need to be just as physically active as preschool and school-age children, but their abilities differ. Unstructured movement is essential to their growth and development; however, they also need periods of structured movement each day. The program for toddlers and twos is designed so that each day the teacher leads the class through

a 10-minute program that includes a warm-up, either muscular strength and endurance or flexibility, and a cool-down.