day program. They’ve learned to be still, to keep

day program. They’ve learned to be still, to keep their hands to themselves and listen to the teacher—all those things that are a terrible shock to a five year old!" Harris added with a laugh.

Sursum Corda pre-school graduates are also intellectually ready for kindergarten. They can print upper case and lower case letters, count to 100 by 10s, print their numbers, recognize letter sounds, identify a long list of short words, speak a little Spanish and French and communicate in sign language, just to name a few of the areas covered in the preschool program.

“Teachers have a difficult time developing curriculum to challenge youngsters who’ve come from Sursum Corda," Harris noted with justifiable pride.

Talk to a kindergarten teacher and you’ll find that one of their biggest problems with little ones entering school for the first time is that the kids have few selfhelp skills. Sursum Corda focuses on that area. Graduates of the day care center's pre-school are totally independent when it comes to dressing themselves, having mastered zippers, snaps and buttons. They can feed themselves with socially acceptable manners and most importantly, they have learned to handle indoor plumbing and can go to the bathroom alone.

Problems Spotted Early

Licensed to take children from six weeks of age and up, Sursum Corda offers a separate infant-toddler program for babies and youngsters until they’re toilet trained, independent and ready for the more academic pre-school. One of the pluses offered by the infant and toddler program is that the women staffing the class have been trained to recognize developmental problems that parents may be unaware of, according to Harris. “We can get the children checked by the proper professional to get the , answer (for corrective help)," she added. Children seem to grow up faster and faster these days and Sursum Corda recognizes that along with educational activities, kids