(708) 598-8200
9000 S. 86th Ave Hickory Hills, IL 60457

Early Childhood Education

Pre-K Program

St. Patricia Preschool is an accredited academic program that is aligned with the Office of Catholic School Early Childhood Development. The Preschool classroom offers children a variety of educational tools as well as socialization skills that will carry them into our full-day Kindergarten program. Our highly qualified teachers, specializing in Early Education, recognize that each child is unique in how they learn and structures the classroom to offer each student a personal educational experience!

The curriculum includes reading readiness, language, math awareness, science exploration skills, awareness of God and Catholic Values, music and movement, art, physical education, creative play, and fine and gross motor skills for our youngest learners.

Learn more, meet our teachers and students, and see the Bobcat difference! Schedule a personal tour for your family below.

Full Day Option

7:45 am – 3:00 pm

Perfect for 3 and 4-year-old children to prepare them for Kindergarten! Engage in all curriculum and special classes at St. Patricia School.

Half Day Option

7:45 am – 11:10 am

Perfect for 3 and 4-year-old children to introduce them to a classroom setting, learn to socialize with peers, and have fun!

Curriculum Details

Calendar time: Children gain awareness about days of the week, months of the year, the weather, patterns, numbers, the alphabet, shapes and colors. Gross motor movement activities are also done, i.e. dancing, following movement directions, finger plays, etc.

Religion: Children are introduced to prayers and become familiar with Bible stories. They learn morals, manners and that Jesus is a friend who loves them.

Art: Children learn to express ideas, feelings and creativity. They develop self-confidence and decision making techniques by determining the outcome of their projects.

Math: Children learn matching, counting, sequencing, patterning, problem solving, following directions, sorting, one to one correspondence, spatial relationships, as well as shape, number and color recognition.

Science: Children develop skills such as observing, measuring, predicting, and estimating. Students participate in scientific activities and experiments to promote curiosity and creative problem solving.
Language and Literacy: Children use oral expressions and open-ended language. They create stories and thematic plays. Letter and sound recognition are promoted through phonemic awareness.

Reading: Children learn print, phonological and book awareness. They participate in group discussions and listed/respond to stories to read aloud. They also learn vocabulary words and work on compreshension skills from each story in our Reading Happily Ever After Series.
Social Studies: Children make a community helpers project to learn about different helpers in their community.

Small Group Activities: Various tasks are given which enable children to partner with the teacher, i.e. gluing, cutting, coloring, painting, writing names, letters, numbers, and other various fine motor activities. Fine motor activities develop muscles and eye-hand coordination.

Weekly Library Visits: Children borrow a book each week from our school library.

Physical Education: Physical education classes build motor skills, coordination and cooperation.
Organizational skills: Independence is encouraged, such as asking children to hang up their belongings in their lockers, collecting their mail, getting their own school supplies out of their bins, recognizing their own spaces with their names, etc. They also learn to take care of their own snack and lunch needs.

Lunch/Snack: The school provides hot lunches for an additional cost. Children are also welcome to bring lunches from home. All parents are asked to provide a healthy daily snack for their child.

Rest Time: Busy Pre–Kindergarten children will need time to rest, this will be 1 hour each afternoon.

Extended Day

Extended Day Care is currently offered, if necessary, until 6:00 p.m. and in the morning beginning at 6:30 a.m. Daycare is not provided when school in not in session. The children follow the same calendar as the entire school.