The Power of Early Education: Building Bright Futures from the Start
- Jessica Paige Glenn
- Nov 12, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 4
At St. Victor, Every Big Dream Begins with a Little Charger
Walk into St. Victor’s preschool on a weekday morning and you’ll hear the hum of purposeful play. Tiny hands scoop sand into measuring cups, counting aloud with joyful precision. Across the room, a group gathers on the rug for circle time, proudly sharing what they’re thankful for before bowing their heads in prayer.
For Preschool Director Celeste Viray, these moments are where learning truly takes root.
“We build everything around curiosity,” she says. “When children are encouraged to explore and express, they develop confidence — and confidence opens the door to lifelong learning.”
Early Education Learning Through Wonder
Our early learning program blends play-based exploration — which aligns with how young children naturally develop — with a competitive, research-backed curriculum that prepares them for lifelong success. We believe children learn best when they are both engaged and empowered: building academic skills through joyful discovery.
In preschool, children practice early literacy through songs, storytelling, and interactive play that encourages language development. They strengthen fine motor skills by tracing letters in shaving cream, building with blocks, or threading beads into rosaries. Even snack time becomes a lesson in independence and grace as students serve one another and pray together.
In Ms. Gabby Fincutter’s kindergarten, those early sparks of curiosity grow brighter. Students build reading confidence through explicit phonics instruction — teaching children how sounds and letters work together to form words. This evidence-based method, known as the Science of Reading, helps children decode new words independently rather than memorizing them by sight. It gives them the lifelong tools to read fluently, comprehend deeply, and think critically.
“We teach our students the why behind the words,” says Ms. Fincutter. “Phonics gives them the foundation for academic success — but curiosity is what makes them love to learn.”
That love of reading continues to grow throughout their years at St. Victor. Each classroom is outfitted with its own library, in addition to the school library that every class visits weekly. Teachers weave reading into the rhythm of the day — sometimes as a reward, other times as a mindfulness practice.
In first grade, students participate in D.E.A.R. time — Drop Everything and Read — while third and fourth graders enjoy 15 minutes of quiet reading after lunch to calm down from the excitement of recess before lessons resume.
And every November, our school-wide Read-A-Thon invites students from preschool through eighth grade to celebrate reading together for an entire month — proving that, at St. Victor, a love of reading is both a habit and a joy. At St. Victor, we believe a well-read child is the bedrock of a lifelong learner — and that foundation begins with a love of stories, curiosity, and discovery.
Why Early Learning Matters
Research from the Harvard Center on the Developing Child (2023) shows that 90 percent of brain development occurs before age 5. At St. Victor, we take that seriously — but joyfully.
Our teachers know that when learning feels like play, children are more likely to take risks, solve problems, and ask “why?” That sense of wonder is the spark that turns learning from memorization into motivation — and it’s how we begin to shape lifelong learners, one of our core Student Learning Expectations.
We also nurture an understanding and appreciation for social and emotional learning. Our preschool and kindergarten teachers work with their students, meeting them where they are and helping them build self-awareness and empathy. If a child prefers to stand during circle time instead of sitting, that’s okay — as long as they’re respectful to others. In Ms. Fincutter’s kindergarten, a quiet zone in the back of the classroom offers students a calm space to “take a breather” when they need a moment to reset.
Through small-group instruction, hands-on centers, and faith-based community activities, children learn not only early literacy and math concepts but also how to collaborate, communicate, and care for others — key skills that will serve them for life.
Faith and Foundation
Faith isn’t just a subject at St. Victor — it’s the atmosphere our students breathe. Even our youngest learners pray together each morning, celebrate feast days, and take part in service projects like food drives and sock collections.
“When a preschooler reminds a friend to share or says, ‘Let’s help because that’s what Jesus would do,’ we see faith in action,” Mrs. Viray says with a smile. “That’s the beginning of discipleship.”
These moments shape not only kind hearts but also confident learners who understand that knowledge is a gift meant to be used for good.
What Makes a Charger
By the time St. Victor preschoolers and kindergartners move on to the next grade, they’ve already mastered something far more important than facts and figures — they’ve learned how to love learning itself.
They’ve discovered that curiosity is holy, that perseverance is powerful, and that growth comes from trying again. Our early learners don’t just know the curriculum — they live it with enthusiasm, creativity, and joy.
That is the power of early learning: it shapes not only what children know, but who they become. At St. Victor, that growth — in faith, confidence, and love of learning — is what makes a Charger.
Every big dream begins with a Little Charger.
Harvard University Center on the Developing Child (2023). Brain Architecture and Early Experiences.
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The Power of Play in Early Education.
National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature.
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