Learning by Play
Experience is the best teacher, and what better way to teach our children, than by letting them touch, smell, hear, feel, and do what they do best, play with their lessons! Currently there are ten activity areas set up within the active school program area. Each area has been designed to focus on specific areas of development for optimal preschool children's growth and development.
General Daily Program School opens at 8:00am for early dropoff.
Preschool program starts at 9:00am with circle time
Followed by free play/art project time/learning activities
Music/special activity time
Free play through pick-up time
School closes at 1:00pm
Post program cleaning begins at 1:00pm
Teacher available to answer questions and concerns regarding your individual child(ren) before 9:00 a.m. circle time, or after 1:00 p.m. Scheduled times produce the best quality conversations.
This is a general daily outline and is subject to change without notice at teacher's discretion.
Active Program Areas
Materials Used: Large wooden blocks, cardboard "brick" blocks, plastic/wooden people, vehicles, road signs, and animals
Skills Used: Construction, balance, cooperative play, patterning, problem solving, sense of shape, size, weight and space, classification of objects, understanding cause and effect, imagination, dramatic play, large and small motor skills.
BOOKS (LIBRARY LISTENING STATION)
Materials Used: Books, audiotapes, tape player and earphones.
Skills Used: Increase Imagination and awareness, learn about print as a means of communication, develop a love for books and reading, explore other worlds, increase vocabulary and language skills, predict events, problem solve, understand sequence.
TABLE TOYS (MANIPULATIVES)
Materials Used: Puzzles, lacing cards, beads, dominos, magnet boards with letters, pattern blocks, gears, tinker toys and more...
Skills Used: Fine motor skills, construction, invention, patterning (pre-reading and math), sorting and classification (pre-math skill), eye-hand coordination, visual discrimination (sorting according to attributes of size, color, and shape), self-discipline (working puzzle through to completion).
Materials Used: Dough rollers, silverware, plates, shape cutters, alphabet/number cutters, craft sticks, small plastic animals, containers for filling and molding, assorted cutters, pokers and pressers, FINGERS!!!
Skills Used: Fine motor skills, imagination, symbolic representation (dough becomes a snake, ball, pizza, etc...), language development (talking about their creations and the process used to make them), sensory awareness (the texture of dough), creativity.
Materials Used: Sand, water, water with soap, rice, beans, packing peanuts, oatmeal, snow and ice, nuts, pinecones, birdseed, cotton, tools to dig with (shovels, spoons, and scoops), sifters, funnels, tubes, treasures (for burying and finding).
Skills used: Sensory exploration, exploration of social roles, imagination, understanding, volume (pouring from one container to another), fine motor control, eye-hand coordination, gross motor control, sharing and cooperation.
Materials Used: markers, crayons, pencils, colored pencils, chalk, dry erase markers and name tags, stencils, stamps and stamp pads, paper (various size and shapes), envelopes, paper â€œbooksâ€, scissors, tape, glue, and moreâ€¦
Skills Used: Pre-reading skills (associating symbols with real things and sounds, language development (describing their work to others), fine motor skills (developing the small muscles in fingers and hands used in writing, creativity.
Materials Used: Large variety of materials used for exploration of themselves and the world around them, seasonal items- leaves, shells, flowers, pinecones, snow, etc..., magnifying glass, magnets.
Skills Used: Awareness, exploration and discovery, observation, problem solving, curiosity.
Materials Used: Paints (watercolor, tempura, finger paint), brushes (various sizes), sponges, marbles, straws, cookie cutters, stamps and stamp pads, paper (various sizes and types, collage materials, glue, glitter, scissors, contact paper, tape and lots, lots more!
Skills Used: Awareness, exploration and discovery, self-expression and discovery, sense of color and design, language development (talking about their creations and process used), fine motor skills creativity, imagination, self-esteem.
Materials Used: Legos, trains/train tracks, unifix cubes, spools, plastic/cardboard, cones, cotton balls, small wooden blocks.
Skills Used: Construction, balance, cooperative play, sense of shape, size, weight, and space, understand cause and effect, imagination, dramatic play, large and small motor skills, creativity fine motor skills, invention, creativity, patterning (pre-reading and math skill), eye-hand coordination, visual discrimination (sorting according to attributes of size, color and shape).