PRESCHOOL: 32 months to five years

Our preschool section includes children from about 32 months of age to age five, or until they’re ready for kindergarten. Because that’s still a fairly wide age span, we organize them loosely into two groups: those under 4 are one group, and the 4 and 5 year olds are another.

Their day has a fair amount of structure, built around a preschool curriculum.

Their morning includes group time devoted to stories, music (drums and rhythm sticks), art projects and a variety of sharing experiences like Show and Tell.
They have scheduled time for snacks, lunch and naps.

Sensory experiences are an important part of most days. We know that children learn in different ways, some more sensory than others. So we allow and encourage them to get messy –play with shaving cream, play doh, and –outside– water and even mud.
During the summer we always plant a vegetable garden which the children tend, with just a little guidance from their teachers.
We urge parents to bring their children to us in comfortable play clothes which don’t have to be kept clean. If, at the end of the day, your child is a bit dirty, he or she has had a good day.

The younger pre-schoolers usually nap for an hour or so right after lunch. By the age of four, some may not need to nap, if their parents agree, and they will engage in some quiet activity.

Though we don’t have the children doing a lot of “academic” work, kindergarten readiness is always a goal and focus throughout our curriculum, with an emphasis on pre-reading and pre-math skills.

Often when parents take their children to the school they will attend for pre-kindergarten screening, they are pleased to come back and report that their child scored very high on the readiness scale.