Preschool Program

Establishing and following a daily routine is very important for young children with a long day at school. The daily routine is one of the first things new children should learn about their Center. Each classroom’s schedule (including individual teacher’s arrival and departure times, meal times, group times, naptime, bathroom times, and scheduled inside and outside playtimes) is posted prominently in the room where parents can refer to it.

Curriculum Planning

Each classroom team is responsible for weekly planning of classroom activities. Weekly team meetings include lesson planning. The team maintains a weekly plan book that outlines classroom activities and goals for the following week. Teachers are encouraged to be creative and try out new, developmentally appropriate ideas in their curriculum. A photocopy of the week’s plans is posted in the room for parents and teachers to refer to.

Components of the Daily Routine

Group time is a time for discussions and other teacher directed activities. Listening and verbal skills are emphasized, as well as participation and cooperation within a group. This can be a quiet time where attendance is taken, changes in the day’s routine are announced, curriculum themes or ideas are presented and discussed, or stories are read. It can also be a time during which songs are taught and sung, games are played, or skills (color, names, etc.) are introduced and practiced. Each classroom has several short group times throughout the day: one large group in the morning where classroom business can be conducted, a smaller curriculum group (or presentations in the Montessori classroom) in the morning, a short group time (i.e. story) just before lunch while one teacher gets the lunch tables ready and/or after lunch during clean up time, and another large group time in the afternoon.

Indoor gross motor playtime is scheduled (30 minutes every day) for every classroom. A climber, steps, mats and blocks are available for gross motor activity. Books, pillows, and a dramatic play area are also available for the children. The gross motor room is used on days when the weather does not allow children to play outside.

Naptime lasts for a maximum of 2 hours, from 1:00 to 3:00 at the latest. All children are expected to rest quietly on their cots for the first hour of naptime. Each child has his/her own cot, sheet and blanket provided by the Child Care Center. Children may bring blankets from home.

The Outdoor Classroom

The outdoor play area is an extension of the indoor classroom. The same energy and creativity is devoted to planning for the outdoor and indoor environments. As with indoor play, the outdoor program provides opportunities for:

• Active play
• Quiet play
• Group play
• Solitary play
• Large muscle play
• Dramatic play

Teachers plan to be in designated areas, aware of and at all times stimulating children’s involvement in activities. Teachers are involved with individual children and groups of children at their level of need. The well functioning playground with its look of unstructured activity is the end result of careful structure in the teacher’s mind. When outside, all teachers are responsible for all children, not just those in their own classrooms.

The Art Institute Project

Our three, four and five year olds participate in a great works of art program led by Lindy Rubin. Once a month, Ms. Rubin volunteers her expertise by bringing a slide of a painting that is on display at the Art Institute. The children discuss what they see in the paintings and their thoughts about each piece. The classroom teachers then follow-up with projects related to each painting. Reproductions are on display in the classrooms and hallway. Ms. Rubin and the children then go on a treasure hunt at the Art Institute to find the paintings they studied throughout the school year.

Music and Movement