We believe first and foremost in the power of kindness, compassion and inspiration for all.
We use a dual language (Spanish/English) approach. All activities are offered in Spanish with English support. Our classes serve preschoolers age 2-5. The Language Garden teachers don’t “teach” Spanish, they live it. The Language Garden lays a strong foundation for early literacy in both English and Spanish. The program also provides opportunities for children to explore and gain an understanding of the ever changing world around them.
School Hours:
Students arrive at 9:00am (Drop off window 8:45-9:00am)
Students are dismissed at 12:30 pm (Pick up window 12:30pm-12:45pm)
Outdoor Classroom/Experiences:
We are an outdoor preschool with children spending the vast majority of time outdoors. For more information about our philosophy and where we get our inspiration, please see, The Eastern Region Association of Forest and Nature Schools at www.erafans.org.
Children are free to make decisions about how they will spend their time outdoors. A variety of choices is offered for outdoor play. Teachers offer activities with clay, sand tables, gardening, and other games that will reinforce gross motor development. Weather permitting, all children will have the opportunity to spend time outdoors in the gardens and our incredible outdoor spaces.
Sensory and Gross Motor Play
Running outdoors, exploring all types of natural materials, playing in the dirt are all critical to gross motor and sensory development. Children have unstructured facilitated play throughout the morning. You must come see us to really understand the power of the outdoors.
Story Time
Reading Aloud is one of the most important and powerful tools adults have to model language usage. Our read alouds are daily and frequent. Some stories will be shared in Spanish and others in English. We believe in modeling both languages as much as possible. Students have the opportunity to visit the library for self-directed experiences with books. Each day, children are encouraged to choose and check out books for home reading.
Emergent Literacy and Numeracy
Early Literacy/Learning Centers: Children will be engaged in different learning activities in self directed areas. The teachers rotate so all children have an opportunity to experience each center. The teachers work as a constructivist team following the child and teach from student strengths and interests. Examples of centers include, but are not limited to, the following:
Identifying letters/sounds
Vocabulary building
Fine motor development: writing and using a variety of writing/drawing tools and other tools of measurement.
Interactive Writing Framework (class writing with teacher support)
Basic geographical explorations
Number sense explorations
Fun with adding and take away
Counting up to 20 and some skip counting
Comparing and contrasting different attributes
Concept of time
Calendar Fun
Dramatic Play
Science Center Exploring
Social Development Community Clean Up/Transitions: During clean up and transition time, children will have the opportunity to learn how to follow through with a job.
Snack time This is an informal time to learn table manners, proper eating behavior, and nutritional information. Snack time provides a natural opportunity to build Spanish vocabulary in the area of food.
|
|
|