Preschool Four

Walking into Preschool 4, you will see and hear the sounds and excitement of busy preschoolers engaged in active play.  Each day the children are invited to explore in a warm, nurturing, and stimulating classroom environment geared towards the children’s interest.  The teachers and children are partners in learning as the teachers support and encourage children in their daily explorations and interactions with their peers.

We believe that children learn best by having long periods of time for hands on and open ended exploration of materials. All of our classroom areas and activities are designed with this emphasis in mind. Our classroom supports the development of the whole child in the areas of emotional, social, physical, and cognitive development.  Our learning centers include: various types of block play, dress up and dramatic play, process oriented art activities, a writing center for drawing and story writing, a manipualtive area with puzzles, games for exploring math concepts, and science and sensory tables.  The teachers support the children’s interest by also offering a variety of teacher initiated activities to expand on the children’s ideas.   The teachers may introduce concepts through math and literacy activities, cooking activities, music/movement, the study of the world around us, science experiments, and wood working.  We encourage parent involvement by inviting parents to join us for breakfast, lunch, and birthday celebrations.  Parents can also volunteer to be a guest reader, share a talent with the children or join us on neighborhood excursions.  

Our daily schedule includes time for:

• Breakfast, a mid morning snack, lunch, and an afternoon snack

• Playground or gym times, walks, and music and movement activities for gross motor development
• Classroom center times where children are free to explore all the learning centers of the room at their own pace and according to their interests
• Group times where the children come together to join in discussions, play games, or become introduced to new learning activities
• Story times to enjoy literature and stories and songs together
• A family style lunch with healthy food choices and interesting conversations
• A rest time for children who still nap and some time for quiet activities for the children who do not need to sleep but just rest for a short while