Preschool

16 children with 2 Early Childhood Educators

Please take a look at the Pre-JK Program Description as this information will pertain to your child 1 year prior to them starting Kindergarten! The difference between the Preschool Program and the Pre-JK Program is that the Pre-JK Program is more advance and the children will receive more one-on-one time to ensure that they have the knowledge they need to excel once they are in school! The Pre-JK Program is for children that will be starting Kindergarten within a year.

Program Description

Our Preschool Room follows a 1:8 ratio. The age group in this classroom is 2.5 years to 3.5 years of age. Our Preschool Program provides intellectual stimulation for our children. They learn the basic concepts in an exciting, fun, educational and active way. Our Program opens up a world to our Preschoolers through firsthand experiences with people, events, animals, places and things. We show our children that learning is fun! Daily indoor and outdoor fun filled exercise keeps our children physically active and fit while they can make use of their large and small muscles.

All the aspects from the Toddler Program are used and developed upon. We continue the basic skills that they have acquired and move further in the learning process. For example in the Preschool Room they will continue to work on their alphabet and now will begin the upper and lowercase recognition and phonics.

Our classrooms are full of educational toys and experiences! Our Computer center ensures that our children will get familiar with modern technology and have fun while learning with the educational and easy to use software. We provide them with lots of opportunities to explore their creativity and imagination through Dramatic Play and Visual Art. Continuous Science activity is built into our program, where children can do their own observation and hands on activities. Our Music program is ongoing through the day with such activities as singing, introduction to instruments, and age appropriate music theory. Children can explore their senses in the Sensory Center, which is available to our children all the time. We also will introduce basic French for our Preschoolers.

We have many exciting events and additional elements that will be added to our classes! From Yoga to cooking classes and special visitors to field trips! These special items will be added into your Monthly Calendar so you will know when everything is taking place for your child!

Children interact with well-planned settings for enhanced learning through play. Stimulating areas are available throughout the classroom including cognitive / manipulative, creative arts, music & listening, science & nature, blocks, sensory and dramatic play. Our educational program introduces all the important areas of preschool development, which prepares them for kindergarten, and offers following daily activities:

  • Circle time (AM and PM)
  • Cognitive/manipulative
  • Creative arts
  • Science & Nature exploration
  • Literature / Language
  • Fine / Gross motor
  • Computer
  • Outdoor play
  • Blocks / construction
  • Sensory
  • Dramatic play
  • French / Gym / Music & Rhythm / Yoga classes

By providing children with activities that match their developmental needs, abilities and interests, learning occurs easily and naturally. There will be regular communication between teachers and parents to keep you informed about your child’s day. Formal progress reports will be provided monthly.

Every month we will send home a Monthly Calendar that show what the weekly themes are and events that will be happening in their classroom and our center. As well we send home a monthly Progress Report showing what your child worked on for that month and how they did and what they accomplished academically. On a daily basis we send home a Daily Report which shows what your child did, ate and bathroom information throughout the day and various other daily information as well as what they did on their 1-on-1 time with their teacher.

We have a large playground area where the child can play and explore the outdoors on the various toys and equipment. Each class will have their own garden where they will grow and pick their own fruits and veggies. Throughout the year each class will have their own classroom pet which they can feed and take care of.

Preschool Schedule

Throughout the year:

  • During the year, we will be providing the children with new and exciting experiences like incubating chick eggs, butterfly cocoons, spinning sheep’s wool, examining plants, classroom pets, etc. We will be teaching about science, nature and the environment. We will be helping children come up with ways to protect, respect and have compassion for our earth and animals.
  • We encourage the children to take an active role in preserving the environment with our recycling and composting programs, animal feedings, gardens of: vegetable, fruits, and flowers. From the children’s garden they will pick the fruits and vegetables and we will use them in our lunch and snacks and the flowers we will place around our center! We will be going on nature walks and exploring our surroundings.
  • We will study what other children in other countries look like and how they live. We will study toys, dolls, musical instruments, clothes and artifacts from around the world. We will also eat for lunch/snacks their native foods.
  • We celebrate our and other countries Holidays! We will get the children
    dressed in traditional clothes, learn about the culture, languages, try their Holiday food/treats, decorate the center, etc.
  • We will take trips : to pick fruits/veggies, visit the farm and animals, nature walks, fire/police department, museums, art and dance classes, etc.
  • We will have different visitors to the center who will: bring exotic animals, show us about different nationalities, cooking classes, singing, art, dance classes, digging for “dinosaur” bones,
  • Magicians, various characters, Clowns, etc.
  • Cooking classes for all ages
  • Annual family gatherings
  • Class concerts
  • Monthly fun days i.e. crazy hair day, pajama day, colour days, etc

 

Examples of what we will be doing in the Preschool Program:

  • Pre-writing. Lessons on writing numbers/letters, pencil control, tracing, and eye hand coordination
  • Number recognition, counting objects, matching, opposites, patterns, sorting, sequencing
  • Teach letter names and sounds
  • Shape, colour and size recognition.
  • Develop fine motor skills by playing with toys that have small parts (such as pegboards and puzzles).
  • Story- Time and Singing Songs
  • Music and Movement with instruments
  • Who, What, Where, How and Why
  • Art time with different materials
  • Teach and show examples of personal hygiene (washing hands, sneezing)
  • Make believe and pretend activities through puppet shows, dress-up, tea parties, dramatic play, dolls, housekeeping toys, toy telephones, etc.
  • Easy cooking activities
  • Begin toilet training when they are ready.
  • Encourage the development of routines.
  • Speech Development and Sound Imitation/Play Activities
  • Feeding and dressing themselves
  • Opportunities to climb, jump, and ride tricycles.
  • Gross and Fine motor control,
  • Social and Personal awareness skills
  • Know how to write and recognize their first name
  • Listen and sit while others are talking
  • Share things, take turns and play by the rules
  • Science through observation and hands on practice
  • Basic Sight Words from our Word Wall
  • Introduction to computers using educational software
  • Sensory Center used to explore all five senses
  • Basic French
  • Constant praise and encouragement

Please get a copy here of your programs’s Monthly Calendar, Program Plans and Monthly Menu.

What to Bring

  • Indoor shoes and Outdoor shoes
  • Blanket for sleep time/doll or stuffed animal
  • Extra set of clothes
  • Diapers and wipes
  • Extra underwear if in training
  • Bag to hold all their items

*Please label all of your child’s items