Preschool— program details

OVERVIEW

Our preschool program is unsurpassed. We provide a classroom that invites exploration and discovery, teachers that provide constant and consistent attention, a curriculum that provides activities to encourage academic success, and learning centers that promote the concept of learning through play. The goal of the preschool program at KKLC is for your child to acquire a plethora of developmental skills necessary to enter Kindergarten and succeed socially and academically.

Your Preschooler's Day

Morning Circle

The preschool day begins promptly at 9:00am. All the children in the preschool classroom meet by the morning circle wall to begin their day. Here, your preschooler is exposed to man different routines designed to increase her oral vocabulary, social and verbal interaction skills, and her ability to actively participate in group activities.

Every day your child will participate in challenging routines, like:

• Kid Count Here, your child will count the children that are present for the day. She will learn math concepts like counting and comparison.
• Daily Weather. Each preschool, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classroom has a “weather journalist” for the day-one child who helps discuss the weather and how we prepare for it.
• Calendar. A calendar helper helps determine what day it is, what month it is, the number of days that have passed in the month, that are left in the month, etc.
• Helpful Helpers. Preschool children are excited to help out during classroom routines. Children are randomly selected to be the classroom helper for the week. Jobs include attendance, snack helper, lunch helper, etc.
• Character Counts. Monthly the children will learn about a specific character trait and it will be discussed during Morning Circle Time.

Learning Centers

Throughout the day your preschooler will participate in different learning center activities of her choice. There are over 50 learning center activities and each activity is tied to a specific learning objective. So whether he is listening to a recording in the listening center or creating wonderful art in the writing center, your preschooler is learning a new concept, being assessed and mastering the objective tied to that specific learning activity. Remember, our teachers create lessons with specific purposes in mind. All activities are carefully selected for its ability to engage and teach your child in a fun and exciting way.

Small Group Time

While some children “play” in different learning centers throughout the classroom, the preschool teacher works with other children in small groups to extend the learning experience. These small groups allow the teacher to provide individual attention and instruction to each child ensuring that each child is successfully meeting and/or exceeding the theme-based learning objectives.

Outdoor Play (Gross Motor Development)

All children at Kids Kottage Learning Center go outdoors twice a day to exercise, burn off some energy, and develop their gross motor skills. If the weather is not accommodating, the children play in our indoor power zone. Here children can ride tricycles, play on the loft, walk on balance beams and more.

Lunch and Rest/Quiet Time

Lunch is served family style in our power play zone. Children assist in lunch preparation and clean up. After lunch the children have an opportunity to wind down during Rest/Quiet Time. Each child has their own mat that they may rest or sleep on. If a child does not fall asleep after 30 minutes of quiet time, complete a puzzle or read a book quietly.

Music & Movement

Get up and dance! This is a great time during the day for your child to get active, learn fun new songs, stretch, crawl, dance and expand her vocabulary. Ask your child what fun, new song she learned this week!

Closing Circle Time

After more outside play the children come in to enjoy Closing Circle Time. At the conclusion of the day, our preschool children meet in a large group to discuss what they learned during the day. It is here that the children wrap up learning concepts, review what they’ve learned, share precious artwork and look ahead for what tomorrow has in store.

CURRICULUM

Our curriculum consists of weekly units that support our monthly themes. Each unit is filled with activities designed to meet the needs of all types of learners. Daily activities promote academic preparedness by teaching math, science and early literacy. In addition, they also encourage self-direction, curiosity and persistence all while building self esteem and self-discipline in each child.

Through small/large group interactions and independent and self directed play, our program promotes the development of social skills, self help skill and the ability to think creatively.

Our curriculum provides carefully selected activities in the following content areas with a primary focus on literacy and math.

• • Science
• • Art Expression
• • Technology
• • Literacy
• • Sight Words
• • Journals
• • Mathematics
• • Handwriting (Zaner-Bloser)
• • Homework