Preschool Program (ages 3 – 4.5 years old)
Our 3 – 4.5 program encourages investigation, exploration and discovery, where active and enthusiastic children can expand and refine their skills and knowledge. Through conscious teaching practices, purposefully designed learning environments and enriched activities, educators guarantee preschoolers have happy, relevant, and significant learning experiences that lead to success in school and life endeavours. We focus on kindergarten readiness by continuing to implement play-based learning. As meaningful play provides children with the opportunity to actively explore, manipulate, and interact with their responsive environment. At this level, educators start to focus on the following areas:
• Beginning reading and writing skills
• Math and science concepts
• Large and small muscle skills
• Social and emotional development
We have a fantastic program that is current and based on the interests of the children. Every month a plan is released, letting parents know about our focus area in the Preschool for the next month. We learn about the focus area through stories, discussion, research and songs at circle time, and special outings in the community. Being notified of what your child is learning throughout the day will allow for conversation at home, reinforcing teaching opportunities. We have an open-door policy, so parents/family are encouraged to drop in any time and join in their child’s play. Parents dropping in to play with their kids will only happen after all Covid-19 restrictions are lifted. We encourage suggestions, ideas or help with our program if desired. School readiness is shown in several ways, all of which we work on:
Having dispositions like:
– Confidence, courage and curiosity- a sense of taking an interest in the program and belonging within the Preschool
– Trust, playfulness- being involved with the program and a feeling of well-being within the school, being able to joke with the educators or their friends
– Persisting with difficulty and challenge
– Communication- the confidence to express an idea, feeling or point of view (to adults or other children).
– Contribution- taking responsibility for their actions, justice and fairness and understanding others’ points of view.
– Independence- being able to separate from family (at times for long periods- up to an entire school day).
Building independence skills:
– Use the bathroom
– Put on their own jacket, mitts, hat, etc.
– Get their own lunch kit and open their own lunch containers/ packages
– Walk 10-12 blocks
– Hold a pen, pencil or paintbrush
– Use scissors
– Identify their own name and begin to reproduce it
– Clean up their own space, e.g., after snack time or play area.
Join in circle time:
– Sit quietly within a group
– Engage in activities
– Raise hands, wait their turn to talk
– Follow instructions for games or new projects
– Learn through repeating- songs, poems, rhymes, dances
– Take turns with activities
• Being able to recognize different letters, make the sounds, and eventually form the shape on paper.
• Being able to recognize different numbers and eventually form the shape on paper.
• Being able to regulate their own emotions- anger, happiness, stress, frustration etc. and have some strategies to use when they become heightened. (Even as an adult, it is tricky to do these things sometimes!)
• Socializing and making friends in a group situation.
• Learning about days of the week, months and weather.