Early Childhood Division

Ages 1 to 6

The early childhood division consists of the Early Learning Center for children one through three years of age, three pre-kindergartens classrooms for 3/4s, four kindergarten classrooms for 4/5s, and four preparatory classrooms for 5/6s. We offer a half-day and full-day program for the Early Learning Center, pre-kindergarten, and kindergarten classes. The preparatory classrooms all run a full –day program.

As you enter the ELC or one of the other early childhood classrooms, the sights and sounds of children’s active engagement with their peers and quality materials is apparent.We believe that children develop and learn best from a hands-on and minds- on environment.A positive teacher-child relationship is paramount and promotes both children’s social competence and their academic learning.Our nurturing and responsive teachers recognize that each child is unique and consider the needs of the whole child, including their social-emotional, language, cognitive, and physical development.Each staff member gets to know each child’s personal interests, temperament, and skills. We also view the family as an essential part of our community; knowing and collaborating with each family is essential to our understanding and appreciation of each child. We maintain child-centered environments where the children are allowed to choose activities they are interested in while we also expose them to and encourage them to try new things. Each classroom is a caring community of learners where through social interactions with their peers, the children learn to collaborate, cooperate, and to understand another point of view.Throughout the day there is a balance of choice activities, teacher directed activities, small group, and large group activities.Outdoor play is included daily.

Our youngest children, those enrolled in the ELC, are divided by age into four groups.The four groups share a beautiful new building and playground. Each group has a teacher, an assistant, and a nanny. A music teacher, physical education teacher, counselor, and a librarian give classes in the center. The day is organized around the needs of toddlers and two’s.We provide a nutritious morning snack as well as lunch and an afternoon snack for the children who stay all day.

The pre-kdg. through preparatory (comparable to U.S. kindergarten) classrooms are staffed by a teacher and a full-time instructional assistant.A music teacher, Spanish teacher, physical education teacher, computer teacher, librarian, and counselor also work with each class.

Our pre-kindergarten through preparatory classroom curriculum is based on inquiry units. We know that development unfolds at different times for each child. Since development does, however, follow a continuum, our pre-kdg. through prep. teachers select units of study that they know will engage and challenge the children. In designing a unit of study, our teachers begin by deciding what the major concepts, or big ideas are. They then plan integrated and meaningful activities that will teach the major concepts and necessary skills in developmentally appropriate ways and they provide the children with extended periods of time to investigate and interact with materials. In the pet unit, for example, the dramatic play area may be turned into a veterinarian’s office.At the writing center the children may be writing questions to ask the dog groomer when she comes to visit, and at the math center the children may be making a graph of their pets. Some of the recent inquiry units have included mammals, fairy tales, communities, food preparation, insects, simple machines, water, farm animals, and birds.