Preschool Room
Children typically spend two years in our Preschool Room. Here, their world expands, becoming more interconnected and deep. They are now ready to explore, investigate, and wonder about the larger world around them. As this development naturally occurs, our curriculum begins to look more outward. We use projects in a more in-depth manner to study, question, understand, and effect the world around us. Our Group Times are longer, with more interactive dialogue and deeper connections to our shared experiences . The environment and materials in it are more complex and invite active exploration and investigation, with space and time to delve deeply into play. There is an art/construction room for building, tinkering, and making imagined creations come to life. There is ample space for dramatic play as children's inner fantasies are explored and their social skills are refined. And, there is a natural flow from inside to outside, as children spend a significant portion of the day in our outdoor classroom.
In a mixed-age environment, such as our preschool room, the youngest learn from watching the eldest, and the eldest learn from teaching the youngest. We strengthen the bonds of community. As Dr. Lilian Katz, an early childhood education guru says, "Mixed-age grouping resembles family and neighborhood groupings, which throughout history have informally provided much of children's socialization and education" (from The Case for Mixed-Age Groupings in Early Education, 1990). In addition, we do divide the children into two groups during our Small Group Time for more focused, developmentally appropriate work. At our school, this focused, teacher-directed time takes the form of project work. Our standards, which comes from the California Preschool Foundations, are woven throughout our day and include domains such as: language and literacy, social/emotional development, mathematics, science, social science, visual and preforming arts, and physical development.
In a mixed-age environment, such as our preschool room, the youngest learn from watching the eldest, and the eldest learn from teaching the youngest. We strengthen the bonds of community. As Dr. Lilian Katz, an early childhood education guru says, "Mixed-age grouping resembles family and neighborhood groupings, which throughout history have informally provided much of children's socialization and education" (from The Case for Mixed-Age Groupings in Early Education, 1990). In addition, we do divide the children into two groups during our Small Group Time for more focused, developmentally appropriate work. At our school, this focused, teacher-directed time takes the form of project work. Our standards, which comes from the California Preschool Foundations, are woven throughout our day and include domains such as: language and literacy, social/emotional development, mathematics, science, social science, visual and preforming arts, and physical development.
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