Two Locations, One Shared Philosophy

Mixed Age Preschools

3-5 year olds, two classrooms of 24 children and 3 teachers each, 1:8 ratio

At Olivenhain we have two mixed-age preschool classrooms. 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 affect 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 ourpreschool 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 divide the children into two groups during our teacher directed times, such as Morning Meeting, Enrichment, and Project Based Learning for more focused, developmentally appropriate work.

Our standards, which come 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 performing arts, and physical development. and 2 teachers, 1:6 ratio

When families enter our school in the Guppy Room, we are very attuned to getting to know each child intimately as a unique individual. We have an immense respect for each one of these little beings and for everything he or she is learning, at every moment in the world.

For many children and families, this is their first experience in a school setting and we work hard to facilitate children and families' development as they begin to broaden their world to include our community. We are here to provide children a safe base from which to explore this new environment.

In the Guppy Room, we strive to educate the whole child, by providing children many opportunities to develop in all domains: social, emotional, physical, and cognitive. As our children work to gain a sense of autonomy, our intentional environment, purposeful planning, and engaged teachers facilitate this development.

Children in this room strive to master taking turns, being part of a group, potty training, exerting their independence, climbing, jumping, running, moving, listening to books, singing songs, exploring the outdoors, and experimenting with new experiences and materials.

They do this all within the context of relationships. Here, relationships are at the core of everything we do. And within these supportive relationships, we watch children thrive. We see them make friends, create pieces of artwork, use their imaginations in dramatic play, and climb to the highest point, as they announce to the world, "I can do it!"