five Kindergarteners playing outside

Pre-Kindergarten Scheduling Options

Children age 3 ½ to 5 years who are toilet-trained may enroll two mornings per week (Monday/Tuesday), three mornings per week (Wednesday/Thursday/Friday) or five mornings per week. The Pre-Kindergarten core curriculum is taught in the morning from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Children may enroll for aftercare two, three or five days per week. Aftercare for Pre-Kindergarteners is from 12:00 to 3:05 p.m.

Kindergarten Scheduling Options

Kindergarteners age 4 ½ to 6 years must attend five mornings per week between 8:30 a.m. and 12:00 noon. Aftercare is available until 3:10 p.m. and parents may enroll their children two, three or five afternoons per week. Extended day care is available until 5:15 p.m.

Morning Rhythm

In the Pre-K and Kindergarten, a strong and consistent rhythm carries the day and the week. This contributes directly to the child’s physical, emotional, and intellectual well-being and development. A typical morning includes:

Greetings and Free Play:

During free play, the children have the opportunity to develop their social skills. The children are free to choose their activities and their playmates. Free play may include dressing up, playing with puppets, building with logs, “cooking” in the children’s kitchen, or playing house. All activities are initiated by the children themselves.

Main Activity:

A broad range of artistic and practical activities gives the children a clear perception of work processes and processes in nature. For example by baking bread, the child participates through the complete activity of grinding the wheat berries, sifting and mixing ingredients, shaping the bread loaves, smelling the baking bread, and finally, enjoying the fruit of their labors by having the bread for snack. The world is good!

Morning Language Arts Circle:

The morning circle is comprised of classical fairy tales, folk legends, songs, poetry and nature stories, finger plays and creative movement. Themes change seasonally.

Snack and Clean-up Time: The school provides a wholesome snack prepared in the morning. For example, the children help to prepare vegetable soup or whole grain bread. The children and teachers work together to clean up after snack and to care for their environment.

Outdoor Free Play: Our playground includes natural climbing logs, sandbox, swings, and climbing equipment. Through active outdoor play, the children joyfully develop and test their physical skills.

Storytelling: The teacher tells a story from memory every day. This gives the children the opportunity to create rich, detailed mental pictures from their imaginations. These inner pictures of the spoken word become the basis for making meaning out of symbolic, written language.

Aftercare Program

When the morning program comes to a close, children staying the full day will join the afternoon teacher. A typical afternoon rhythm consists of:

Lunch

Rest/Storytime

Outdoor Play

Snack

Artistic/Craft Activity