A Typical Nursery School Day
The program is flexible, providing a balance of active and quiet activities. The teachers work with the children, treating each one as a unique individual, providing materials, guidance, stimulation, and encouragement.
Arrival and Dismissal
Parents are welcome to walk their children into the classroom each day or to "drop off" with one of the staff who will welcome him or her at the curb and walk him or her to the classroom.
Parents may walk in to pick up their children or may drive up to the curb. In the latter case, the child's teacher will walk him or her to the car.
Indoor Free Play
Children are given an opportunity to choose their own activities and are encouraged to express their own ideas and to discover new materials. Children learn best through play. Learning Centers are set up in each classroom to stimulate imagination for the children who provide their own natural curiosity and enthusiasm. Creative and dramatic play develops through the use of toy vehicles, dress-up clothes, puppets, dolls, toy animals, blocks, play foods and dishes, and through the sharing of ideas.
Paste, scissors, paint, wood, clay, tools, art materials and puzzles are available for creative expression and structured projects. Use of these materials helps foster small-motor development and eye-hand coordination.
Cleanup
Cleaning up after play and activity times encourages group and individual responsibility.
Wash-Up and Snack
Healthy habits are taught through the modeling of proper hand washing and drying before eating. The children learn to sit together and to interact using good table manners. Language continues to emerge and develop through table conversation. Teachers sit with the children and encourage the children's conversation during snack.
Circle Time
A part of every well-planned program for young children includes direct learning experiences in a group. These "together times" include the use of sharing times, finger plays, sotires, structured learning and discovery segments, music and musical instruments, games, poetry rhythm and creative movement exercises.
Listening to stories, records, and music provides a restful change of pace from the other activities of the day The children learn songs with and without the piano. Children are encouraged to look at books of all kinds. At least one story is read to the children each day. Classes often plan dramatizations and puppet shows as a group after hearing a story they have enjoyed.
Trips and Special Activities
Our school is in an ideal location in the center of town, a child's walking distance to many places. Trips to points of interest in the community are planned during the year. These trips take place as they fit into the theme focus in the classroom. Examples of such trips are library, firehouse, post office, local store, fruit stand, nature walks. The four-year-old classes take planned, chaperoned field trips within a half-hour's driving distance. We also have special guest come to our classrooms such as a pediatric dentist, a fireman, a policeman, storytellers, and animal handlers. To enrich our program, we call upon the special talents of our parents and other adults in Chappaqua, and surrounding communities. Parents are encouraged to participate in our program and to visit at any time. We welcome suggestions from parents.
Outdoors
Outdoor play is an important part of the pre-kindergarten program. It helps develop large muscles and builds self-confidence. Children engage in running, jumping, climbing, digging, appropriate pushing/pulling, etc. Again, the staff is always present to challenge redirect and supervise.
The children learn about their environment; the weather,the care of pets and plants through simple sensory experiments and actual experiences on our playgrounds.
238-4800 (office, 2 & 3-year-year-olds)238-3615 (Meeting House, 4-year-olds) |
