Nursery Class
This program runs Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. There are 15 children in this class with one teacher, one teacher's assistant and one parent. Parent duty days number approximately 10 mornings per school year. In the Nursery program, children must be 3 years old by September 1st of the year in which they are enrolled.
Our Nursery program emphasizes play as a way of constructing knowledge because play offers children the chance to:
- discover their surroundings using all their senses
- explore their feelings and label them
- construct with no end product in mind (a necessary step to building creatively)
- repeat and therefore consolidate their learning
- represent (a necessary step twoards later understanding the use of abstract symbols)
- create something they have seen (a physical and intellectual challenge)
- imagine as they take on roles (an exercise in concentration and creative thinking)
- socialize as they interact with their peers and adults
The goals of our curriculum are to help your child grow:
- emotionally by helping him/her: separate comfortably from Mom & Dad; gain greater self control; feel competent; develop independence; express feelings.
- socially by helping her/him: enjoy the company of others; use words to resolve conflict situations; communicate feelings; respect the rights of others; be assertive; feel a part of the class.
- responsibly by helping him/her: care for the physical environment and her/his own belongings; practice safe habits and good health habits; learn to plan for herself/himself.
-
physically by helping her/him: understand what the body can do and practice skills in order to achieve greater physical ability. - intellectually by encouraging her/him: to be curious about the world; to try out new ideas; to communicate thoughts and feelings to others; to solve problems; to make choices; and to express creative abilities in her/his own way.
Our Nursery classroom is set up in centers. They are the house corner, the block corner, the manipulatives/discovery corner, the book and writing corner, and the art corner. Such a layout encourages the children to make choices; provides room to let them play alone or with their friends, yet also gives them boundaries so they may respect the needs of other children. Our morning schedule alternates free-play periods with small group times and whole group time; and allows for quiet as well as active play.
As the year moves on, the class learns about themselves, their surroundings and topics brought on by the children's individual interests and personal experiences. "The Week in Review", a report on their days together, goes home with each child every Friday.
