Our Curriculum

We feel that environment is important in the learning process. Our classrooms are small and personalized by the individual teacher and children in that class.

Infant Program

We strive for our infant class to be an extension of home. The infants set their own schedule and we work around their schedule and our families’ schedules.  We encourage and maintain open lines of communication with our parents. If there is something that works well at home, we want to do it here. If we find something that works well here, we let our parents know. Infants develop at their own pace and we encourage and help them reach milestones at their own pace.

Educational Program

Our educational program consists of unit themes that all classroom activities are planned around. Themes can last anywhere from a day to two weeks. Each teacher chooses these themes from a larger group of monthly themes. Therefore, each teacher can personalize lessons to the individual interests and developmental levels of the children in her classroom.

We also concentrate on 3 letters of the alphabet each month. Letter activities include: art projects, printing, sounds of letters, words that begin with each letter, etc., again all individualized to the developmental level of the children in each class.

Other areas of study include: number lessons and counting, color identification, shape recognition, name spelling and writing, learning phone numbers and addresses, sight word identification, and using the calendar, including naming months, days and seasons. Areas of study for the Pre-Kindergarten class are geared toward meeting Kindergarten SOLs

We incorporate children’s favorite literature into the program by having a featured author or character of the month. These books may be simply read at story time or teachers may plan classroom lessons around them.

We offer extracurricular activities such as music and dance classes, gymnastics and movement classes, and drawing and computer classes.

Parts of the day are designated “free choice play”. During these times children choose from a variety of activities, such as table toys, computer, and coloring.

We encourage sharing by having designated “Share Days” in which children are allowed to bring a toy from home to share with his/her friends. Children may not bring any sort of weapon or toy that will encourage aggressive play.

Older 3 and 4 year old children routinely go on field trips. Field trips may include: skating, bowling, the library, various parks and museums, etc. All children ride in age-appropriate car seats and safety is strictly enforced.

We try to take the children outside every day, weather permitting. On nice weather days, we are outside for approximately 45min. each morning and 1 hour each afternoon. The amount of time is adjusted depending on the weather.

We hold parent-teacher conferences twice during the school year, in October and April. Parents can request to schedule a conference during the designated times. We send home Progress Reports twice a year, in December and again in June.

Daily Preschool Schedule:

Below is our basic daily schedule:

• 7:00 – 9:00 Receiving Children (Free Play)
• 9:00 – 9:15 Clean up and washing hands
• 9:15 – 9:30 Morning snack
• 9:30 – 10:45 Unit Activities, Classroom Time
• 10:45 – 11:15 Outdoor Play
• 11:15 – 11:30 Washing hands for lunch
• 11:30 – 12:00 Lunch
• 12:00 – 2:00 Quiet Rest Period
• 2:00 – 2:15 Afternoon Snack
• 2:15 – 3:00 Grooming, Outdoor Play
• 3:00 – 4:30 Rotating Directed Activities
• 4:30 – 6:00 Free Play, Children Picked Up

This is a sample schedule to help each parent get to know their child’s day and activity times. Sometimes it will be necessary to change or alter the schedule for maximum flexibility.

School-Age Program:

• 7:00 Receiving Children
• 7:10 Elmont Bus Picks Up
• 2:30 Pick up children from local schools
• 3:00 Elmont Bus Drops Off
• 2:45 – 3:15 Afternoon Snack
• 3:15 – 4:00 Homework and Table Activities
• 4:00 – 6:00 Free Play and Outside Activities

Free Play:

Quiet Time:

Outdoor Play:

Parent Conferences:

Progressive Evaluations: