Programs & Enrollment

For 2010 - 2011, Good Shepherd Preschool offers two programs:

• Three and four-year-old class: Meets for three and a half hour sessions (8:30 to 12)  two mornings per week.  Children are eligible to enroll if reasonably independent in toileting and between 36 months and 49 months of age by opening date.  We strive for a class size of twelve, with two teachers, for a 1:6 ratio of teachers to students.
  
• Pre-Kindergarten class: Meets for three and a half hour sessions (8:30 to 12) three mornings per week.  Children are eligible to enroll if toilet trained and at least 48 months.  Five year-old children who are not attending kindergarten are included in these classes.  We strive for a maximum class size of 16, with two teachers, for a 1:8 ratio of teachers to students

Program Description

Methods/Curriculum

We organize our programs by using a play-based learning center approach to teaching and learning. Teachers support the children’s investigations by planning open-ended thematic units. The units may be of general interest to three and four year-olds or they may emerge from specific interests of the classes. This allows children to draw on previous experiences, to practice making choices and take initiative. It encourages children to learn to communicate and cooperate with peers. Some examples of themes include Me; My Family; Leaves and Trees; Dinosaurs; Snow; Fairy Tales; Animals in Winter; Spring on the Farm; and Dirt. We also have monthly color days (i.e. Red Day in September), and we have special days such as Gingerbread Day and Teddy Bear Day.

Learning centers include blocks; home living; dramatic play/dress-up; science, puzzles and table projects; arts and crafts; sensory play (water, sand, rice, etc...); woodworking; writing; and library. We consider our natural playground to be part of our classroom. where we garden, explore nature, and nurture the child's natural wonder about our environment. Children are encouraged to choose from a variety of activities to play, explore, make discoveries and continue with progress in learning skills, concepts and attitudes. The teachers assist the children in making choices, using materials, and in understanding and responding to their discoveries, needs, ideas and feelings.

A small portion of the day is devoted to teacher-directed and large group activities. During directed activities the teachers may read aloud, share music and finger plays, play cooperative group games, add information about the theme, introduce a skill, allow a child to “share” with the class, or talk about the weather and calendar.

When your child is at Good Shepherd Preschool, he/she is involved in varied developmentally appropriate  play experiences designed to foster overall healthy development of the whole child (physically, cognitively, socially and emotionally) in the following ways:

Social/Emotional

Each child . . .

• is affirmed and encouraged to see himself/herself as good.  We encourage all children to express and value their own cultural and racial heritage.
• is encouraged to relate with others in ways that are fair and satisfying for all.
• is helped to learn appropriate behavior in a variety of situations.
• has opportunities to develop gifts and talents individually and gain independence in work and play.
• has opportunities to learn to work within a group through informal and formal small group and large group experiences.
• is taught classroom routines and expectations and they are given positive reinforcement for learning to accept limits and routines, which help them feel capable and lovable.
• is encouraged to make choices, initiate activities, and remain with an activity for a reasonable amount of time.
• is taught appropriate ways of expressing feelings and given positive reinforcement for practicing these skills.
• is given encouragement to try new things and adjust to new situations when necessary or desirable.
• is helped to share insights, observations, feelings, ideas, and needs with other children and adults, and they are encouraged to hear and understand the input of others.

Physical

Each child . . .

• has the opportunity to develop motor skills through use of age-appropriate equipment.
• has opportunities to use and have fun with such large motor skills as running, hopping, climbing, balancing, swinging, creative movement, and object handling (catching, bouncing, throwing or kicking balls, bean bags or other appropriate objects).
• has opportunities with which to experience and develop eye-hand and eye-body coordination
• has opportunities to have fun with and develop small motor skills through manipulating clay, gluing and pasting, sewing, woodworking, and using markers, pencils, crayons, and chalk.
• is encouraged through her/his involvement in daily routines to develop the skills needed to care for his/her own physical needs such as eating, drinking, washing, toileting, and dressing.
• is observed by teachers who encourage, diagnose, and guide the development of these skills.
• is encouraged to develop and demonstrate sound health, safety and nutritional practices by: cooking and serving a variety of nutritional foods; discussing good nutrition; doing activities which promote safety awareness at home, school, and in the community; practicing sound health habits such as hand washing, getting rest and exercise, brushing teeth and visiting the doctor and dentist.

Intellectual

Each child . . .

• is encouraged and given the opportunity to explore themselves, others and the environment.
• is encouraged to explore a variety of cultures through artistic activities, celebrations, and literature.
• is given opportunities to experience children's literature individually, in small groups, and in large groups through shared book experiences.  Specific books are chosen by the teacher for sharing with the class to give a sense of the story and its structure, to give pleasure, to promote sharing of ideas, to stimulate thinking and imagination, and to experience literary/print conventions.
• is given experiences to assist him/her in realizing that spoken works can be written and written words can be read.  Big books, song and poem charts, labels, name tags, journaling and phonemic awareness activities (rhyming, syllabication, etc.) may be used to enhance emerging literacy skills.
• will be involved in activities which promote auditory and visual discrimination.
• will hear oral language modeled by teachers in informal play and formal group activities.
• is encouraged to practice oral language skills in small and large group activities.
• has opportunities to develop important cognitive skills and understandings such as sequencing, classifying, measuring, patterning, counting, grouping/making sets, one-to-one correspondence, predicting and use of charts and graphs.
• has opportunities to develop an understanding of math concepts and skill in problem solving through explorations using objects which can be touched, moved, and manipulated.
• has experiences in giving, listening to and following directions.
• is encouraged to use the scientific method of discovery: identify the problem, set up and test the hypothesis, make predictions, interpret the findings, reach a conclusion and experiment to test the conclusion.
• is assisted in learning his/her own name and information about self and family.
• hears new words introduced in a context, which gives meaning and understanding and allows peer and teacher interaction and communication for clarification.

Artistic/Creative Expression

Each child . . .

• is encouraged to enjoy music through listening to and experiencing many kinds of music.
• is encouraged to respond to rhythm with instruments, chanting, creative movement, and relaxation.
• is encouraged to explore and appreciate creative decision making and the process of divergent thinking.
• is given the opportunity to manipulate, explore and create with a variety of art materials.
• is encouraged to create from his/her own feelings and observations, not entirely from a model.
• is encouraged to engage in dramatic play both informally in learning centers, and more formally in teacher directed activities.
• has opportunities to use puppets, costumes and props to identify with characters, times and places in a make-believe world.

Spiritual

Each child . . .

• will observe adults modeling forgiveness, protection, acceptance, and support.
• is encouraged to be curious and ask questions about faith.
• receives positive reinforcement and instruction in learning protection, acceptance and support.
• is affirmed in his/her individual expression of faith.  Through exploring the self, others, and the world, each child has opportunities to grow in understanding the concept that “"God loves me."”
• is led through informal and formal instruction to seek what is fair and satisfying to all in solving a social problem