Half-Day Preschool Programs

• Serves children 36-months to 5-years (or until kindergarten)
• Monday, Wednesday and Friday hours are from 9:15-11:45 (for morning sessions) and 12:45-3:15 (for afternoon sessions)
• Tuesday and Thursday hours are 9:00 AM -2:00 PM
• Preschool rooms are staffed with two teachers
• Child – Teacher Ratio is 1:10 Maximum group size is 20 children
• The Daily Schedule is structured in a manner that allows for a variety of activities, including active and quiet times as well as pre-kindergarten readiness skills, music, science, literature, art, outside (weather permitting), and story times.
• Teachers communicate pertinent information regarding each child’s day through daily contact and phone calls or notes, as needed.
• Parent-Teacher Conferences are held twice and year. Additional conferences scheduled as needed.
• The Saint Ambrose of Woodbury Early Childhood Education Center is on the National School Lunch Program and will provide a morning and afternoon snack. We will also provide a hot lunch to those chidlren in the Tuesday and Thursday 9:00-2:00 program.
• Families need to supply extra changes of clothing for any accidents or spills that may occur.

Preschool Curriculum

• The preschoolers are grouped by age. We have a three and four-year old room and a four and five-year old room. Typically, children are grouped as three’s and young fours and older fours and fives.
• Activities in the rooms are developmentally age-appropriate. The teachers continue to build trust and confidence in each child and encourage more extensive self-help skills and promote positive self-esteem. They also work closely with families so that each child’s needs are met. We do this through:
• Small muscle activities (coloring, painting, cutting, threading / lacing things, building with manipulative toys, using crayons, markers, pencils for writing, etc.)
• Large muscle activities (walking, running, playing with balls, scooters, parachutes, playing on the playground, dancing, using the big gym, etc.)
• Social activities (interacting with other children, teachers, parents, In-House Fieldtrips, Family Events, etc.)
• Spiritual growth (songs, stories, actions / words, pictures, posters, prayers, religious holiday celebrations, etc.)
• Intellectual growth (patterning and sequencing, verbal language, reading stories, singing songs, counting, writing, talking and interacting, weekly themes and lessons, etc.)
• Emotional growth (meeting the needs of each child, providing security, building trust, creating a caring, nurturing Christian environment, etc.)

Areas of Development

The Early Childhood Education Center and its teaching staff will provide an environment, through learning centers and activities that promote our philosophy and mission statements.  The ECEC will provide specific activities to enhance the growth and development in all children -- infants through five-year olds -- in the areas of spiritual, intellectual, emotional, social and physical.  We respect and will encourage the individual growth and style of learning for each child. 

The following activities will be a part of our daily classroom routine and available to all children.

• Creative art areas will consist of different types of art mediums.  All children will have the opportunity to explore, create and use their imaginations as they use these various art and sensory materials.  This area will also allow children to develop their small muscle skills while working on hand-eye coordination.  They will also have the opportunity to work on their visual-motor perception and begin to discover basic concepts such as shape, size, and color as well as light and dark contrast and straight and curvy lines and texture.

• Science/Exploration areas will consist of many different materials, both real objects and models.   The children will have the opportunity to become involved in hands-on activities and science experiments.  For the older children it will allow for situations where they will be able to develop and use their problem solving skills.   Younger children will be introduced to some of the more basic concepts of science such as colors, smells, touch and sounds.

• Manipulative areas will consist of toys and materials that allow children to touch, pull apart, connect, match, stack, and problem solve.  This area will give children the chance to see colors, sizes, and shapes and how things work together.

• Sensory areas will provide all children with the chance to feel, smell, touch, hear, and even taste the many things around them.  There will be many hands-on activities that will allow for fine muscle development as well as provide some creative experiences with various materials.

• Block areas give children the chance to learn about balance, weight, height, and counting.  This area will allow them to use their imaginations as they create different “buildings” or areas with the blocks.  They will also work on developing their language and large and small muscle skills.

• Dramatic Play areas will be found in all classrooms.  The younger classrooms will consist of more basic daily living items such as dolls, stuffed animals, and kitchen sets and dishes.  In addition to the items in the younger classrooms, the older children will also have things that will provide them with the opportunity for pretend play.  Some of those items will be dress-up clothes, costumes, and real life items such as phones, cash registers, groceries, and workbenches and tools.

• Large Muscle areas will provide children with the opportunity to work on coordination, creative movement, and self-esteem.  They will learn about the different ways their bodies can move and they will have the opportunity to interact with other children as they develop new skills and learn how things work.

• Literature/Language Arts areas will be in all classrooms as well.  Infants, toddlers, and preschoolers will have many books accessible to them at any time.  Reading stories will be a daily occurrence in all rooms.  The children will be able to listen to tape stories, have stories read to them individually or as a group, or they can have quiet time to themselves as they read and look at the various books in the classrooms.  The children will also be exposed to the written language and will be introduced to letters and sounds.  The older children will have the opportunity to practice writing letters and numbers.

• Music will consist of many different types of sounds including classical, ethnic, dance, quiet, and fun music.  All children will be able to experience the many different sounds, tones, and tempos that music provides.

The environment provided by the Saint Ambrose Early Childhood Education Center and the activities listed above will allow children to grow and develop in all areas of learning.   We will promote each of these areas in the following way: 

• Spiritual: By providing an environment that encourages children to be helpful, cooperative, respectful, and kind to one another, we will begin to teach them the basic skills of how to treat each other.   We will also provide opportunities for children to participate in prayers, songs, Spiritual readings and the celebration of holidays.  We will also help children to see that they are each special and that God loves them. 

• Intellectual: The ECEC will provide a variety of activities that allows children to learn about the world around them.   They will use their senses, language and problem-solving skills, and make observations of things going on around them.  They will have the opportunity to explore, sort, measure, build, create, and learn to follow simple directions.  The activities provided will be age appropriate for each classroom. 

• Emotional: We will provide an environment where children will be able to learn the words or actions needed to communicate their needs or wishes.  Allowing them to express themselves in healthy ways and teaching them the concept of same and different will provide them with an understanding and awareness of the needs of those around them.  We will encourage self-help skills and positively reinforce new accomplishments. 

• Social: We will teach children the importance of working cooperatively with one another and the basic concept of respect for others.  We will provide an environment that helps them learn the difference between right and wrong as well as knowledge of self and the world around them. 

• Physical: Through the use of outdoor play areas and the large muscle room, all children will have the chance to explore and experience the different ways they can move their bodies and develop their large muscle skills.  They will also learn to control their bodies as they work in an activity area consisting of blocks, puzzles, manipulative toys, or other fine muscle areas such as art or sensory activities. 

As a center we will provide an environment that encourages learning in all children at all levels of development.  We will provide a varied learning environment that will consist of: 

• Child-Initiated Activities: All children will have the opportunity to do things throughout the day that they choose and lead.  This may include art activities, block or dramatic play, or reading books.  Child-initiated activities will encourage building language skills as children learn to verbalize their wants and needs, and it will also enable them to see what they can do for themselves and with other children. 

• Teacher-Directed Activities: These types of activities would include transition times as the children move from one activity to another, cooperation skills, as they work together to accomplish a group task or project, and give the children the opportunity to work on their listening and direction following skills.  They will also be able to work on problem-solving skills as they participate in small or large group circle times.  These activities will also enable children to enhance their language skills as they learn new songs, fingerplays, stories, or games. 

• Quiet Activities: Throughout the day, all children will have the chance to be by themselves, if they so choose.  They can play quietly with manipulative toys, read books (or have books read to them), participate in one-on-one activities with another child or a teacher, and they will all have a rest or nap time during the day. 

• Busy-time Activities: We will make use of the large muscle room with all the children.  In this area they will be able to run, jump, dance, kick and throw balls, climb and ride on scooters or other riding toys.  As a center we will also participate in outside activities at least once a day (weather permitting).  The children will be able to climb, and ride bikes and trikes on a paved path, play in the sand, and on play structures. 

• Small Group Activities: These activities will involve one child or a small group of children.  Circle times may be divided up into smaller groups as the children talk about different things.  Children may also choose to play with one or two other children in one of the activity areas in the room as well. 

• Large Group Activities: There will many times during the day when the whole group is participating in the same activity.  This may include lunch and snack times, field trips for the older children, participating in an in-house field trip as a whole center, or playing outside or in the large muscle room.