The Mountain Road School Preschool Program offers full day or half day sessions for children three to five years of age. The staff consists of a classroom teacher with support of an assistant treacher when classroom enrollment reaches ten children per session. An Art/ French, American Sign Language and Music teacher also support the varied curricula.

The Mountain Road School Preschool Program has three main goals:

1. To nurture a child’s social, emotional, physical, and intellectual growth through developmentally appropriate practices.
2. To nurture a child’s growth in a caring, peaceful and noncompetitive environment.
3. To nurture a sense of self and a sense of belonging to a community.

The development of community within the preschool classroom is the foundation of the preschool curriculum. This begins on the first day of school when the children have opportunities to interact with new friends, reconnect with old friends, interact with the teacher, and explore the classroom environment. From the beginning the children are charged with developing classroom agreements that reflect their individual needs and the needs of the classroom community. As community develops through teacher facilitated projects and spontaneous interaction between children; the emergent curriculum begins to form.

Daily Schedule
The daily schedule is conducive to free play, circle time, small and large project time, art, music, French, sign language, outdoor play, field trips and cooperative and individual play.

Free Play
Free play consists of entry into the classroom, transition from parents to the classroom environment, exploration of a variety of open play centers, cleanup, and transition to circle time. Parents are encouraged to spend time in the classroom to explore the open centers with their child(ren) and engage in active play.

Throughout free play there are a variety of open centers. Open centers are areas of the classroom the children are able to access freely and explore at their own pace. Open centers consist of gross and fine motor activities including block play, imaginative play, cutting, gluing, and painting. They also include math, science, and language centers. The math and science centers provide the children with an opportunity to manipulate objects, to construct patterns, to count, to sort, and to explore their interests in nature. The language center provides children with opportunities to write their names and explore favorite authors.

Circle Time
Circle time is a structured opportunity to engage in the development of social skills including taking turns and listening to each other with respect. Circle time is used to regroup after free play with ritual and routine. Every circle time begins with a ritual to signal to the class community that a time of conversation, song and learning is ready to begin. The routine of circle time will include calendar, weather, name recognition, singing, and on specific days sharing of a special object. At the close of the circle the teacher finger plays and songs are sung before transitioning to snack time.

Snack/Lunch Time
Snack and lunchtimes are a time for social and verbal interaction between peers and teachers. Children are encouraged to try their food and be at the table to participate in the community interaction that occurs at this time. Parents are encouraged to provide healthy food snacks as Mountain Road School maintains a strong no “junk food” policy. Children are encouraged to compost, clear their space and “try” to use the bathroom before transitioning to outdoor play.

Outdoor Play
During outdoor play children are encouraged to free play and exercise their bodies and imaginations. All children are encouraged to be active while outdoors; sometimes this involves an organized activity or game initiated by the children and/ or the teacher.

At all times the policy of non-exclusion and “you can’t say you can’t play” is followed.
Violent or warlike play is not permitted and sticks are discouraged unless there is organized “construction” or other building activities being engaged in by the children.

Project Time
Project time is a structured opportunity to explore the emergent curriculum of the preschool classroom. Project time occurs daily and varies in length. (Please refer to the curriculum section for examples and a more in depth explanation)

Quiet Time
Quiet time is an opportunity for children to rest their bodies and recharge. This can involve falling asleep or just resting one’s eyes. The teacher who is conducting quiet time will read a group story and then children are encouraged to look at books quietly while listening to soft background music.

Curriculum
Throughout the day children have the opportunity to explore math and science concepts, language skills, and develop fine motor skills. For example, math concepts such as counting to 10, comparison of small, medium, and large and creating patterns are developed through the use of pattern blocks, unifix cubes, number puzzles, and nontraditional measurement tools. A Science concept such as conservation is explored at the water table with measuring cups. Language skills are developed though access to books, writing implements and paper, magnetic letters and structured and unstructured social interactions. Fine motor skills such as tracing and cutting are modeled and practiced during free play time and project time. Each child also has opportunities to develop his/her gross motor skills such as running, swinging, and climbing during outside recess.

Project Time Curriculum
Projects are centered on the themes that emerge as children interact with the social and physical environment. Emergent curriculum is comprised of thoughtful teacher planning and unplanned teachable moments.

Examples of past and present emergent curriculum projects have include following the children’s interests in dinosaurs, trains, water, and puppets.

As the children and the teacher embark on a project; books related to the topic are read aloud and accessible throughout the duration of the project. Each project follows the children’s lead while balanced with learning goals.

For example a theme may follow the children’s interests of dinosaurs by creating a mural that depicts size comparison between the smallest dinosaur (Compsognathus) and the largest dinosaur (Brachiosaurus). The children would have opportunities to grasp how small a human is compared to some dinosaurs by lying head to foot. The children would have opportunities to use different materials to create representations of dinosaurs such a paint and paper, clay, and found objects.

In support of the children’s interests and learning goals, music is incorporated into all aspects of the curriculum. This includes music listened to during free play to learning chants about colors and rhyming words.

The opportunities to discover a sense of self and sense of belonging through play, projects, and peaceful, caring, and respectful interactions encompasses the spirit of the Mountain Road School Preschool Program.

Link to Cynthia Gray , Preschool Teacher