Small Groups & Outdoor Play

Small group work is based on interests and skills of the children. Teachers use this time to observe, document, and sustain learning by using intentional language to help the children understand the process of their learning. Teachers make careful observations and ask questions that stimulate thinking about how else ideas might be expressed. New materials may be presented as a provocation to a new approach, idea etc. Our teachers help children focus on the process of learning, rather than a product. Children who are not working directly in a small group choose activities in the classroom centers where they learn to work and play together. Children may weave in and out of small group work throughout the year.

Meals, Transitions & Rest Time

The goals of these times are to help children be independent in meeting their physical needs and to enjoy the pleasures of eating and socializing with peers. Young children need to learn to self-regulate and self-nurture. Sleeping at school, hand washing, toileting, and managing their own snack and lunch promote these behaviors. Parents provide nutritious lunches with appropriate portions for young children to manage.

Small Groups & Outdoor Play

Outdoor play provides an opportunity for children to learn the important skill of getting along in a group. For example, waiting for a turn on a tricycle can be a frustrating experience, but it also provides an opportunity to use words to ask for a turn and figure out that there are lots of other interesting choices while you wait.

Children learn to take risks and challenge themselves physically on the large motor play equipment. The sandbox, garden, art materials, and other equipment outside are designed to promote playing together. Outside activities can be as big and exuberant, or as quiet, as a child wants them to be. The teachers in this setting model extensively how to use words to solve problems and work with the children to encourage co-operative play.

Reuniting With Parents

A successful reconnection between children and parents is the goal of this period. The teachers work hard to create positive experiences for children and parents. All have worked hard and face the evening ahead. The staff will offer the children a quiet indoor activity so that each child may leave the group without having a large cleanup job. This is an opportunity for parents to reconnect with their child, show interest in their play, and read the documentation that provides glimpses of the life of the classroom.

Parents may pick their child up at any time in our day.