Preschool Cirriculum

We value free expression and unstructured play at Gingerbread. The early years are an opportunity for children to take manageable risks, learn to get along with others and explore the world around them as they grow and learn. Hands on learning and free play have proven to be the optimal way to achieve all that we want for our children. We facilitate learning about specific themes throughout the year by bringing in special treasures, inviting guests, planning activities and taking field trips each month to develop each unit.

Each day, children have an opportunity to choose from a variety of activity centers during the first hour of free play. These centers, each with basics which remain all year long plus things introduced as the study units change, include:

• Free Art with easel and table activities including a variety of media such as paints, markers, collages, crayons and clay.
• Listening Center with headphones enabling children to select and listen to recorded stories as they follow along in the book.
• Building Blocks with play cars, animals and people.
• Science which is nature related with simple, hands-on experiments and displays.
• Playhouse with furniture, play food, dress-ups and dolls to allow children to dramatize home and work life experiences.

Group times with activities aimed at developing skills and abilities are also planned each day:

• Circle Time features age-appropriate songs, rhythms, finger plays, stories and games, helping children develop attention span and listening skills.
• Snack Time offers an opportunity for children to take responsibility for the group as they take turns passing napkins and juice, preparing and distributing snacks, practicing manners and cleaning up afterwards. It’s also the time when we celebrate birthdays.
• Playground Time year-round helps children appreciate the natural world as they develop their muscles, coordination and confidence in their physical abilities.
• Game Time is fun time while children are exposed to math, language and learning skills such as sorting, measuring, problem solving, identification, prediction and interpretation which are essential to a lifetime of learning and living.
• Handwriting Without Tears Get Set for School is a developmentally appropriate, multi-sensory approach to teaching our children to express themselves. This curriculum includes readiness and writing foundation skills, math concepts and skills and language and literacy and is integrated into the centers and units listed above.

Schedules

You have two choices for your 3-year-old: Monday-Wednesday-Friday mornings or Tuesday-Thursday mornings. The teacher-student ratio is one to seven. Extended Day and before- and after-school care is an option each day your child is in school.

You have three choices for your 4-year-old: Monday-Wednesday-Friday mornings, Tuesday-Thursday mornings or Monday through Friday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon. The five-day program has been developed for families whose children are ready for more than two or three half-days per week but are waiting a year for kindergarten. The teacher-student ratio is one to seven. Extended Day and before- and after-school care is an option each day your child is in school.