Free-Play - From the time of Drop-off at our daycare facility until Greeting Circle the children may engage themselves in Free-Play (their choice) of selected activities, curl up with a book or finish their breakfast if necessary.
Greeting Circle - 8:30 - We come together as a whole, discussing daily classroom jobs, the calendar, the events, activities and lessons planned for the day.
Work Time - Roughly 20 minutes later, the children enter into their Work Time. They will have the freedom to choose and explore the different learning centers and will experience a balance of Teacher-directed and Child-directed activities. Blocks, Dramatic Play, Art, Math, Language Arts, Science, Sensory activities and more are offered during Work Time.
Clean-Up – Teaching responsibility, team work, problem solving, sorting, classification and following directions, the children clean-up the classroom and put their toys away.
Preparation and Snack – Handwashing, helping to set the table, retrieving their lunchbox from the cart and eating Snack all together – a very rich socialization time.
Learning Circle – A teacher directed activity; it could be working on color or number recognition, phonics, or any number of topics.
Gross Motor Activities - Otherwise known as Outside Play or Recess! We go out twice a day for 20-30 minutes each, once in the morning and again in the afternoon, weather permitting. In the winter that means a “Feels-like temperature of at least 25 degrees” and in the summer we will go out regardless but if it is too hot we just may not stay out very long! Running, jumping, balls, hula hoops etc., all help build body strength and large muscle coordination. If Mother Nature is raining or snowing on us we will play inside.
Music & Story Circle - Our day care preschool portion ends back inside with Music & Story. Music is a huge part of our classroom and story time is so vitally important that we’ve put them together in one joyous circle.
Lunch Time - After washing our hands again, our lunch boxes are once again brought from the cart and after everything we’ve done it’s sure to hit the spot!
Nap/Rest Time – Slowly unwinding from a very busy morning, we use the Bathrooms, and curl up with books while our child care providers sets out the mats and gets the room ready for Nap time. Shades are lowered and music is playing as we drift off to recharge our batteries for about an hour to an hour and a half.
Afternoon Snack
Outside play (weather permitting)
Inside Free Play
Parental/Guardian Pick-Up Time
Our Day Ends!