Moving Out
Mrs. Daniels
3-year-olds have a real sense of themselves. They don’t feel little any more – or at least, they only feel little when it suits them! Their powers of concentration seem like super-powers when parents compare them to their 2-year-old selves, and their drawings and writings have a structure and a rhythm that are new and exciting. “Potato people,” sometimes even with eyelashes and fingers, dominate the 3-year-old’s artistic repertoire, because these are children who are exploring the new and blinding realization that the world is full of interesting people – not just their families, but other children and adults who say and do stuff! They’re moving out into the big world, step by step, and the 4-day teaching staff is ready to help.
3-year-olds work on advancing pre-reading and pre-math skills:
- shape recognition
- basic patterns
- left-to-right progression
- sequencing
- following multi-step instructions in completing projects
- creating more advanced artwork
…and lots more!
They participate in music and movement, library, and chapel, and attend a field trip. The class works on larger projects together to learn about cooperation, turn-taking, sharing, and the sense of accomplishment that comes from completion of a challenging task.
Mrs. Daniels, our wonderful and loving 3-day teacher, knows just how to make her children feel comfortable yet challenged, silly and serious by turns. She creates projects and activities for the 3-day-ers that stretch their imaginations and abilities and give them a lot to be proud of at the end of each day!
Program days and times: Monday to Thursday, 9:00-11:45 a.m.
Program eligibility: The 3-year-olds’ class is open to children aged 3 by the cut-off date of their home school district (typically by 9/15 or 9/30). Children must be toilet trained. The age eligibility requirement is not flexible, because it is based on kindergarten eligibility.
Adult:child ratio: Never to exceed 1:6, and held to 1:5 except for special circumstances (for instance, a set of twins). Class size will generally be held to 10 children with a teacher and an aide, and will never exceed 12 children (that is, we will never add a second aide in order to add more children); the decision whether to add an eleventh child will be made with care at the Director’s discretion, based on the personalities and abilities of children already registered or enrolled.