Preschoolers
Ages: 3.5 years – 5 years old
Schedule: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:45pm – 5:15pm
Community Time: Food Preparation, Snack and Social Learning
Our preschool program begins with food preparation and snack. Children assist in preparing food and drinks for their classmates, setting the table for the class, and serves their own snack. During this time the children practice their social graces and manners, and it is also the time we facilitate a portion of our social-emotional curriculum. The children engage in age-appropriate conversation and connect with each other by sharing parts of their day, a favorite book or outing they recently enjoyed. Adults lend support to the flow of conversation, but give space for the children to interact.
Snack is followed by circle time, 30 minutes of music and group learning. Everyone works with instruments and learns from the current Music Together Rhythm Kids Collection, in addition to special songs chosen based on the current theme of study.
Group and Individual Learning – Music, Montessori, Nature and Art
Rhythm Kids™ is an exciting music, movement, and drumming class that follows through on Music Together’s vision to help children complete the pathway of early childhood music development. Through music and movement activities, children begin to take charge, lead others, and be musically creative as they make up their own drumming patterns, invent new ways to play rhythm instruments, create movement ideas for songs, and even take a drum solo! This fantastic new program helps children integrate and assimilate rhythm through:
- Learning multicultural drumming patterns in unique animal groupings
- Developing new repertoire on various percussion instruments
- Exploring movement and dance while singing songs
- Playing games based on music and drumming
Throughout our learning, we will be combining the global rhythmic and musical exploration of Rhythm Kids with Montessori continents curriculum in which we study the geography, animals, plants, and people of different countries on each continent. We will also explore each region through visual artists and styles of art particular to that culture and place.
Children in our class will experience cultures, people and community, while creatively and academically learning about the countries of the world. Through beauty and creative expression, each child will explore their place on our global community with compassion, understanding and appreciation of one another.
Every class we welcome each child, recognize the time and season we are in, engage in literacy and numeracy presentations, and explore a larger them in the present unit of study – including a multi-layered art project using different materials, modalities, and techniques.
After circle time, there is an open learning period, which includes the Montessori work cycle (literacy, numeracy, sensorial, culture, and peace curriculum). Nature exploration and arts-immersion are woven together in each subject area of the classroom.
Children also have one-on-one learning time with the teacher during each class, and are supported during the whole class by their trusted, loving adult. However, unlike the toddler class, pre-school students also do work in pairs (with their adult). These pairs may also receive a small group lesson from the teacher, following the children’s interests and deeper exploration of their work. Pre-schoolers are developing more socially, and therefore the learning structure of the class is adapted to support this higher level of development. Each class ends with a closing circle for 15 minutes: including music, an activity that applies what we learned, and supports for continued learning at home.
Continued Learning at Home
Inside and outside of class, we offer ways to extend the learning at home, and at the conclusion of the unit the child will be take home the featured art project which is an interactive piece that the whole family can enjoy.
