Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Open House/Registration
Hey everyone, we finally have a date for the OPen House. Look on the sidebar for updated info. Please email me for the address to the preschool as well. If you need to schedule a personl visit to the preschool, email me and we can set something up. Please try to make it to the open house if possible. Thanks so much, we appreciate you all!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Welcome to my Preschool Blog! I want all prospective parents to know what I am all about before choosing my preschool.
My Educational Background
I graduated from Utah State with a degree in Family, Consumer and Human Development. I immediately started working at Head Start. I worked at Head Start for 2 years where I taught parents how to play with their kids in a way that can prepare them for kindergarten. I was able to work with parents and children in their homes and really focus on each child’s individual needs. I was also able to teach Love and Logic Parenting classes at Head Start and privately and will use those principles in my classroom.
My Philosophies on Early Childhood Education
I am a firm believer that what children learn in their first 5 years is more important than what they learn in any year after that. It is a vital time to teach them while their brains are so responsive and soak up things so easily. I believe that any child can love learning if taught in an exciting way. I believe parents are a crucial part of a child’s education and encourage reading with your children daily.
I graduated from Utah State with a degree in Family, Consumer and Human Development. I immediately started working at Head Start. I worked at Head Start for 2 years where I taught parents how to play with their kids in a way that can prepare them for kindergarten. I was able to work with parents and children in their homes and really focus on each child’s individual needs. I was also able to teach Love and Logic Parenting classes at Head Start and privately and will use those principles in my classroom.
My Philosophies on Early Childhood Education
I am a firm believer that what children learn in their first 5 years is more important than what they learn in any year after that. It is a vital time to teach them while their brains are so responsive and soak up things so easily. I believe that any child can love learning if taught in an exciting way. I believe parents are a crucial part of a child’s education and encourage reading with your children daily.
My Curriculum
I will be teaching from my own curriculum. I don’t think there is one curriculum out there that can cater to the learning styles and needs of the 10 children that I will be teaching this year. Each child learns in a different way and each child has different experiences; my curriculum will reflect those needs. We will cover age appropriate aspects in each of the following areas:
Literacy/pre-reading skills (ABC recognition, rhyming, storytelling)
Music (rhythm and movement, children will write their own musical play)
Math (number recognition, sorting, simple addition, patterns, shapes)
Science (cooking, weather, healthy foods, experimenting, outdoor discovery, our bodies)
Art (paint, clay, all varieties of arts and crafts)
Social/ Emotional well being (feelings, moods, manners, getting along, respecting others, self esteem, stranger danger)
All of these areas bleed into each other and will be taught in fun, hands on ways where the children can discover their talents and strengths while learning to love learning.
Snack-Time
You may be wondering why Snack-Time has its own section, but so much can be learned from this part of the day. We will have a healthy snack each day that will also be a great time for learning. Healthful eating habits are such an important thing to teach young children. Teaching a child to eat a balanced and healthy diet will benefit them for the rest of their lives. Some examples of snack time learning are:
*Letting the children grind corn into cornmeal and then making pancakes out of that cornmeal. *Freezing fruit into ice and letting them figure out how to thaw it is a great snack time science experiment.
*Shaking cream to make butter and healthy ice cream are great ways to make snack time a fun, healthy learning time.
Field Trips
We will be going on a variety of field trips this school year. Parents will be asked to drop off and pick up their child at the location of the field trip. They will be welcome to stay as well.
Christmas Play
There will be a Christmas performance put on by the children. The children will help write, costume, and do scenery for the play. This encourages children to use their imagination, is great for pre-reading skills, is great for public speaking and is just plain fun! Parents will get a kick out of what their kids can come up with on their own.
Parents as Helpers
There will be opportunities for each parent to visit the classroom and participate in the activities. At the beginning of each month a sign up sheet will go around and parents can choose to volunteer or choose not to. Each time you volunteer to come, your child will attend free that day ($7.50 off the monthly total of $65) I will always have one adult participating in the classes with me; for safety and for help with certain activities. If there is no parent signed up for a week I have a helper who will fill in. I think it is great for a child to see their parents involved in their education (I also know that parents are busy and sometimes need a break from certain 3 and 4 year olds, so don’t feel any pressure)
My Goals for the Preschool
I am well aware of the state goals for kindergarten readiness and should be able to easily reach and exceed those goals before they enter kindergarten. (At the open house I will provide a packet of kindergarten readiness material.) But, I am more concerned about these goals:
I have a goal to discover each child’s best ways of learning.
I have a goal to increase the self esteem of each child.
I have a goal to help each child LOVE reading.
I have a goal to help each child want to be healthy.
I have a goal to help each child reach their greatest potential physically, mentally, emotionally and socially.
Preschool Important Dates
Open House: TBA (parents and children come to check out the preschool and register if so desired)
Meet and Greet: TBA (parents and children come to the preschool to meet prior to first day)
First Day of School: Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
Email me for the location of the preschool danamurph@gmail.com
I will be teaching from my own curriculum. I don’t think there is one curriculum out there that can cater to the learning styles and needs of the 10 children that I will be teaching this year. Each child learns in a different way and each child has different experiences; my curriculum will reflect those needs. We will cover age appropriate aspects in each of the following areas:
Literacy/pre-reading skills (ABC recognition, rhyming, storytelling)
Music (rhythm and movement, children will write their own musical play)
Math (number recognition, sorting, simple addition, patterns, shapes)
Science (cooking, weather, healthy foods, experimenting, outdoor discovery, our bodies)
Art (paint, clay, all varieties of arts and crafts)
Social/ Emotional well being (feelings, moods, manners, getting along, respecting others, self esteem, stranger danger)
All of these areas bleed into each other and will be taught in fun, hands on ways where the children can discover their talents and strengths while learning to love learning.
Snack-Time
You may be wondering why Snack-Time has its own section, but so much can be learned from this part of the day. We will have a healthy snack each day that will also be a great time for learning. Healthful eating habits are such an important thing to teach young children. Teaching a child to eat a balanced and healthy diet will benefit them for the rest of their lives. Some examples of snack time learning are:
*Letting the children grind corn into cornmeal and then making pancakes out of that cornmeal. *Freezing fruit into ice and letting them figure out how to thaw it is a great snack time science experiment.
*Shaking cream to make butter and healthy ice cream are great ways to make snack time a fun, healthy learning time.
Field Trips
We will be going on a variety of field trips this school year. Parents will be asked to drop off and pick up their child at the location of the field trip. They will be welcome to stay as well.
Christmas Play
There will be a Christmas performance put on by the children. The children will help write, costume, and do scenery for the play. This encourages children to use their imagination, is great for pre-reading skills, is great for public speaking and is just plain fun! Parents will get a kick out of what their kids can come up with on their own.
Parents as Helpers
There will be opportunities for each parent to visit the classroom and participate in the activities. At the beginning of each month a sign up sheet will go around and parents can choose to volunteer or choose not to. Each time you volunteer to come, your child will attend free that day ($7.50 off the monthly total of $65) I will always have one adult participating in the classes with me; for safety and for help with certain activities. If there is no parent signed up for a week I have a helper who will fill in. I think it is great for a child to see their parents involved in their education (I also know that parents are busy and sometimes need a break from certain 3 and 4 year olds, so don’t feel any pressure)
My Goals for the Preschool
I am well aware of the state goals for kindergarten readiness and should be able to easily reach and exceed those goals before they enter kindergarten. (At the open house I will provide a packet of kindergarten readiness material.) But, I am more concerned about these goals:
I have a goal to discover each child’s best ways of learning.
I have a goal to increase the self esteem of each child.
I have a goal to help each child LOVE reading.
I have a goal to help each child want to be healthy.
I have a goal to help each child reach their greatest potential physically, mentally, emotionally and socially.
Preschool Important Dates
Open House: TBA (parents and children come to check out the preschool and register if so desired)
Meet and Greet: TBA (parents and children come to the preschool to meet prior to first day)
First Day of School: Tuesday, September 7th, 2010
Email me for the location of the preschool danamurph@gmail.com
The price is $65 a month (minus $7.50 for each time you volunteer) with a $25 registration fee
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