Beginner
Beginner Program
Accepting applications for 2027-28.
The beginner program is for children ages 12-23 months by September 1. Our Beginner Program is often a child’s first school experience, a special time when each day brings new opportunities to explore, discover, and grow. We create a warm, nurturing environment where curiosity is encouraged; friendships begin to blossom, and a lifelong love of learning starts to take root. Our youngest children often need some time to adjust to a school environment; our teachers provide a very loving and supportive place where children know they are safe and deeply cared for.
As children adjust to new routines, they are supported by a predictable daily schedule that includes gross motor play, early literacy experiences, and a strong focus on building social and emotional skills. Our hands-on, creative lessons are designed to spark imagination, expand interests, and make learning meaningful and fun.
Children engage with a variety of enriching materials and activities, including fine motor work, puzzles, books, manipulatives, blocks, and sensory and art experiences. We also prioritize plenty of outdoor time, giving children the space to move, explore, and connect with the world around them.
Language Development
Most children starting our Beginner or 18-month program are beginning to talk, and by the end of the year, they experience a “language explosion” period. They talk non-stop and practice their new power starting around spring break and through the end of the year.
Studies show that two-way dialogue is the best method for developing language. Our child:teacher ratio is intentionally low to create the time and space for this type of one-on-one interaction. It allows us to follow the child’s interests and encourages them to reveal themselves.
Through these short and frequent conversations, language grows, as well as their curiosity and understanding of the world.
Children in this program develop strong, lasting friendships. This is often their first experience with friendship outside of family and it makes a deep impact. They play together, ask about their classmates when someone is away, care for each other and give each other “hello,” “good-bye,” and “just because” hugs. Throughout the year, they learn the joy of loving (and being loved by) a friend.
Curriculum
Physical Development
Explore balance
Integrate body movement with senses
Name, locate and understand relationships of body parts
Develop strength and endurance
Put on and take off own sweater or coat
Coordinate hand/eye movements
Explore manipulative toys
Strengthen hand grasp and use hands in many positions
Build an understanding of directionality and position in space
Literacy & Language Development
Demonstrate the concept of rhyming
Understand simple sentences
Use newly learned vocabulary
Identify a variety of objects through receptive language
Tell simple personal narratives
Enjoy being read to, and hearing stories
Follow simple directions
Name actual or pictured objects
Attend to story telling
Math
· Assemble simple puzzles
· Match, count, and sort object
Science
· Continually grow in observations of the world around us
· Recognize primary colors
· Begin to understand big and small
· Develop the five senses
Fine Arts
· Create original artwork
· Participate in classroom music activities
· Use language as part of dramatic play
· “Make believe” with objects
· Express feelings through movement
· Reproduce or create sound patterns
Health & Safety
· Practice routine healthy behaviors with use of napkins and hand washing
· Experience healthy foods in all snacks and lunches
Daily Schedule
8:20-9:15
Drop Off / Outdoor play, nature investigation, and science exploration
9:15-9:30
Snack
9:30-10:00
Circle Time: Greeting our friends, wish you well board, calendar, weather, discuss monthly theme
10:00-11:00
Free Choice: Dramatic Play, Construction/Blocks, Creative Arts, Manipulative/Mathematics, Language and Literacy, Multi-Sensory Play
11:00-12:00
Lunch/Healthy Eating Habits
12:00-12:30
12:30-2:30
Half Day Dismissal / Nap Time
2:30-3:00
Afternoon Snack and Chat
3:00-3:20
Afternoon Special (Athletic, Theater)
3:20-3:30
Dismissal / Outdoor play, nature investigation, and science exploration
PROGRAM OPTIONS
3 Days Per Week
Half Day: 8:30-12:30 (morning snack and lunch included)
Full Day: 8:30-3:30 (morning snack, lunch, and afternoon snack included)
5 Days Per Week
Half Day: 8:30-12:30 (morning snack and lunch included)
2 Half Days (Monday and Friday) and 3 Full Days (Tuesday-Thursday)
Full Day: 8:30-3:30 (morning snack, lunch, and afternoon snack included)
Early care and after care are also options.
Check out our 2 day a week program, KICK START>