A Day in the Life at First Presbyterian Preschool

Each day at our school is a new opportunity for learning, exploration and growth. While most of our students are still getting ready for school, groups of teachers are already at the school working to collaborate on curricula and activities. When our educators work together, it serves as a model of collaboration that children will observe and learn to mimic.

While kindergartners begin at 8:30, younger students begin to arrive at 9 a.m. They will put away their personal belongings and teachers are there to welcome them. When they arrive at school, the students will see all the materials they will use for lessons that day, or that week. There is no storage in the classrooms, so materials are brought into the classroom specifically for upcoming lessons and removed afterwards.

We encourage lots of outdoor time and spend as much time outdoors as possible. After that, the children will clean up, wash their hands and get ready for snack time. After healthy snacks are finished, the class begins Circle Time at 10:30 which may include singing songs, reading a book or talking about questions and ideas the students may have. After Circle Time, the children have a little more than an hour of Center Time and Project Time.

During these times, the classroom and outdoor learning environments are set up with a variety of learning centers for the children to choose from. The centers may include a Discovery Center, Language & Writing Center, Blocks & Building Center, Arts & Dramatic Play Center, STEM Center, and a Sensory Center. The number and type of centers and projects continually change as the needs of the children grow and evolve. These centers will have planned activities and materials that the teacher has selected based on key concepts to build on the children’s skills and help them move on to the next level. At noon, the school day ends, some children return home while others continue on in our Extended Day or Full Day programs.

Our Extended and Full Day programs offer continued educational programming including arts and science projects, story time, games and outdoor play. For more information on our various scheduling options, please click here.

Throughout the day, learning happens organically. Every activity and experience of the day may be used in learning. For example, our students frequently learn to count during snack time – they may count the number of classmates who will be eating snacks, the number of plates they need to set out, etc. The basis of learning is not memorizing facts or simply following directions. Children will gain confidence by learning to solve problems on their own. Another way that our students learn confidence and social skills is by interacting with children of different ages and different capabilities. By collaborating and learning from each other they are exposed to new social dynamics and can become more secure in their choices and interaction.