PRESCHOOL

 

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ABOUT THE PROGRAM

At Discovery Tree, we believe in the power of play and in learning through doing.
Students will learn through open-ended and play-based activities that are developmentally appropriate for their age. We will explore traditional topics such as letters, colors, shapes, and numbers and also enjoy art, science and music activities. Our proprietary curriculum draws from a variety of educational philosophies including Montessori, Waldorf, and Regio Emilia.

 

Creative Play Centers

Our bright and inviting early childhood room includes a variety of play centers including kitchen center, block center, train table and pretend play area as well as books and puppets. We vary our play centers to reflect the month’s theme. For example, we may add a pretend “fishing area” if our month’s theme is the ocean and add additional ocean animals to the pretend play center.

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Language

Most experts agree that simply reading to children is the most important factor in their later reading success. The core of our curriculum is high quality children’s literature from the best in children’s authors and illustrators. Each day, your children will enjoy a variety of children’s books including Caldecott award winning picture books and books from favorite authors such as Lois Ehlert, Maurice Sendak, William Steig, Tommy DePaola and Eric Carle. These stories are the core around which we build our daily activities. Of course, we will also learn letters and sounds and use a variety of activities to develop phonetic awareness- a necessary ability before reading instruction can begin.

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Children in the 2s and 3s class will focus on letter recognition and letter sounds through a letter of the week while our 4s will work on letter blends and beginning reading activities. We also use the wonderful Handwriting Without Tears handwriting readiness program, which introduces important handwriting skills in a developmentally appropriate manner. We’ll use wooden letter pieces, chalkboards, sand trays, and their own special workbook! 

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Math

Young children need concrete examples to understand mathematical concepts. That’s why we explore math with hands-on manipulatives and learning activities. We’ll use a variety of counters, rods, unifix cubes, pattern blocks, geoboards, dominos and more to create an understanding of important concepts such as one-to-one correspondence. Older preschoolers will use various manipulatives to act out mathematical concepts in “add to” and “take away” stories to ensure a true understanding of mathematical concepts. 

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Science

The heart of science exploration comes through observation of the world around us. Our students enjoy weekly science experiments and other activities which explore their environment and encourage scientific discoveries. Each month we add various science discovery centers related to our themes for children to explore, as well as teacher-directed activities.

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Art

In our art programs for toddlers and preschoolers, we focus on process- based art activities. This means that the child is free to explore and make observations about the art activity without direction towards a final finished product. As parents, we frequently want to “help”our child make the project “correctly.” Especially during holidays, we want to have cute crafty projects created by our children to pull out in later years. However, this can inhibit the child’s creativity. Prominent art educator and writer MaryAnn Kohl says the following:

“Art is a creative process, not a pre-planned product. Picture the difference. A child is given cotton balls, glue, scraps of paper, and a paper plate. These materials will become part of a creative experiment for a child, as they manipulate and explore the possibilities. There is no planned design or product. However, if someone were to require the child to make a bunny on the paper plate from a pre-designed bunny that is shown to the child as the example to follow, all creativity is lost and the project becomes a craft.”

 

Music

Children will enjoy weekly music and movement activities including the award winning Kindermusik curriculum as part of their curriculum.

Numerous studies have shown the benefits

of music in the very young child. Music has been shown to influence all areas of a child's

development, from language and math skills to coordination and balance! Just as with a foreign

language, it is important to introduce music while child is still young and the neural connections

in the brain are still forming. Early exposure to music is crucial to developing your child's

musical aptitude. Through class time as well as listening to the music at home, Kindermusik

students are exposed to a wide variety of music, including differing vocal types, different and

unusual tonalities, unique rhythms and intervals and many different instruments. This helps

create a trained ear before the window of opportunity is closed.

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Spanish

Students enjoy a weekly Spanish class with songs and other fun activities. They will learn colors, numbers, animals, and more.  

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Junior Biologist Class

Monday students enjoy a weekly pull out class where they will interact with a variety of animals including insects, reptiles, and amphibians.