Happy Child Preschool

This will be a program where children have an opportunity to develop social and communication skills in a safe, loving environment. The daily schedule will include teacher directed activities such as circle time, music and story time as well as free play and large motor activities. Since children learn through play, this will be a nice introduction to school for them.

Children need to be two years old before classes begin. Children enrolled are not required to be potty trained. We do ask for you to leave a diaper bag when you drop off each Friday that will include diapers, wipes and a full sippy cup labeled with your child’s name. Also, please include a healthy snack for your child.

Drop off is at 9:05 and pick up is at 11:35. We will follow the Bellbrook-Sugarcreek School calendar.

Parent volunteers will be asked to stay one class per seven weeks. The frequency of parent days will depend on the number of children in the class. We will have sign ups at the first day open house. There will be no more than seven in the class.

Our 3 year old program offers a time of adjustment. Therefore, our main goal for the three year olds is to develop independence which helps to build their self confidence. Learning to play with others, learning to share, cleaning up after play and and tolerance of other's ideas are qualities stressed at all times. Thematic units include activities to teach skills such as counting, recognition of numbers 1-10, recognizing names, shapes and colors.

3 yr. Olds Happy Child Curriculum

3 yr olds

Language Arts

Reading is the basis of all skills. Age appropriate activities will encourage language and speech development, auditory and visual discrimination, auditory and visual memory.

· Literature based activities

· Daily story times

· Pre-writing skills

· Left to right movement

· Conceptual activities

· Name recognition

Mathematics

The development of a logical progression of the understanding of numbers, operations and relationships leads to a beginning understanding of analysis and problem solving.

· Pre-math skills

· Sorting

· Counting

· Matching

· Shapes

· Number recognition 1-10

Science

The development of the thought process necessary to study our environment is introduced. Children learn to appreciate and respect the world around us.

· Water

· Seasons

· Weather

· Animals

· Plants

· Five senses

Arts

Activity, creativity and discovery are essential for the development of the young child. Comfort with expression and exploration is important for a strong self-image.

· Colors

· Shapes

· Painting

· Modeling with clay

· Cutting

· Gluing

· Music, poems, finger plays

Social Development

Children learn to respect their sense of self, their interests and their competence in learning. A realization that others have rights and are due respect is encouraged. Children develop a responsibility for their actions within a group.

· Sharing

· Cooperation with a group

· Independence

· Self-control

· Awareness of self and others

· Fine and gross motor skills

· Following directions

Our 4 year old program is designed to prepare children for kindergarten. Letter recognition, numbers 1-20, shapes, colors, science, developing fine and gross motor coordination and developing social skills to deal with adults and peers, comprise the curriculum. Activities are designed to encourage children to succeed in a learning situation.

4 yr Olds Happy Child Curriculum

4 yr olds

Language Arts

Reading is the basis of all skills. Age appropriate activities will encourage language and speech development, auditory and visual discrimination, auditory and visual memory.

· Pre-reading skills

· Letter recognition and sounds

· Printing letters

· Printing name

· Daily story times

· Act out stories

· Expressing thoughts and experiences

· Theme based activities

Mathematics

The development of a logical progression of the understanding of numbers, operations and relationships leads to a beginning understanding of analysis and problem solving.

· Sorting

· Counting

· Matching

· Shapes

· Problem solving

· Spatial recognition

· Number recognition 1-20

· Writing numbers 1-20

· Patterning

Science

The development of the thought process necessary to study our environment is introduced. Children learn to appreciate and respect the world around us.

· Calendar

· Seasons

· Weather

· Animals

· Plant life

· Five senses

· Cooking skills

Arts

Activity, creativity and discovery are essential for the development of the young child. Comfort with expression and exploration is important for a strong self-image.

· Colors

· Shapes

· Basic drawing

· Music, poems, finger plays

· Painting

· Rhythm instruments

· Collages

Social Development

· Independence

· Sharing

· Taking turns

· Working as a group

· Fine and gross motor skills

· Phone number and address

· Following directions

· Listening

Our 5 year old program is designed for children who are 5 by September 30 but not quite ready to go to kindergarten. Our program consists of activities to improve skills needed to succeed in kindergarten--staying on task, listening, constructive use of free time and following directions. Units are designed to encompass these tasks and additional; skills such as letter recognition, beginning sounds, pre-reading skills, printing, numbers 1-20, and science activities. Creativity in all activities is stressed.

Our lunchtime enrichment program offers children a chance to participate in additional activities either before or after their regular class time. The classes are an expansion of subjects that are covered during the regular day. Some subjects offered are movement, art, music, chapel, nature studies, Spanish. Students bring their lunch and spend a supervised lunch period before starting class. The is a small additional charge for these classes.

Happy Child Preschool is a community outreach
program of Bellbrook United Methodist Church.
Click on the "Church" button to go to the church web site.