- Ages: 33 months through age 5
- Maximum class size: 12 children per teacher; teacher aides in addition
- Classes: two, three or five mornings or full-day
- School hours: 8:50 am – 11:30 am or full-day
- May be combined with before- and after-care from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Combining Play with the latest Brain Science
Welcome to New Morning School’s extended-day preschool program. By partnering with the staff at New Morning School you are giving your child a gift – a gift of an early foundation of learning and play which is grounded in the latest brain science and supported by the work of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget.
The preschool program meets all licensing requirement of the State of Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
Let your child’s first school experience be a joyful place, one with a myriad of new activities and experiences every day. Let it be a place where your child learns to interact with other children and is able to explore his or her own curiosities.
Low Student-Teacher Ratio
Your child will be in a class of 12 students with a teacher experienced in early childhood education. This class is supported by two trained teacher aides, creating a 4:1 student-to-teacher ratio or better. This is well below the state-mandated ratio of 10:1. The year will start with eight (8) children in the class due to COVID-19 social distancing requirements.
Individualized, Personalized Education
Let your child join a school where “everyone knows your name.” In small, personalized classrooms within a small school, each child is embraced and honored as an individual who can contribute to the community. As learning happens throughout the day, the teacher will work with your child at your child’s level in academic readiness, and social, emotional and physical growth.
The Facility
When you enter New Morning School, you inhale the child-friendly essence of the school. Classrooms are colorfully decorated and enhanced by student art work. The playhouse invites children into creative play. The easels inspire that future Michelangelo. The students enjoy class in a 1,400 sq. ft. classroom and nap in an adjoining room. Gross motor skills are developed in a 4,000 sq. ft. gym, equipped with kid-friendly apparatus. Outside play happens daily on the preschool climber, in the preschool house, and in the areas for running and playing that surround the equipment.
Safety
Safety is #1. Students are carefully supervised during the day. All staff, including volunteers, undergo a criminal background check. Volunteers are parents or grandparents of students at the school. They embrace the school’s philosophy and ways of respecting children, because they have also chosen this program for their children. During the school day, exterior doors are locked. The students practice fire, tornado and other safety drills, so they are prepared for an emergency.
Key Features to New Morning Preschool
Attention to a number of key ingredients is essential in creating a positive preschool experience for each child as explained below:
Assessment
The teacher observes each child to evaluate his/her intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development. Children develop at different rates in social, emotional and cognitive areas. An individual evaluation highlights what is appropriate for each child.
Planning and Individualizing
Each child’s day includes individual and group activities. Children are involved in teacher-directed as well as student-selected tasks. Planning skills are practiced each day. Children have the opportunity to learn from one another.
Choices in the Classroom:
Creative Play Area
Activities in the creative play area foster both large muscle and social skills. Features of the creative play area include blocks, a kitchen area, a fix-it table, animal figurines, and a playhouse.
Collage
Fine motor skills such a cutting, pasting, taping, and sorting are reinforced in our collage area.
Arts and Crafts
Children are encouraged to develop their artistic awareness and skills in a daily art project. In addition, the easel is available for artistic expression.
Snack
Due to COVID guidelines, students bring individual snacks and lunches each day.
Discovery Table
Daily activities at the Discovery Table challenge students to solve problems, classify objects and develop an awareness of basic scientific and mathematical principles. Experiment with dried leaves, snow, kernels of corn, and play dough. Young scientists and engineers will be challenged and have fun here.
ABC and 123 Games
Children select ABC or 123 games. Playing these games encourages development of both verbal and mathematical skills. Try the Alphabet Treasure or Sum Swamp.
Writing Center
A variety of materials are available at our writing center to help young children tap into their ability to use lines, shapes, and eventually symbols and letters to share their understanding of the world. When friends author a story they become the casting director as their friends act out their tales.
Sand, Water or Playdough
Each day children flock to the area which features our sand table, water table or playdough, featured on a rotating basis. These areas give children an opportunity to develop gross and fine motor skills, and introduce them to concepts like mass, volume, gravity, and quantity.
Large Muscle Skills and Physical Education
Children develop gross motor skills during movement activities in the gym. Outside skills are further developed as children enjoy the playhouse, sandbox and play equipment. The use of balls improves hand-eye coordination. Students enjoy physical education instruction weekly in the gym, fostering gross motor skills and team building.
Music
Music activities are presented regularly. Songs, finger-plays and movement reinforce language development.
Gym
Students enjoy physical education movement and instruction weekly in the gym, fostering gross motor skills and team building.
Themes
Teachers plan thematic units throughout the year ranging from community helpers to learning about the farm. Stories, songs, crafts and snack are integrated around the theme so that the child has a holistic immersion experience in the topics being studied. Teachers key in on student interests and use that information to plan high-interest themes.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is the class size?
One group of twelve children attends preschool each day. A teacher and two teacher aides assist the group. The fall will start with a group of eight students to improve COVID social distancing.
What will happen during a school day?
Each day is different at New Morning school, but it’s important to have a predictable routine to the day, so that children feel safe. Our preschool classrooms are thematically-based, meaning that new activities are set up for the children every other day. The projects tie into a theme, such as farm animals, the five senses, water, becoming friends – the topics are endless! Each day there is an art activity that is both thematically-based and related to the theme and the rubrics.
I’ve heard that the children plan their own day. What does that mean?
Based on the latest brain science research, the child’s program is structured as the child learns to use a plan-work-evaluate format. This means that after circle time each morning, the students plan their day, with help from the teacher. “Will I go to snack today? I want to play in creative play. I want to do an ABC game with my teacher. Maybe I’ll write a story today.”
This format, unique to New Morning School, is called a child-centered approach where children become engaged in their own learning, setting the foundation for a child who is curious and who loves school.
What is the typical schedule?
Here is the daily routine:
|
7:00 |
The childcare aide greets students as they arrive. The children enjoy quiet activities or a breakfast they bring from home. |
|
8:00 |
Play time in the gym |
|
8:50 |
Circle time: stories, movement, theme, calendar, weather, letter of the week |
|
9:30 |
Children fill out plans and choose activities throughout the room. |
|
10:40 |
Last call for snack |
|
10:50 |
Student clean up |
|
11:00 |
One-on-one time with the teacher to share about the student’s day |
|
11:15 |
Outside time or gym |
|
11:30 |
Lunch and outside time |
|
12:45 |
Read-aloud stories |
|
1:15 |
Rest time |
|
1:45 |
As children awake, they join the teacher in the classroom for afternoon activities. Activities are less structured and the teacher follows the lead of the child’s interests (supporting the latest brain science and the need for reflection). |
|
3:00 |
Outside time |
|
4:00 |
Quieter activities happen inside in anticipation of parents arriving soon! Parents arrive to pick up their children up to 6:00 pm. |
How old must my child be to attend?
Students must be 33 months through age four, turning five years. The classroom, by design, is a multi-age classroom, so that each child gains experience with both older and younger students.
Should my child be toilet trained?
State licensing requires that students for our program be toilet trained. Staff can give reminders to the students, but they should be beyond having accidents.
Do I pack a lunch?
Yes, because of the many food allergies and differences in food choices between families, each student brings a lunch and snacks each day. We will provide ideas for healthy lunches based on the latest brain research to keep your child in top form each day. If your child has food allergies, please inform the staff during an initial visit. We do have a rule of, “No candy, no pop.” Because of life-threatening allergies the school is nut- and tree nut-free.
What else does my child need from home?
At naptime, children want to be cozy and comfortable. Cots are provided. Please bring bedding each Monday and a favorite stuffed animal. Bedding is taken home each weekend for cleaning.
It’s best to have your child bring a backpack to school each day. This can include a change of clothes and other needed items. Please label clothing. On the first day, please bring a one-inch binder for your child’s portfolio and a family photo. Due to COVID restrictions, families bring in their child’s art supplies to be kept in a special box.
What is the school calendar?
The academic year runs from the day after Labor Day through the second week in June. The center is closed two weeks during the Christmas holidays.
How may I communicate with my child’s teacher?
Open communication between teachers and parents is encouraged. Every day your child’s individual plan comes home with notes from the teacher. This is a wonderful discussion-starter for your child to share about his/her day. Please contact your child’s teacher at any time to discuss progress. Parent conferences are scheduled three times per year. A conference may be conducted in person (preferred) or to meet your busy schedule using Zoom or email.
Foundation for Learning
You are giving your child the gift of a firm foundation which is an extension of your family values, intertwined with emerging skills in interpersonal relationships and personal responsibility – a gift of a lifetime.
