At the Grosse Pointe Cooperative Preschool
Welcome to our sunny little preschool! We look forward to giving your children a year of fun learning. If this is your first preschool experience, relax. Everything will be fine. Watch and see how much they learn and grow throughout the year. It is remarkable. They’ll want to share their morning with you, talk about their finger plays and songs and you will be in awe of their creative projects!! The foundation of our classroom is that children learn through play. The activities offered throughout the morning are geared to three, four and five-year-old children. They are intended to challenge your child’s interest, age and ability.
What We Do in Our Classrooms
Table Time
As the children enter they are asked to choose an activity at the tables and play while the other children are arriving. These activities, such as lacing, puzzles, drawing, building, etc., encourage small motor control. In our 4/5’s class we also work on our letters, numbers, and writing names during our table time.
Circle Time
This is the opening of the day when we all gather together to say good morning and talk about the theme of the day/week i.e., the circus, the farm, Halloween dinosaurs, etc. We will also discuss the activities of the day, have show and tell, talk about the weather and news.
Free Play
During this time the children may select their favorite things to do. They may choose to look at books, do puzzles, climb, play dress-up, play in the sand, etc. At the end of our morning the children all clean up together and get ready for snack and washing up.
Art
During free play, the children will be offered an activity that usually correlates with the theme and provides an opportunity to develop small motor skills as well as creative expression. They will experiment with different media.
Storytime
Here the children will discover books that connect with our theme. The children will hear stories read by the teacher and listen to stories on tape.
Math
These activities reinforce and develop basic readiness skills from counting and color recognition, to auditory memory and understanding quantities, relationships and ordering. This is achieved through the use of manipulatives, storytelling, and visual addition and subtraction exercises.
Snack Time
Children and adults come together to enjoy conversation and a nutritious snack brought by a working parent (often the favorite part of the day!) We say a thank you poem before our snack. When possible we love when our working parents are able to tie in our theme of the day to the snack they bring!
Music
We will use various instruments, records and tapes to extend our theme and to develop sense of rhythm and creative expression in our children. We sing songs in the classroom each day, including our hello and goodbye songs, our cleanup song and our hand washing song.
Motor Development
The children will participate in various games and movement activities that build large muscle skills i.e. hopping, skipping, dancing, marching, etc. We have bikes and scooters that the children can ride and play with during our playtime. We also practice yoga in our classroom during circle time to help the children improve balance and learn about the importance of stretching.
Our Benchmarks and Skills
3/4's Class Skills
- Recognizing and naming primary colors
- Recognizing and naming shapes (circles, squares and triangles)
- Counting numbers 1-10
- Counting objects in one to one correspondence
- Begin to recognize name in print
- Begin to write own name
- Learning position and directions (over, under, up, down, etc.)
- Talking about seasons
- Learning motor skills
- Waiting turns
- Following directions
- Listening skills
4/5's Class Skills
- Recognizing and naming primary colors
- Recognizing and naming shapes (circles, rectangles, squares, triangles, diamonds)
- Counting numbers 1-20
- Recognizing numbers 1-10
- Sequencing numbers
- Counting objects in one-to one correspondence
- Recognizing letters
- Recognizing name in print
- Writing own name
- Learning Position and Directions (i.e. over, under, up, down. Etc.)
- Discriminating right and left
- Learning season, days of week
- Developing motor skills
- Waiting turns
- Sequencing
- Following directions
- Listening skills
Social and Emotional Development for Both Classes
- Learning to be away from home for 2-3 hours
- Know how to use tissue
- Toilet needs
- Manners
- Put away toys
- Self control
- Sharing
- Play with other children
- Learning how to get along with other children and function as a group
- To feel good about self and school
