Proving the fun, loving, educational care your child deserves!
Here is what our 2s, 3s, 4s, and school-age areas look like!
2 year olds and up
The 2k, 3k, and 4K/School-age groups all have their own classrooms. What the children learn in our center becomes progressively more challenging as the children grow, mature, and learn new things. The school-age group has a room currently under remodel that gives them a space/room away from the 4K, still within the teachers sight, to develop more challenging skills. The ratio for 2's varies depending on the ages of the children in attendance. It is 1 teacher per 6 children for younger 2's and 1 teacher per 8 children for older 2's. The 3's have a ratio of 1 teacher per 10 children. While the 4K has a ratio of 1 teacher per 13 children and a 1 teacher per 18 children for school-age. Since our 4K and school-age group is a combined classroom, the ratio will vary depending on the ages of the children in attendance.
Toddler II/Potty Training- Your child is really starting to show their personality at this age. A child has the ability to concentrate for longer periods of time than a younger toddler. New skills are constantly beginning to emerge as the child strives for independence and capability in every area. We provide a classroom with clear interest areas, and lots of materials to explore and pretend with! We continue to introduce new materials that challenge your child and help develop greater skills. Your child’s day will include circle time with songs, finger plays, and planned themes. From here, your child will spend time in the learning centers and small group activities with teacher interaction. We also focus on assisting your child in learning basic self-help skills. This includes tasks such as hanging up their coat, putting materials and toys away, and cleaning up after meal times. And of course, your child still gets time to just play and be a kid, which includes indoor and outdoor free play times!
3K/4K/School age - At Playful Hearts, we know that children are active learners. This means that they must use their hands to physically manipulate materials to develop a real understanding of how the world around them works. We also know that active learning involves interacting with their peers, teachers, and other’s ideas in order to learn new concepts. Children grow in knowledge by first gaining a concrete understanding of materials and ideas. This understanding is what allows children to ultimately process the world in abstract concepts. Our goal for your preschool age child is to lay a solid foundation of concrete knowledge in a fun way upon which abstract understanding can be built.
This starts with a classroom environment that is rich with materials and organized with various learning center areas. These areas are arranged in the room so as to maximize use of the areas and to balance the quieter areas with nosier ones. Your child’s day will begin with circle time for sharing, conversation, songs, new learning, and discussion of what the new day has in store! The day moves the children through the classroom, working with art materials, dramatic play, books, blocks, fine motor materials, and participation in a number of child-directed and also teacher-directed activities and tasks. These tasks are designed to develop specific skills in your child that will help prepare them for future school experiences. We are aware of the kindergarten expectations, and we work with your child to ensure that they are competent in those skills. We work to help the child learn to work well with other children as well as independently.