Wee Wuns curriculum is planned with the basic idea that children are unique and function at various levels of development. Our program is designed to follow a combination of professionally published language and math curriculums along with the fun-filled activities, such as music, art, gross motor, learning games, manipulatives, language, outdoor play, etc. These varied experiences are carefully planned out to nurture the child's natural curiosity and encourage a love of learning.
The classroom centers in the Toddler area are home living, blocks, manipulatives, science, reading, snack, art, music and small circle time. In the Preschool area the children also get to explore writing and listening centers. Each day both Toddlers and Preschoolers visit a separate room for Enrichment which focuses on their gross motor skills like building with large blocks, playing with balls and parachutes in an organized group environment. Chapel is attended on a weekly basis where the children hear a Bible story, learn spiritual songs and finger plays. Weather permitting, the children play outside daily on age appropriate equipment to encourage their gross motor skills and socialization with other children outside of their class. The Toddlers also have a quiet time each afternoon while listening to soothing music. Our curriculum is theme oriented. Each week the children are introduced to a new theme for them to explore and learn more about themselves and the world around them.
Each learning center in the classrooms is designed to encourage the complete development of your child. The preschool classroom limits the number of children in each center to encourage them to make independent choices on where they will play and to expose the children to a variety of activities. The home living center includes a kitchen area and dress up opportunities. The teachers are able to change the activities in this center to allow the children to further explore the weekly theme in their own creative way. For example, during Air All Around the teacher may set up an "airport" or "airplane", and during Pets week they may set up a veterinary clinic. Home living offers your child creative development through imagination and role playing. Block center gives the children the opportunity to build with wooden blocks, Legos, Lincoln Logs, or large cardboard bricks. Teachers may add vehicles, animals, or people to the center to extend the theme. The children enjoy working together to build zoos, towns, and robots, just to name a few. Your child's social maturity develops by working cooperatively with his/her peers. In science center the children are able to use all five of their senses to make observations and discoveries. They may be "digging" for dinosaur bones like paleontologists or conducting experiments like chemists as they watch ice melt with cold water, hot water or salt and graph their findings. The reading loft offers the children a quiet place to rest and develop a love for literature. They use picture clues to predict what happens in a story and increase their knowledge of the world through the written word and illustrations. At snack center the children learn healthy habits by washing their hands before they eat and cleaning up after themselves once they have eaten. Pre-math and pre-reading skills are practiced when the children follow a rebus to get their snack. During small circle time the children may listen to the teacher read a story, do finger plays, help with a group science experiment or a cooking project, or talk about the color/shape/letter of the week. In the listening center the children are able to put on headphones to listen to a story and follow along in the book, listen to different types of music, or play with Lite Brite. The manipulatives are put out on the table and encourage pre-math, pre-writing, and pre-reading skills, as well as strengthen eye-hand coordination and small hand muscles. An example of a pre-math skill is putting together a puzzle, or sorting items by size, shape or color. Pre-writing skills are practiced as the child moves items with tweezers or tongs to strengthen his pincher grasp, and pre-reading skills are introduced as the children match letters, or sequence a story using sequencing cards. Art gives the children an opportunity for self-exploration and creative expression as they paint with brushes or marbles, cut and paste, or manipulate clay and play dough. By manipulating a paint brush or molding clay the children are building their small muscles and increasing their small motor skills. The writing center is an area where the children often dictate a sentence to go along with a story the teacher has read and then illustrate their ideas, trace around stencils, or practice writing their name. Music is a time to play instruments, dance and sing. The centers in the Toddler area offer similar experiences to your child at an age and developmentally appropriate level. Since all toddlers are beginning to communicate as well as learning to be with their peers, social and verbal skills are a main focus. The teachers also help with separation anxiety and transitioning from one activity to another. Toilet training is continued at the school when it is age appropriate, child initiated, and the family is working on it at home.
Our staff offers your child a safe and nurturing environment to explore the world in. Discipline is handled with redirection or by removing the child from the class for a brief period of quiet time and a chance to discuss with that child a better choice or better option for handling the situation should it arise again. However, children who are actively involved are rarely discipline problems.
Children learn best when they are allowed to play and take in their environment at their own pace. Each child develops at his or her own rate and our program is designed with this in mind. As Wee Wuns is the first school experience for most of our students, we feel a great responsibility to open these new doors with warmth, guidance and love; thereby developing a sound base and order for transition to public schools.
