What Will My Child Learn?

Each classroom is led by a certified teacher, experienced in developing and delivering a curriculum appropriate for the children in that classroom. We use the research-based The Creative Curriculum ® as our guide, which is the same curriculum that the Toms River School System has chosen for it’s preschool initiatives. The curriculum is comprehensive and aligned to essential early learning standards, using exploration and discovery as a way of learning.

Academically gifted children are never bored, as we do not “drill” on learning facts, instead, our curriculum is infused with hands on activities, where critical thinking skills such as predicting and analyzing are required. In addition, children engage in discussions about the books the class is reading, such as “What would you do?” and “What do you think will happen next?”, and making connections to their lives such as “What does your family do at the beach?”

Children who need extra help get the support needed, as our experienced teachers differentiate the instruction and spend time one-on-one to assure each child is taught at their appropriate developmental level.

Early Learners Preschool

2 years old by October 1st each school year

Examples of learning (There is too much to list…this is just a sample)

  • Learning to share, to be a good friend, listening, using words appropriately, conversation skills
  • Self help skills such as hand washing, take care of own materials
  • Sensory play such as with sand, water, play dough, finger paints, and use of many art materials, nature walks and exploration
  • Hands on exploration in learning centers that include engaging materials to stimulate curiosity, such as blocks, puzzles, science exploration, manipulatives to improve fine motor skills, and lots of books!
  • Daily book reading at Circle Time, music and movement, finger plays
  • Colors, shapes, animals identification, sorting, classifying, counting
  • Enjoyment of music and movement: as the home base of Mr. Scott the Music Man, The Peppermint Tree infuses the children’s day with music experiences including live Mr. Scott interactive musical movement sessions, musical instruments, finger plays, singing, and dancing.
  • One-on-one time with teacher to individualize for each child’s developmental level

Preschool

3 years old by October 1st each school year

Examples of learning  (All above plus the following)

  • Identifying feelings and learning appropriate expression of feelings
  • Respect for self and others
  • Creative artistic expression with a variety of art materials
  • Daily Circle Time extended to include calendar, book reading with discussion, music and movement
  • Counting, matching, patterning, variety of learning games
  • Fine motor skill building (for writing): lacing, using tweezers, etc.
  • Science explorations include seeds, flowers  and plants, butterfly cycle, insects, seasons, weather, and a class pet.

Pre-K

4 years old by October 1st each school year

Examples of learning (All above plus the following):

  • Preparing for Kindergarten
  • Responsibility for daily chores
  • American Flag Pledge and Patriotic songs
  • Circle Time is extended to include book reading, related story discussions, and extended lessons
  • Graphing and charting what the class is learning
  • Writing upper and lower case letters
  • More complex patterning and pre-reading and math games/li>
  • New vocabulary words are learned from science and social studies lessons and daily book reading