Ashford Kindergarten program recognizes that:
- Young children learn best through concrete experiences and active manipulation of materials.
- All areas of a child’s development (personal, social, cognitive, physical, creative) are integrated.
- Positive self esteem is the foundation for learning.
- Young children need a balance between self-selected high interest experiences and well-timed guidance and instruction.
- Play is a young child’s natural way of working.
Goal
To give children a strong sense of self worth and confidence, instilling an appreciation of themselves and others and an eagerness to learn.
Objectives
- Children will become familiar with everyday phenomena in first hand sensory ways.
- Materials to encourage good sensory experiences and exploration: paint, sand, water, instruments, field trips, and special visitors.
2. Children will enhance their self-concept through group activities and learning experiences.
- Chance to develop independence, confidence, and ability to manage own environment.
- Clarify and express feelings and sense of self through dramatic play, dance, creative art, music, circle time.
3. Children will begin to symbolize ideas with pictures and signs as well as...
- Spoken words.
- Numbers, colors, shapes, spatial relationships, (size, height, weight), letters, letter-sounds, and books.
- Interest in understanding of symbolic representation of ideas.
4. Children will learn to begin to initiate, ask questions, and think for themselves.
- Combine information to arrive at new conclusions.
- Enjoy satisfaction of learning skills.
- Practice problem solving skills: observing details, making comparisons, classifying, placing things in sequence, understanding cause and effect, predicting outcomes.
- Making limited choices and experience decision making.
Each class has its own schedule, which takes into consideration the developmental needs of the children, times for specials and availability of special resource teachers and aides. These schedules provide a balance of activities from the following:
• indoor/outdoor
• quiet/active
• individual/small group/large group
• child initiated/adult initiated
• large muscle/small muscle
The unit/theme approach is utilized and each unit is developed to support the program objectives.
• to reinforce positive self-esteem
• to foster creative expression
• to strengthen cognitive skills
• to encourage active involvement in the joy of learning