LittleLeaf School llc.

*** This class is full for 2010-2011 School Year ***

updated July 19th, 2010

Bushel of Berries PreSchool Class
designed for a small group of
3, 4 and 5 year old children

Wednesday and Thursday

9am - 2:15pm

NYS OCFS Licensed GFDC #00309398

Through the warm home-like atmosphere:

children learn to prepare healthy organic snacks & household tasks become alive and fun.

Creative art projects are the foundations for learning.

Discipline is created by gently guiding the child through developmentally appropriate social skills,

there will be no punitive punishments or time-outs.

Nature, reverence for the earth, and time outdoors exploring are a large part of the daily rhythm.

All activities are hands-on and done with an experienced energetic teacher.

There will be NO television or computer time.

Every moment is an opportunity for growth and nurturing.

Inspired by the Waldorf  Curriculum

 Viewing human beings as consisting of 3 spheres of activity; the head, the heart, and the hands that manifest through thoughts, feelings, and physical actions. To educate children to be complete and balanced human beings, we must attend to the needs of all 3 aspects of a child's being.

Attaining knowledge is one purpose of the learning process, but just as important is to educate the heart and the will of the child, so that knowledge is joined with reverence and action. This is accomplished through seasonal observation, festivals, and fairy tales that reveal a graceful pattern, through music, art, and dance that open the heart to the beauty of creations, social interactions, and through the reverence that the teacher brings to the learning process itself.

We offer daily, weekly, and monthly rhythm. Repetition is intregal to a young child and each days' rhythm is kept through the year with subtle changes to accomodate the weekly rhythm, and monthly changes.

Daily Rhythm includes Play, Circle, Snack Preparation, Tea Time (orSnack), Quiet, Lunch, Out Doors* (at least 2x's), Main Lesson Activities, and The Arts: Sculpture, Painting, Handwork, Building, Gardening, etc. 

Weekly Rhythm consists of the speciality Crafts, Arts, and Earth based activities that happen on certain days of the week. As well as, the certain snacks for that day of the week that we all prepare and eat at Tea Time (or Snack Time) each day.

Monthly Rhythm celebrates the seasonal changes and festivals that are celebrated in each month. For example; birthdays are very special, Lantern Walk in Novemeber, Winter Spiral in December and so on.  

Repetition, song, movement and 'home' activities; like baking, cooking, and cleaning tasks. Helping with daily work is the best curriculum one can offer. Neurophysiological researchers have confirmed what wise parents & teachers have always known, the first seven years provide a foundation for all of life.

Play Time: Ah, the wonder of play. Play is the work of childhood. When children play they are experiencing their world with their entire being. At playtime, the children are offered handmade dolls, natural items, wool, fabrics, yarn, and plant material. When a child's imagination can transform a few simple props into a fairyland, a pirate ship, a store, or a play house, you see real play in action. With these natural toys, the children have all they need to have a truly rich experience of real play. We spend a large portion of our day outside.* We hike, build, play, and tend to our garden. We discover nature, name plants, trees, and animals. Each day lends itself to new activities like; sculpture, painting, construction (using real tools), handwork (knitting, sewing).

   

*As we try to be out of doors often each day, weather does play a large part. If it is too cold or there is a storm or it is  too hot; we would stay safely indoors or in shaded areas. Safety is our first priority!

After the children have arrived, played, prepared snack, and cleaned up.We then have our seasonal learning circle. The circle unfolds throughout each week with what the season has to offer. If it snows, we slowly add verse, song, games, and movement that have to do with snow, winter, the north wind and so on. Circle is an adventure and its subtle changes do not disturb the repetitive flow that the children come to recognize daily.

 Early childhood is a period to be nourished and protected. Therefore, the pre-school curriculum emphasizes activities that build a strong foundation for future intellectual work, strengthening capacities that will unfold in the elementary years. There are plenty of opportunities in circle for the children to delight in simple movement games, nursery rhymes, songs based on the seasonal changes, verses, poems, and finger plays. These are learned through mimetic language and then held by rote (or by heart) within the child. Can you remember poems or songs from pre-school?   

Finally, stories appeal to the child’s imagination and to their soul nature and act as a mirror. Fairytales provide archetypal images of human polarities - generosity and greed, kindness and cruelty, beauty and ugliness, etc. In all of these stories good triumphs over evil in the end, giving the child a deeply ingrained experience of morality without moralizing.

We will gallop on our (pretend) horses, following tracks through the woods to discover 'where things came from.' We will journey through the creation of natural entities like; plants, trees, flowers, and animals. We will delight in the wonder of fairy lands, elven villages, troll caves, and underling hide-aways. The sparkle of the imagination is bright.

The journey towards becoming a social being is a long one, requiring a lifetime. We help the child take their early steps in pre-school and hopefully impart some of the tools and skills they will need along the journey.

In the Early Childhood Years, especially, children look up to adults for guidance and modeling. The role of the Preschool Teacher is to model the proper and polite way of being: the quiet tone, the reverence for tasks, the delight in accomplishment, and respect for all things and living beings. 

Making Requests

“May I play?" "May I have that doll?" "Will you share those blocks?” Many children will take toys away from other children without asking. Often if a child wants to join play already underway, he will disrupt (break a tower of blocks or a cubby) because he has not yet learned how to ask to join, and the disruption is a way of getting attention. The preschool teacher takes the disruptive child, or shy child who stands off to the side and watches, and models how he can enter the play appropriately.

Helpfulness

Preschool teachers encourage helpful behavior towards other children and adults. Older children might be asked to help a younger child build a cubby or put on a puppet show, help with finger knitting, locate a particular toy, etc. It is interesting to observe how time and again children will play with particular toys during free play, but tidy up someone else’s toys. Tidy-up is something all the children do together for everyone’s benefit. In pre-school each day, one or two children set the table, serve the snack or set up the story circle for everyone. These are deeds which serve the whole group, rather than being self-serving. 

Patience

The young child lives in the moment. “Now” is all that matters - not the past or the future. If she is hungry she wants to eat now, if she is interested in something she must do it now. However, there are also other children in the group and therefore, she must learn to wait her turn. If someone else is speaking, she must wait before she can speak. She must wait to be served for morning tea or snack.

Negotiation and Compromise

Social skills go hand-in-hand with language development. The child (or adult) who is unable to express his thoughts and feelings in words often resorts to aggression when he feels frustrated, threatened, frightened, insecure, and uncertain. Some young children may hit, kick, bite, scratch. Others may withdraw, rather than becoming aggressive. The ability to say what he wants or doesn’t want, to negotiate and compromise (give and take) underlies the beginning of the socialization process. On the other hand, the child must be able to listen and understand the wishes and needs of others. The preschool teacher is a role model for the children.

LittleLeaf LLC does not discriminate against applicants on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, or sexual orientation.