Classrooms
The Village Children's Center enrolls children ages 2 to 5 years old. We have two classrooms which are separated into age groups 2-3 and 3-5. There is a teacher and assistant in each classroom as well as a floater. Classrooms set up with centers for play:
Little Hands
Our Little Hands classroom enrolls children ages 2 to 3.
In this classroom your child will be interacting in large groups and small groups. There will be meeting time for storytelling, singing, learning concepts. Most of the day your child will be engaged in free play in carefully designed centers throughout the room with some opportunities for guided play with teachers. We have a wonderful outdoor play area for our Little Hands, and they will have several opportunities throughout the day to explore outside.
If you drop by the room you may find your child deep in a dramatic restaurant play scenario, concentrating on building the perfect block castle, or creating a beaded necklace. This is your child hard at work developing representation skills through pretend play, cause and effect understanding through construction, and fine motor precision through artistic creation.
A morning snack and a late afternoon snack are provided and lunch is brought from home.
The lead teacher and assistant will be supporting your child through social skills development, language acquisition, and math awareness. While they work hard setting up an exciting and safe environment for your child, the teachers also will be observing and documenting milestones as your child develops throughout the year.
Big Hearts
Our Big Hearts classroom enrolls children age 3 to 5.
We strongly believe that play is still the best model for teaching young children through age 5. Our Big Hearts will have opportunities for free play with a bit more guided play mixed in throughout the day. Centers will be intentionally designed for your child to practice and develop kindergarten readiness skills, while still delighting in the natural curiosity and creativity of childhood.
You may see your child cutting up magazines to create a collage of his favorite foods, or using paper towel tubes as binoculars on his safari, or explaining the rules of the dragons and knights games to his friends. The play in this age group becomes a bit more complex. This is your child using those developed fine motor skills to practice a new skill, expanding his dramatic play representational skills, and testing social skills in creating a game with rules with friends.
The teacher and assistant in this classroom will be observing and documenting milestones as your child develops throughout the year with focused attention on specific kindergarten readiness skills. They will design more guided play opportunities in small groups that engage your child's interests, and they will lead group meetings to learn concepts through songs, books, and dances.
