St. Paul's Episcopal Nursery School

Children’s development proceeds forward with new skills and knowledge building upon previously learned skills, tasks, and developmental milestones. It is, therefore, important that the teacher’s plans facilitate an appropriate level of challenge for each group.

Each of the classes has the opportunity to use the Big Room daily for gross motor activities such as climbing, tumbling, bike riding, and building with large blocks. When the weather permits, the children play outside on the fenced playground where they enjoy the freedom to play in large sands pits, in the water source during warm weather, and on the playground apparatus. There is a house for socio-dramatic play, a large outdoor easel for art, a swooping xylophone for music, and tables for snacks and other activities. The teacher may choose to take nature walks through Bird Park where the children can observe animals, birds, flowers, trees, and leaves. Some outdoor experiences may build upon the indoor activities and subject areas of study.

Please check the teacher’s bulletin board outside of your child’s classroom for the schedule of activities that occur in your child’s typical day at school.

The Big Room

The Parent/Toddler program is for children who are between the ages of 18 months and 2½. This class meets one day a week, and the children are accompanied by an adult. Toddlers participating in this program will have the opportunity to explore many away from home adventures in a peer group setting.

Under the guidance of the teacher, the program uses play as a mechanism for social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development. Toddlers will be offered a wide variety of age appropriate toys, puzzles, manipulatives, art materials, water, and sand for sensory exploration within the classroom. The children also will have the opportunity to form relationships with other children, as well as learning to be part of a group. They will begin to learn to share, follow simple instructions, and trust the teacher and other adults. Adults attending the class enjoy an atmosphere of nurturing support with the teacher and other parents and caregivers. Adults often share and exchange experiences, ideas, child-rearing practices, and family development. Children will play in the Big Room or outside when weather permits. A nutritious snack is offered during each session, and the children are given the opportunity to explore music with the music teacher.

The 2½-year old program is a school "adjustment" year where children are introduced to school as a fun, nurturing, and stress free experience. Much of the class emphasis is on sharing, cooperating, developing social skills, and becoming a part of the group. The children primarily learn through play and hands-on exploration of their environment and the materials available in the classroom and throughout the school.

The curriculum is flexible enough to respond to the variety of learning styles used by 2½-year olds and encourages growth of autonomy, trust, and problem solving through hands-on play and socialization. Language development is encouraged by offering frequent opportunities to hear rich and varied vocabulary through games, stories, and conversations with teachers and peers. The children may choose to explore various art media by participating in process oriented, open ended art activities. They will be served a nutritious snack, play in the Big Room or outdoors, and explore music with the music teacher and creative movement with a dance specialist.

Three-year olds continue their social, emotional, physical, and intellectual development through our hands-on play based curriculum. Children of this age are mastering a comfortable level of separation during their time spent away from home. The 3-year olds are continuing to grow socially as they become more actively involved in cooperative and socio-dramatic play with peers, as well as learning appropriate strategies for entering and continuing play within the group. The children are given the opportunity to learn many ways to problem solve and make appropriate choices by working and playing together in small groups.

Language, vocabulary, and literacy are developing at a rapid rate during this time of life. These skills are fostered through a rich variety of experiences including puppetry and flannel boards that are used to enhance stories and to encourage creativity and critical thinking skills. Vocabulary is increased through conversations and small group discussions. Math and science are introduced through naturalistic hands-on exploration that includes cooking, sorting, and classifying materials in the course of many daily activities.

Three-year olds will have the opportunity to explore many types of art media and may choose to create two- and three-dimensional open-ended art projects. Three-year olds participate in the music program, play in the Big Room or outdoors, and enjoy a nutritious snack.

The focus of the 4- and 5-year old program is on the development of self-initiative through encouragement of critical thinking skills, the development of appropriate independence, and the exploration of topics and expanding knowledge about subjects and themes that are of interest to the children. Children continue to participate and learn through more complex and creative socio-dramatic play.

Language and literacy skills are developed through the use of books, participation in classroom discussions, and exposure to written words as they connect to real life experiences throughout the day, such as dictation of stories, use of a job chart, labeling of items within the classroom, and writing simple messages. Pre-reading skills will be encouraged as children are exposed to consonant sounds and literacy games, songs, and many forms of poetry and literature that emphasize phonemic awareness. Ample opportunity will be provided for children to write out letters and words during their play and in the context of working on themes and projects.

The math and science curriculum continues to expand as children explore, manipulate, and organize concrete objects. Children will have the opportunity to measure, compare, balance, and classify while building with unit blocks and other manipulatives.

During science, children learn to make predictions and test their ideas. Children's knowledge of their environment will be expanded as they explore outside on our playground and in Bird Park.

The four- and five-year olds will have the opportunity to spend time in small groups with our resource teacher in the resource room and to participate in an expanded art program with our studio arts teacher. More complex musical songs, games, and finger plays will be learned with our music teacher. The children either will play outside or in the Big Room, and a nutritious snack will be served daily.