Our PreSchool Blog

There is always a line at the face painting booth during our Back to School Carnival

After filing away the pictures from the Creative Tots back to school carnival this summer, I came across a few I had to post.  It was such a wonderful event this year with nearly all the families participating.  The kids had such a great time.  It is always fun to see the families interact, some for the first time and others see their friends and neighbors there only to realize that they both have students at the school.  We learn something each year with the carnival.  This year it was that you can never have enough popcorn and face painting is apparently the first order of business for all the kids upon arrival.

It came quickly and the kids were bubbling with excitement on day one.  As with each year, the photo opportunities extended throughout the day as first-time preschoolers arrived with the customary barrage of flash photography.

The first time I saw a light table was at a Reggio Emilia inspiried preschool in New York City.  Every classroom had one and I began to wonder what they were all about.  After researching the various ways these could benefit preschool age children in their learning process, we decided to get one for our own classroom.

Today as I walked by our light table I overheard a child saying, “Let’s count the squares!  While the other child responded, “I’ll count the diamonds then we can count them together!”  They were referring to various translucent geometric shapes that had been placed on the light table for the children to manipulate.  We have been talking about classifying and sorting objects by different attributes (color, shape, size, number of sides, etc.)  What I was witnessing was the children taking what they had learned in small groups and applying it to their other classroom experiences.  Great work kids!

Our light table allows children to experience everyday objects in a whole new way.  In the coming months we will be using the  light table for a multitude of activities as well as free choice play with ever changing manipulatives.  Here are some of the activities that may take place at our light table this year:  building our names and sight words with special translucent letter tiles, exploring and creating colors with color paddles, using various stencils, using the light table to trace our letters and names, manipulating shapes to become more aware of spacial relationships through the use of translucent geometric pieces while discovering the basics of geometry,  viewing x-rays of various types of animals and shells, and finger painting on parchment paper (just to name a few).  These should be great experiences for your children and ones that they will not soon forget.

Creative Tots is ready for another year.  We are excited to build on the phenomenal school year we had last year and have quite a number of things in store that the kids are going to love.

First a small order of business for those of you who are new to the Creative Tots Toddler Program Only . . . the first week of school is considered a transitional week for just our toddler students.  What this means is that they will only be in school for 1 ½ hours for the week of September 8-11th instead of the regular full 2 ½ hours.  If your child is enrolled in the am toddler session it will run from 9:00 to 10:30. The pm session on Tuesday and Thursday will run from 12:00-1:30.  Regular hours 9-11:30/12:00-2:30 will begin the following week.

Thank you so much.  We look forward to an amazing year!

Creative Tots

A tremendous advantage to programs as specific as those that we strive to provide at Creative Tots is the ability to select a unique subgroup of students from our kids that seem to find themselves in the limbo of that birthday range which could go either direction.  Over the years the early 3’s program has grown out of our teachers concern for those students which by birthday criteria may find themselves on the precipice of transitioning to preschool, but not fulfilling the age requirement.

The Early 3's program sees tremendous success

This is not the only time parents will face such a decision, as these very children will soon be on the steps of their Kindergarten classes with the same birthday and the same situation.  It is our theory that many of these children should be advanced, or some encouraged to be further attended to if necessary as early as possible.  Intervention at this age makes the Kindergarten decision a much easier choice and allows kids to have a much more fulfilling time while finding themselves between toddler and preschool.  
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The Preschool is set and waiting for the arrival of our first students of the year.

The year is upon us and we can’t wait.  The rooms are set and the schedule is full.  The preschool will be in full swing Tuesday, September 8th.  We have already had a number of students drop by to try and get a sneak peak of their classroom this year.  You will be amazed at what we have planned.

Remember that the first week is transitional week for the toddler program.  What this means is that they will only be in school for 1 ½ hours for the week of September 8-11th instead of the regular full 2 ½ hours.  If your child is enrolled in the am toddler session it will run from 9:00 to 10:30. The pm session on Tuesday and Thursday will run from 12:00-1:30.

Summer fun with our "Water Wednesdays"

Regular hours 9-11:30/12:00-2:30 will begin the following week.  The room is coming together nicely as the teachers have been there morning until night preparing for the arrival of our toddler class.  The summer was full and exciting and allowed for some great activities with the kids at Tots.  This year will be nothing short of fantastic.

This summer at Tots

The summer has passed and this year our pre-K program once again is near capacity.  Our graduates have begun school and are already getting rave reviews.  Kindergarten is a big step and the confidence with which our students leave the pre-K program is unmatched.  Academics are taught through an incredible array of avenues and this year will be no exception.  The popularity of our programs has reached an unprecidented peak this year and the varied experiences planned for our pre-K students is exciting.  Many of our kids were here this summer and are excited to start the new year.

Once again, Congratulations to all the new graduates.  We were excited to see some of our long time students move ahead to Kindergaten this year.  The ceremony was particularly fun as the kids were able to help create a video montage of photos from the year to show their parents.  In addition to the photos, Mrs. Manda had the children decide during the year what they thought they might pursue as a career.  It will be fun to see how their minds may change as they progress through school.  Each child was given a box of business cards with their photo and what they decided they wanted to do in the future.  The children found it particularly fun to trade the cards with one another on graduation day.  The reports from the Kindergarten teachers around the city are as always, wonderful reflections of what the Tots students have proven to demonstrate in their respective schools as the move forward.  Well Done!

We have been working diligently all summer to advance our curriculum this year.  With the teachers now returning from their continuing education conferences and various workshops across the country this summer, they are bursting with ideas.  As always, our focus on creating the ideal learning environment by inspiring by good functional color and design has us implementing yet another vision of what we think children should be surrounded by in order to instill creativity in academics.  This means a facelift to many of our regular areas.  In fact, we have had many of our returning students drop by to take a look around this summer.  At Tots, we are always happy to see our students take an interest in the process of learning.  Even if it means just grabbing a paint brush and helping out with some of the remodeling.  Its amazing how quickly skills develop in the kids that are given an opportunity.