
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.
– Helen Keller
You are almost ready for elementary school — this new and exciting stage in life is about to begin, and you are well prepared for it!
You enjoy all the opportunities to play, explore, and create that La Petite Colline provides you. You enjoy the daily activities in your classroom, the garden, and outside at the neighborhood parks. You are ready for the challenges of elementary school. The social and literacy skills you have gained at La Petite Colline provide you with a solid foundation. You are confident in your abilities and true to yourself.
You appreciate the small group size, because it gives you the opportunity to improve your reading, writing and counting skills. You get one-on-one time with your teacher to work on the important pre-academic skills you will need for the transition to Kindergarten. You love exploring rhythm and music by playing on our electronic drum machine and creating beats with your friends. Every day you spend time in the garden or in one of the four nearby playgrounds. You learn about new fruits and vegetables, and measurement concepts during cooking projects with your friends and teachers.
We encourage you to try new things and to be okay with making mistakes. Only the courageous are brave enough to be wrong. Making mistakes is part of growing up!
Your classroom is a beautiful, state-of-the-art space with opened-ended materials, set up to help you become effective in expressing your imagination creatively and learn through collaboration. You are learning more and more new words and ways of expressing yourself, and can point out letter sounds and rhyming words, and maybe even write your own name and the names of your friends.
A typical day at La Petite Colline for ages 1-2:
8:15-8:50 Arrival and Free Choice Play/Diaper Changing and Bathroom: Children will be arriving, transitioning into the classroom and are able to explore the various areas of the classroom.
8:50-9:00 Welcome Dance
9:00-9:20 Morning Meeting: Children will come together to talk about the day’s events and participate in songs, fingerplays or a read aloud.
9:20-9:35 Yoga/Body Awareness
10:00-10:45 Garden/Park/Playground & Morning Snack
11:00-11:30 Lunch
12:00-2:45 Brush Teeth and prepare for Nap/Rest
3:00-4:00 Workshop/Cooperative Learning Groups: Teachers will work with the children in two different groups on art projects, science & numbers.
Garden/ Outdoor class: A time for the class to gather together and play games, sing, dance, read stories but also introducing numbers & letters
4:00-4:30 PM Snack
4:30-5:30 Learning Centers: Children will explore the various areas of the classroom and teachers will work with children individually or in groups.
5:00-5:30 Freeplay/Dismissal
5:30-6:00 Pick-up
A Typical Day at La Petite Colline for ages 2-5
8:15- 8:50 Drop-off/Free-play: children will have the opportunity to work on quiet activities at different stations throughout the classroom. Breakfast till 8:30
8:50-9:00 Welcome Dance
9:00-9:15 Yoga/Body Awareness: Group Physical Activity
9:15-9:30 Circle Time: this is a time for children to develop a sense of belonging to a group. Social Skills are enhanced. Children learn to take part in group conversations, share ideas, and listen to the ideas of others. Morning meeting will contain literacy experiences as well as math or science, depending on the day and the topic of discussion.
9:30-10:00 Workshop: The teacher will also be working on projects with small groups of children or individuals, guiding the exploration. Depending on the weather, part of morning work time may also be held outdoors. (journaling, drawing, painting or another expression artform).
10:00-10:15 AM Snack: Indoor or Outdoor, depending on the weather
10:15-11:30 Outdoor Time/Active Play: we will spend time in one of the local parks or playgrounds. In cases of inclement weather, we will have active indoor play.
11:30-12:00 Lunch
12:00-2:45 Brush Teeth and prepare for Nap/Rest: children who wake up early/are not napping will participate in quiet activities during this time
3:00-4:00 Garden/Outdoor Workshop
4:00-4:30 PM Snack
4:30-5:00 Project work– children will be working in small groups on projects in their classroom as well as in other classrooms
5:00-5:30 Freeplay/Clean Up/Dismissal
5:30-6:00 Pick-up