The Community Preschool at SOU
8:30 – Welcome! (with a little bit of snack)
Teachers welcome children into the classroom! Parents are invited inside to help transition their little one into the day. We ask each child to put their “symbol” into the box as an attendance marker. Children will then be asked to wash their hands. We like to keep things as clean as possible!
We play inside, learning through open-ended play for an hour or two. The children are invited to participate in small developmentally appropriate activities chosen by the teachers. These activities are not required, but rather set out for the children to decide on their own if they want to engage.
“Preschool essentials” are always available for continued learning. Some examples of these essentials are play-dough, sensory bin, painting, dramatic play, and blocks. Our mark making area is stocked with paper, scissors, writing utensils, tape, and more for the children who want to explore paper creations and writing.
Our gathering area is full of books for anyone to take a look. A teacher is almost always reading to a small group, book after book.
During this open ended play, children make the decision for themselves when they have their snack. When their body is asking for food, children will wash their hands and grab their snack. Finding a place to sit and eat (usually with a friend or two), snack time happens any time here!
10:30 – Gathering
After a hefty clean up, the whole group will transition to Gathering once a teacher rings our Gathering bell! Gathering is our opportunity to create connections as a group and deepen our understanding of each other. It usually consists of reading a story, passing a bowl filled with water while welcoming each child, wishing well to those who could not attend, and occasionally, a group activity.
Passing the bowl is our daily tradition to welcome all those that attended that day. We create a circle around the carpet, pass the small bowl of water around to each child, and encourage the children to say to each other, “good morning. I’m glad you’re here.” This gives the children the opportunity to make a connection with a classmate and build our community. We water a plant in our room with the bowl, and then proceed with the rest of our gathering.
After passing the bowl, we read a story as a group. The stories help ground abstract concepts for our children. These books are about nature, friendships, consent, play, animals, families, and much more. After, we occasionally conduct a group activity. This activity usually surrounds curriculum we have noticed the children seeking. This includes art, fine motor development, physics, science, cooking, acting, and more!
This gathering time helps us slow down and focus on sharing ideas, problem solving, singing, dancing, enjoying stories, and spending time together as a community.
11:15 –Outside Play
When the group is ready, teachers will facilitate readying for outdoor play. In the warmer months, this consists of sunscreen application and grabbing your water bottle. In the colder months, this looks like putting on more layers and changing into appropriate foot wear.
Children are invited to come outside where we play in our beautiful, spacious outdoor area. Curriculum surrounding weather, planting and weeding in our garden, environmental exploration, and physical activities to develop motor skills are utilized.
We are very fortunate to have many things for the children to play with. Some are donated from the families, others are offered to us by nature. Our Tonka dump trucks are a favorite for most of the children. They are used to haul dirt, sand, nature loose parts, or even to ride down a hill! Accompanied by a shovel, these trucks are an integral part of our play.
We have many beautiful areas for the children to explore. A large sandbox, a water table, swings, and a play structure. A large tunnel and two play houses. Shovels, buckets, hula hoops, horses, rakes, and bikes all come out to play!
12:30 – Lunch
When we are ready and cleaned up outside, the child of the day rings our bell and we run inside to have our lunch. Washing hands is a must after our time outside!
With spots for everyone, we eat together. Unlike snack, all the children sit down with their lunch and eat together. Conversation, songs, games, and eating all ensue as we come to end with our day.
1:30 – Loved Ones Arrive
When a teacher sees a loved one, they will call the child’s name. The child will gather the rest of their belongings, then be handed over to a trusted loved one. If someone other than their main guardian is picking up a child, they will be asked to show their identification to a teacher. We must have written permission from a guardian to hand over a child to someone new; an email or a slip of paper works fine.
Our activities, both indoor and outdoor, consist of the following:
- Open-Ended Art: painting, drawing, cutting, gluing, molding with various clays and natural elements. This is a huge developmental opportunity. Nurtures creative nature, builds movement abilities, sense of accomplishment and beliefs in one’s abilities grows, builds cognitive function. Their creations can be found in their art folders to go home at any time.
- Mark Making: writing tools, paper, staples, scissors, tape. They are encouraged to use their creativity to build the foundations for writing.
- Sensory Exploration: water, ice, and other sensory materials. Mixing, pouring, squeezing, touching.
- Dramatic Play: pretending, house play, costumes, props. This elevates children’s social experiences, language, creative thinking, acceptance, and problem solving.
- Loose Parts: these are everyday materials that offer children opportunities to create, build, construct, experiment and invent.
- Block Building and other construction: all sorts of blocks, lego, trains, tape measures, levels. This build awareness how space can be used and how ideas take on physical form, as well as creates a sense of accomplishment.
- Gardening and Tools: shovels, rakes, wheelbarrows, weeding, planting, watering. This builds a sense of creation within a child and having a part in something bigger.
- Mud Kitcken: mud, water, sand, bowls, mixing, splashing. A form of art and creation that builds awareness of natural elements and one’s own abilities.
- Music/Movement: clapping, tapping, spinning, foot banging, balance, and building muscles. This strengthens the relationship between our arms, legs, and other body parts in coordination to the whole body. Additionally, helps us connect to other cultures. The best time for diversity conversations!
- Story in all its facets: oral story telling, telling your own story, singing stories, shadow stories, picture books, cultural readings.
- Outdoor: sandbox, tonka trucks, sholvels, bikes, hula hoops, outdoor kitchens, swings, playground. The most primary of needs for young children. Builds resilience, trust within ourselves, deciding and learning what is unsafe, awareness of the world around us, and much more.
All of these activities are accomplished through play and supported by teachers.
Contact the Preschool
1250 Siskiyou Boulevard
Education/Psychology Bldg.
Ashland, OR 97520
Email: preschool@sou.edu
Phone:(541) 552-6922