PRESCHOOL INFORMATION
Make-up days:
You can use 2
make up days per semester, whether it’s for traveling or sick days. Make up
days will only be on Mondays, unless I know someone will be out of town and you
can fill their spot on a Tuesday/Thursday.
Russell is my helper this year for
Tuesday/Thursday:
Mr. Russell
is here on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There will be times where someone other than
Mr. Russell will be helping at preschool and I’ll need a helper or sub. I trust that you’ll trust my judgement in
choosing people to help.
Pick up Time:
Pick up
time: 12:30-12:35
Late after
12:35, but get two freebies per semester.
12:35 – PBS show
goes on
After 12:45,
it’s a $5 late pick up.
Because I’m
going to 3 days of preschool in the Fall/winter, pick up time is earlier than
the summer. It’s 12:30-12:35. You can come as early as you want of
course. At 12:35, preschool is over and
everything is timed so the kids are bored with the centers by about 12:30. So at 12:35 I will put on a PBS show every
time so I can start cleaning up toys and putting things away. You are late after 12:35, but I will give you
2 freebies per semester up to 12:45. If
you are coming after 12:45 because you need to come later (appointments,
traffic, baby naps, etc.), then we’ll just count it as a “late pick-up” that will
be a $5 late pick up.
Pick Up Expectations:
Once you
walk in the door of my house, I’m counting on you to be responsible for your
sweet child’s needs and safety. So if
your child is playing outside and need help with anything (shoes, potty, etc),
you are responsible. Of course I will
try and help you gather their things, but if you want to chat with another mom
for a minute, I’ll consider their needs your responsibility now and I’ll focus
on other needs.
For example,
if your child is fighting with another child over a toy, get involved as you
normally would at a playdate. I’ll get
involved if my child is instigating a problem.
Another example is if you are here and your child is outside after
12:35, my eyes will not be watching them
but will be focusing on the kids whose parents are not there, or my own
kids. I haven’t had problems with this,
but I just want to be 100% clear about what I expect so there’s no gray area.
Late Pick-up Details:
·
Late
pick-up 12:45-1:15/1:30ish= $5
·
Late
pick-up 12:45-1:45/2ish = $10
Since I’m
cleaning up and wrapping up activities for quiet time, I will allow the kids to
unwind from preschool, have a snack and watch a show. I will not pull many toys out to entertain,
since I’ll be cleaning up, but they can play outside or enjoy PBS shows. The late-pick up is purely designed as a
convenience for you moms. You can
schedule the pick up the morning of by telling me, or even text me during
preschool.
Fall Routines and Schedules:
9:00-9:30
a.m. Drop off/Playtime
9:30-10:00
a.m. Singing time/Group Games
10:00-10:30
a.m. Creative play stations/Play Outside/Prep for activity
10:30-11:00
a.m.
- Tuesdays: Letters and Numbers Stations/Reading Centers
- Thursdays: Activity/Craft
- Mondays-alternate between activities and Letters and Numbers Station
11:00-11:30
a.m. Wash hands, potty breaks, eat lunch
11:30 a.m.-12:00
p.m. Story time, finish lunch, clean up
12:00 p.m.-12:30
p.m. Playtime and centers
12:30-12:35
p.m. Parents pick up
12:35 p.m. Preschool
is over, and time to unwind with PBS
Potty Breaks/Potty Training:
I have
researched some potty training policies at other preschools, and I'm going to
do a 3 week dry diaper/pull up policy. Basically
I'll help kids to a potty break before lunch, and take them if they ask to
go. During this time they need to wear a
diaper/pull up for three weeks. If they
are dry after 3 weeks, they are good to start wearing undies at preschool. But if they just can't hold it or don't tell
me in time and wet the diaper, no problem!
They can just stay in a diaper or pull up for preschool until they are dry
for 3 weeks. I believe potty training
takes months to master, and this will make it less upsetting and a better
transition for all of us.
Spring Calendar:
There will
be a spring break, but the timing will be a little odd. We will have some periods of time where I
might need to pay a helper to come run preschool if we’re out of town. This will include: family weddings, selling
our house, going to Singapore (Russell’s last research conference), buying a
house, and other unknowns. I will always
make sure Preschool is running as normal, and it will be wonderful people.
I will have
one week off in the spring for preschool (probably a week that we’re off in
Singapore). As I put the calendar together, I try to make sure that there is an
average of 8 preschool days per month including holidays (or 4 days per month
for Monday preschoolers.)
New Center for the Fall: Letters and
Numbers Stations/Reading Centers
I have some
different writing materials that the kids will use to get started on writing
their letters, numbers, and mini reading lessons. (Dry erase markers and boards,
chalk, doodle boards, markers, color wonder markers, crayons, play dough,
etc.) The kids will be split into small
groups that will be frequently adapted based on individual needs. I’ll have one group, and the other group will
do a reading center with Russell using read alouds.
I would like
to start teaching the kids how to read, and it’s not age appropriate for new 3
year olds, at least in large sections.
We’ll have to see how everyone works in a big group. If I put some of the 3 year olds in the “younger
group,” they would probably get more individualized instruction and more
attention. Through a year, we’d probably
only get through lesson 20 of the 100 lessons on how to read because I’ll do
very small chunks at a time.
What to bring:
Lunch with a
drink and change of clothes (and diapers if necessary, I provide wipes).
Weekly Emails:
Because we
are doing more centers in the fall, the nature of my weekly emails may not
always include a picture of what we’re doing.
I might send out a monthly schedule instead of weekly emails. Stay
tuned. Feedback is great!
Shoes:
Shoes are
actually are big part of preschool, as are jackets (and accessories.). I try to make the kids responsible for their
own shoes. They should know where their
shoes are and put them on by themselves if possible. It is wonderful if kids can put their shoes
on by themselves easily or just leave their shoes on the whole time. If the shoes are hard for you to put on your
child, then they will be hard for your child or for me. If it takes me 30 seconds to put a child’s
shoes on and off every time, that can be 5 minutes of dealing with one child’s
shoes at preschool if we go outside 2-3 times.
It really adds up! If your child
is prone to remove certain accessories, (headbands, socks, hats, etc.), I might
just stick them directly in their backpack.
They are cute though, and some kids will leave their hats the whole
time. But often things get lost! A child will take a hat, headband, or shoe
off and throw it to the corner of the room, only to be found 4 months later.
In the
winter, there is lots of necessary gear to keep the kiddos warm. I’m considering having my own basket of
gloves, hats, and scarves for everyone to use so I don’t have to keep track of
everyone’s gloves from home and not lose them.
Suggestions and ideas are
welcome!
Payments due first week of the month:
I always
send an email out to remind you.
Preschool Blog:
Since the
blog was a huge part of my advertising, I kept a very good record of what we
did all the time. But since this is my
husband’s last year, I don’t need advertising as much. I’m going to be updating
it monthly instead of weekly.
Dibb Sick days:
Sometimes my
kids will be sick. It’s the nature of a
home preschool. If my kids are sick with
something like a bad cough or cold, I’ll keep my kids separate. If I’m really
sick, I will contact a teaching assistant to help sub for me at my house while
I take my kids away to a park or somewhere else. Preschool will always be at my house.
If we have a
more serious illness that is super contagious and probably has traces of the
illness in my house, like Hand Foot Mouth, the flu, or something where my kids
have been throwing up, I will give parents the option to not bring their kids
(or completely cancel). Then we will
reschedule.
Supplies:
I will only
rarely ask for you to bring or contribute supplies. In fact, I will never ask unless I absolutely
have to. You pay a supplies fee with
your initial deposit, and then in the winter I’ll ask for one more supplies fee
(which is $15 for the single day students, and $30 for the 2 day students).
Clothes to wear:
Preschool is
probably not the best place to put your kids in their nicest clothes. The paint doesn’t always come out of clothes,
and I use food dye occasionally. We also
sometimes do activities that involve water and getting wet, although I usually
will warn you about those activities.
Snacks:
I
occasionally have food play as part of the activity (crackers, Jello,
marshmallows, peanut butter). I need to
know if you have problems with crackers, home baked cookies, etc. Also, you are supposed to list allergies in
the application, so please double check with me! I only know of one milk allergy, which isn’t
dangerous at all. Please remind me.
Visitors in Town:
Occasionally
I will have visitors in town who will be around my house during preschool, but
they don’t have to be here if you’re uncomfortable with it. My parents will visit us in the spring or
summer this year. My sister will also
come stay with me sometime next year, and she’ll help with the preschool.
Other Concerns and Questions:
Overall,
please email me or talk to me anytime about concerns you have.
