OUR PHILOSOPHY

Pea Ridge United Methodist Preschool endeavors to establish a positive environment with acceptance and unconditional love.  Our hope is that each child will achieve as much as possible while in our care.  Success in school and success in life depend highly upon self-esteem which may be established very early in life.  Our program is designed to increase not only self-esteem, but also self-discipline and motivation.  Our goals for the 2009-2010 school year include the following:

1.     to promote academic skills which will ensure success in further schooling, as well as other situations that the child may encounter

2.     to assist the family in teaching the child social skills.  These skills include behaviors that are necessary for good interpersonal relationships such as sharing and cooperation, citizenship, and moral behavior

3.    to encourage the development of self-discipline in the child so that he/she may be able to guide their own behavior in the future

4.    to establish the beginnings of independence which the child will need in order to function adequately in the world

We don't "pre-cut" anything at PRUMP!  Preschoolers need lots of practice cutting in order to improve their fine motor skills.  Even our youngest learn to cut with scissors and use glue sparingly!

 HOW WE TEACH

Our teaching begins the moment your child arrives.  The first thing they will learn to do is to hang up their coat and backpack on their assigned hook.  Right away the children are learning to recognize their name and be responsible for their own belongings.

Each day begins with Small Group Time.  These lessons are designed to teach particular concepts as well as allow for creative expression.  Each project is individualized to meet the needs and capabilities of each particular child.  This means that although the project is the same, the tasks for each child will be somewhat different.

During Carpet Time, the teacher will engage the children in songs, stories, games, or other activities that involve the entire group.  This time requires an increased attention span and teaches the children how to maintain focus even when distractions occur.  They REALLY enjoy the singing!

Our students also enjoy recreation outside in our fenced in playground or our "BIG ROOM" depending on the weather.  This is a fun time for the children, but also a learning time as they exercise and work on developing their gross motor skills. 

We are also believers that children should learn a second language and to foster this we have incorporated sign language and Spanish into most of our daily routines.  Not only do our children learn to say "please and thank you" and "por favor and gracias", but they learn to sign them as well!