Newport Coast Child Development Preschool focuses on the whole child…socially, cognitively, emotionally and physically. Each child is born with potential. We know that the Preschool years are the most critical time in a child’s development. During this time children, based on their environment and experiences, will learn trust, self expression and self worth. We, therefore, as an extension of the family, provide them with a warm, caring, safe and secure environment in which to explore and discover those things around them and within themselves. In this environment , we offer the opportunities for children to make choices that will enhance their naturally emerging skills. We encourage independent thinking, curiosity, exploration and discovery through developmentally appropriate curriculum, materials, and methods. It is through movement and discovery, rather than a mobile state, that children grasp and learn about the world around them.

Newport Coast Child Development Preschool is unique because we expose children to the academic world in a nurturing , safe and secure environment that is catered to each individual child. In our classrooms the children get a balance of a structured learning environment as well as time to learn through their own self-initiated discovery. Children are surrounded by things around them from which to learn. Our belief is that children don’t need to be forced to learn. They want to learn and they will. We provide those opportunities for them and then they enhance them with their imagination, innocence, and eagerness to learn and explore the world around them.

The first hour to hour and a half the children get to rotate through different table top Learning Centers in the classroom. The Centers are designed to stimulate children’s emerging skills through exposing them to all the important learning areas. Each Learning Center has 4 to 5 children at it with a teacher at the centers that require assistance. The materials and activities at the centers are presented in a fun, non threatening manner. The activities at the Centers usually coincide with the theme that week to reinforce concepts in a variety of ways which is essential for children’s under- standing and interpretation of the world around them.

The rotating table top Learning Centers always include at least four of the following:

Cognitive Center

Through fun games, puzzles, songs and manipulatives children are stimulated to think, observe, reason, investigate, experiment, question and be creative.

Math Center

At this center children have exposure to numbers, sorting, classifying, sequencing, estimation and seriation. They play counting games such as “Chutes and Ladders,” card games, number bingo, simple addition games and subtraction games, etc.

Language Arts Center

Activities at this center include identifying letters of the alphabet, beginning letter sounds, rhyming words, phonics, discussions on new vocabulary words and terms (such as above/below, in front of/behind, before/after, shorter/longer, older/younger), memory recall and recall of a story line etc.

Writing Center/Fine Motor Center

Children gain familiarity and practice in using paper, pencils, pens, scissors, stencils, staplers, tape, stamps, mini chalk boards and dry erase boards. A proper pincer grasp is learned while writing and coloring at this center as well as controlled writing movements. With exposure to these different “tools” children strengthen the small motor development of their wrists, hands and fingers.

Sensory Center

Water, mud, shaving cream, cornstarch, rice, flour, clay, playdough, flubber and goop (just to name a few) provide children with rewarding experiences in exercising muscles that control their fingers, hands and arms. Sensory activities give children the opportunity to talk about “how it feels, smells,” etc. Often times when children manipulate sensory materials, they also inadvertently release emotional tensions.

Art Center

Through various medians children are given the opportunity to design and create. Paint, glue, water color, chalk, markers, crayons, colored pencils, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, feathers, sequins, and colored sand are only the beginning of the creative resources children love to use.

Each class has two group times, usually in the beginning of class and again at the end. The group times include songs about the calendar (days of the week, months of the year, weather and seasons), the alphabet, and the number train. Story-telling, puppets, flannel board stories, musical instruments, parent readers and opportunities for children to “share” and open discussions are a few of the many components of group time.

After group time and the Learning Centers, children are able to enjoy a “free play” throughout the classroom where they are can play in the dramatic center, read in the library, play with blocks, puzzles or games and choose what they want to do.

Once the classroom is cleaned up the children are reminded to use the bathroom (if they need to) and to wash their hands before snack. Each child has an opportunity to bring snack for all his/her friends in class.

After snack all of the classrooms get an opportunity to go outside for almost one hour. Our school has an impressively large playground that is divided into three sections. We have two large play structures, a large grassy area, two playhouses, two large sand play areas, a bike path, six easels, a large art table and two large sensory bins. The activities outside are constantly changing with an abundance of opportunities for children to enhance their gross motor skills by climbing, running, jumping, balancing, riding bikes and catching, throwing and kicking balls. Our playground has two huge canopies for shade as well as umbrellas at all the picnic tables. Outside our child to teacher ratio is 8:1.

The way a child learns in the very early years of their life will greatly affect the outcome of their education. Excitement and enthusiasm for learning depend on getting the right start. Because we are concerned with each individual child’s future success, Newport Coast Preschool provides an environment that stimulates creativity, critical thinking and social skills.