St Joseph's Preschool

St. Josephs Preschool is committed to excellence in early childhood education and to providing a loving and faith-based program to help your child grow and develop at his or her unique pace. As a Catholic preschool, we provide a child-focused celebration of faith integrated throughout the day. We encourage both spontaneous and structured activity. We believe play is the work of young children; therefore, our classrooms will be environments that encourage safe and creative play on many different levels.

Our integrated thematic approach utilizes literacy to develop a broad curriculum built around themes that are both relevant and interesting to the preschool child. The childs learning and development will grow out of the engaging thematic opportunities that are designed by the teacher to specifically support developmental goals for the child.

St. Josephs Preschool is committed to developing a partnership with parents to foster the unique and God-given gifts
within each child.

PROGRAM GOALS AND EDUCATIONAL METHODS

Our creative and nurturing environment encourages each individual child to:

• build confidence and pride;
• interact socially and learn cooperatively;
• develop learning skills to support language and cognitive growth; and
• grow in faith and understanding of Gods world around us!

We do this through a developmentally appropriate program that balances structured opportunities and child-initiated activities and choices. Your child will be exposed to thematic unites that stimulate curiosity while providing ample opportunity to develop social and early academic skills. The preschool day will consist of literacy based activities such as books, poetry and music, expressive arts, hands-on math and science exploration, dramatic play, plus fine and large motor skill development indoors and outside. A program plan is available for review upon request.

We provide a Catholic learning environment in which we integrate our faith throughout the day with prayers, music, lessons and celebrations. All children, regardless of their religious affiliation, are welcomed as students at our preschool. Character development is a key focus.

Most importantly, we seek to make preschool a delight, so that a love of learning is fostered in each child!

TYPICAL DAY IN PRESCHOOL

The typical preschool day revolves around our philosophy that play is the childs work! We provide a stable and comfortable environment where students follow routines each day. However, an important aspect of daily planning is a commitment to flexibility and spontaneity in order to respond to the needs and opportunities within the group!

• In general, a typical day includes all the following components:

• Gathering Activities. These activities are planned by the teachers to provide creative opportunities to explore the materials of our classrooms, such as play dough, tabletop construction, manipulatives, art materials, puzzles and folder games. Often this is also the time for small group introduction to a learning skill such as Letter of the Week.
• Circle Time. This important part of the day features greetings, prayer, story-time, theme exploration, learning concepts, songs and finger plays.
• Centers. The teacher organizes several choices to maximize the childs exposure to thematic exploration, dramatic play, science topics, social interaction and teacher-directed, projects small groups projects.
• Large Muscle Activity. Whether indoors or outside on our dedicated preschool playground, the children have the opportunity for active and social play.
• Sharing Circle. This is a second circle time that focuses on the faith lesson and community sharing, such as Show and Tell and birthday readers. The Sharing Circle also provides time for a general wrap-up of the day.
• Snack Time. Parents rotate the responsibility of bringing a snack and beverage to share with the class. This is an important time, not only for a snack, but also to work on manners and good social skills.

Child Ages:

3 years - 5 years

Licenses & Accreditations:

MinnesotaDepartmentofHumanServices

Preschool:

Yes

Hours of Operation:

Monday to Friday 9:00am-3:30pm