Daily Schedule

Our 4-5 year old preschool program runs Monday - Thursday from 8:30-3:00. Children eat a snack and lunch at school, provided from home. Here is a look at a typical day at Falmouth KinderVillage.

8:30 Drop Off 9:00 Good Morning Circle 9:15 Group Learning 9:45 Read Aloud 10:00 Snack 10:15 Center Time 11:00 Outdoor Play 12:00 Lunch 12:30 Read Aloud 12:45 Rest Time 1:45 Group Learning 2:30 Outdoor Play 3:00 Pick Up

Drop-Off Drop-off occurs between 8:30 and 8:50. Children complete a fun sign-in activity each morning, and then engage in table time activities with their village friends.

Good Morning Circle At the start of each day, we come together as a village to greet one another and talk about the school day ahead. We read a morning message together and children participate in discussions about our calendar, weather, and monthly theme. Each of these activities provides a natural opportunity for your child to engage with literacy and math concepts.

Group Learning During group learning, the teachers lead a whole group activity or small group activities to target specific kindergarten-readiness skills such as building number sense, phonemic awareness, and developing fine motor strength. You may even find us in the gym doing a whole group team building activity that requires good listening and direction following skills. Or you may find us engaged in an enrichment activity such as a STEM activity provided by High Touch High Tech of Maine, or cooking together in the kitchen! We believe that providing developmentally appropriate opportunities for skill-building in both teacher-led and collaborative settings is how children learn best.

Read Aloud Each day we gather together on the rug for a story related to our current classroom theme (e.g., pumpkins, snowmen, gardening, etc…). This helps inspire our play and extend our learning.

Snack Children bring a snack from home each day. Before snack, students wash their hands, and use the bathroom if needed. We eat snack together in the classroom and clean up after ourselves.

Center Time During center time, children engage in extended free play at various centers around the room (dramatic play center, blocks center, discovery center, literacy center, and art center). The activities at each center will change throughout the year and will relate to our current theme whenever possible.

Since children learn best through play, they are given ample opportunity to experiment with numbers and print as they explore our classroom centers. For example, in the dramatic play area you might find a grocery store set up with a cash register, labeled boxes of food, flyers from local stores, paper, pencils, and pretend money. Either spontaneously or with teacher support, children have the opportunity to write shopping lists, “read” the flyers or create their own flyer, shop for food items, and use pretend money to model the idea of buying and selling.

And in the block area, you might find not only blocks, but books about buildings and construction, tools, small cars and trucks, paper, pencils, and rulers to sketch blueprints, and signs that display environmental print. As children plan, build, and create, they are testing hypotheses, developing spatial sense and motor abilities, experimenting with mathematical concepts such as length and measurement, sharing their vision through written sketches and spoken language, and developing problem solving skills.

Research shows that not only do children learn best through play, but they need extended opportunities for play (30+ minutes) to reap its educational benefits.

Outdoor Play Weather permitting, we play outside on the playground with our village friends. We work on independently getting ourselves dressed (e.g., coats, boots, snow pants, hat, mittens). This is an important skill that children need before entering kindergarten. If it is raining, or if the “feels like” wind chill temperature is below 15 degrees, we play inside. On indoor play days, we make every effort to secure time in the gym for gross motor play.

Lunch Children bring a lunch from home each day. Before lunch, students wash their hands, and use the bathroom if needed. We eat lunch together in the classroom, or outside on the picnic tables if the weather is nice. Children are expected to clean up after themselves to foster independence and develop confidence.

Read Aloud To help us get settled in for rest time, we read a story with our stuffed animals on the rug.

Rest Time Children rest quietly on a nap mat brought from home. They may also bring a stuffed animal from home to snuggle with. If a child chooses not to sleep, we offer books, sketchbooks, and busy bags to use quietly on their nap mat.

Group Learning During our afternoon group learning time, you may find us doing a craft or playing a group game. Then we work on packing up our belongings. We encourage children to independently get dressed for outdoor play, and to collect their lunch bag, snack bag, water bottle, and any papers to take home. Practicing these self-help skills gets your child ready for kindergarten.

Pick-Up Weather permitting, pick-up happens outside on the playground. Caregivers pick children up between 2:40 and 3:00.