Preschool / Pre-K
Welcome to preschool & Pre-K! We are so excited to share this learning journey with you – whether you are new to care, or seasoned, we take the honor of this journey as a huge privilege and are eager to watch the growth of your child over the next 1-2 years.
At Natures Place, we offer a combined preschool and Pre-k program. This program is for children aged approximately 3.5 years of age until your child enters Kindergarten.
There are many benefits and successes of a multi-age group and find the age range to be hugely rewarding for children and teachers alike! We offer flexible options for scheduling but know that the program is preschool, pre-k and childcare all in one!
Children who are enrolled for childcare receive the same program, with the same group of children who are here for preschool or pre-k only programming.
We prepare children for the successes and challenges of kindergarten while we work on all areas of development. We work with the local elementary school teachers to have a better idea of what skills new kindergarteners can have, especially those coming from full (or even part time) care, as well as ensuring our curriculum meets Early Learning Standards and some Kindergarten Readiness Indicators.
As an early learning program, our goal is to help make the transition from our early care and education program to elementary school as smooth as possible!
We want families to know we recognize that just as each of us as adults learn differently, so do children and they will all develop in their own time!
We Care. Safety is our #1 priority.
Our first priority is always that children are safe, both physically and emotionally, while working hard to have a FUN and wonder filled learning environment with as many nature inspired materials as we can possibly incorporate.
We work to create an environment that children and families can all grow together in and will support families even into their public school years. We know that plastic bits are inviting, but we also recognize that rocks, twigs, seed pods, shells and pinecones are nature’s treasures and we can learn so much with those as well!
Each year brings us something new, so the curriculum is never the same, and never from a box. We use a combination of theme units, emergent curriculum, and nature to plan our academic year (which is traditionally September through June).
Our work will often be hands on and never in the form of ditto sheets and workbooks, so this means there will be times the learning is not “visible” with a project sent home every day. Often, the work can be something we discussed or did as a whole group or are working on over time.
Our work will often be
hands on
Many of the policies and rules we have in place for the program, whether for the child or for the actual program, have their foundation in the NH Child Care Licensing Regulations.
This means some things we MUST do because they are required by the state. Doing otherwise leaves our program potentially jeopardizing the health and safety of children.
We follow all regulations set forth for optimal safety and learning of all children in our care.