Philosophy of Education

Forest Hill Nature Preschool seeks to provide a loving, caring environment to help each child in our program grow in their love of God, self, and
others. We seek to cultivate children's natural sense of wonder and build experiences that provide children with a solid educational foundation for learning throughout the elementary years.

Our curriculum incorporates both structured and unstructured learning experiences. The children
participate in lessons during shared circle time
that teach and reinforce developmentally appropriate concepts. Our youngest learners focus on language-building experiences, counting, recognizing shapes, colors, and numbers. Our older children are learning alphabet concepts, mathematical concepts such as patterning, sequencing, graphing, and number relationships, and book and print concepts. We incorporate art, music, literature, and bible stories into all age levels.

4-Year old children are ready to build positive social relationships with peers and adults and actively explore, order and understand the world around them. Play is their primary vehicle for understanding the world around them.
Children play alone and with friends. Through play they act out new and familiar experiences, and begin to relate to the world around them in a
meaningful way. Our goal is to nurture the whole child—to help each individual student grow and learn in several basic areas:

Personal and Social Development
**Practice using manners and cooperating with
peers and adults
**Demonstrate self-confidence and self-control
**Respond to the feelings of others and choose
actions and words appropriately
**Recognize and accept differences in people
**Participate in group activities
**Demonstrate taking turns and sharing
**Exhibit independence in self-care: dressing/undressing, blowing nose, washing hands, feeding/eating
**Listen to and follow multi-step directions
**Play simple games
**Participate in formal and informal creative
dramatics using puppets, dress up clothes, props, and stage elements
**Develop a positive self-image
**Begin to develop creative expression and appreciation of art, music, and dance

Physical Development
**Begin to demonstrate independence with buttoning, snapping, and zipping
**Develop gross motor control by running, jumping, marching, climbing, skipping, galloping
and using playground equipment
**Develop fine motor control by writing with
crayon, markers and pencils, painting with large
and small brushes, stringing beads, manipulating large and small blocks, puzzles, and play
dough and using glue and scissors appropriately
**Move creatively to different types of music
**Begin to develop eye-hand coordination
**Begin to develop ball skills in play
Language Development
**Speak and express ideas in a social group by asking questions, retelling stories, role playing, and participating in creative play
**Listen to stories and poems and develop a love for books
**Regularly engage in conversations with peers and adults
**Ask and answer questions
**Recognize and write first name
**Begin to hold a crayon/marker/pencil correctly for writing
**Recognize letters and letter sounds
**Begin to use upper case and lower case letters in writing
**Tell full name, age, gender, address, and phone
number
**Participate in simple songs and fingerplays with the group
**Participate in show and tell

Mathematics Development
**Identify shapes and use shapes to create geometric patterns
**Compare objects and classify objects into groups
**Count orally to 20 and recognize numbers 0-10
**Create sets of objects 0-10
**Begin to understand addition and subtraction of sets using concrete materials
**Begin to represent and compare numbers using graphs
**Begin to use nonstandard units to measure and compare objects
**Recognize and complete simple patterns
**Order objects in sequence

Science Development
**Begin to form an understanding of the natural world through firsthand sensory experiences
**Understand that there are many different kinds of animals and that they behave in differentways
**Begin to understand the growth cycle for plants
**Understand and identify seasons
**Begin to understand the scientific process of hypothesis, experimentation, and conclusion
**Begin to use data sheets to record information
**Begin to develop environmental awareness

Social Studies Development
**Develop an appreciation for different cultures and people
**Begin to identify key historical figures in American history
**Begin to develop an appreciation of different foods through cooking experiences
**Begin to develop an appreciation for Hispanic culture and language through weekly Spanish
instruction
**Participate in field trip experiences

Spiritual Development
**Experience God’s love in a nurturing and accepting classroom environment
**Recognize themselves as God’s creation
**Begin to develop Christian values such as compassion, respect, honesty, and fairness as
modeled and communicated by the teachers
**Relate to the natural world as God’s creation
**Listen to stories about God and Jesus