Preschool - Year 2

The Combined Morning Preschool Program serves children who are between the ages of 2.4 - 4.4 in September. Children are divided into two age groups learning side by side: Year 1 (ages 2.4 – 3.4) and Year 2 (ages 3.5 – 4.4).

The Year 2 curriculum responds to children’s emerging social focus and abstract thinking. Teachers facilitate children’s emerging peer interactions to helping them develop a confident and compassionate place in the classroom community. Supporting early representation in art and writing, natural science and applied early math, and a habits of inquiry round out the learning in Year 2.

The Combined Morning Preschool Program aims to combine the benefits of both mixed-age curriculum and age-specific learning. Year 1 and 2 children spend some of each morning together. During these times, Year 2 students are invited to act as mentors and experts, while Year 1 students “research” aspects of the school experience by observing and partnering with their more mature peers.

About half of each day is divided into age-specific small groups. Year 2 children “meet” with teachers to plan games, science and art explorations, and dramatic play, as befits children in this more social, imaginative and organized stage of development. Teachers enlist children to make real contributions such as taking care of the garden, or preparing a snack, which opens opportunities for real-world language, literacy, math, science, engineering and fine motor learning.

For each age group, an emphasis on problem-solving – from mastering separation, through negotiating shared materials and ideas, to tackling building projects and big questions about the world – forms the common backbone of the Morning Class curriculum.