Program

Our Program and Facilities

Our highly trained and experienced teachers have designed an imaginative and developmentally appropriate program that includes:

Art
Music
Dance
Language Arts (story-telling, alphabet, writing)
Pre-Math (numbers, counting)
Social Skills
Cooking
Dramatic Play
Science
Field Trips

Facilities The Preschool enjoys exceptional facilities:

A spacious, bright, fully-appointed classroom, with large windows, bright natural light, and a beautiful natural view. The classroom is divided into carefully designed activity areas: blocks, dramatic play, story telling and puzzles, art, science, and audio-listening. Formal classroom instruction takes place in activity areas, and children are encouraged to circulate freely among the areas during supervised free time.
A large sandbox and play yard, fully equipped with climbing structure, slide, playhouses, and outdoor toys. Over the course of the next year or two, the school will be significantly improving its outdoor play structures.
A vegetable and flower garden, planted and tended by the children
Kitchen facilities
Access to fellowship hall for indoor activities such as dance and Spanish class

We provide nutritious morning and afternoon snacks. Parents provide lunch.

Please see below for information on our preschool procedures and schedule. For more specific policies and more information please refer to your Parent’s Handbook distributed each year to all parents of our preschool students. If you need a replacement copy of the handbook please let us know.

Philosophy and Procedures

We recognize the years between 2 and 6 to be among the most crucial in the formation of a child’s cognitive, social and physical development.

It is our job to foster the child’s natural inclination to explore their world, ask questions, talk with other children and adults, and to become independent. We feel that children learn best through play and discovery.

We feel it is crucial to recognize individual differences and strive to help each child feel success and a sense of self-worth.

To achieve this, we:

Create a safe and nurturing environment through daily routines, consistency, and clear, positive communication
Provide activities designed to improve physical coordination, language skills, and “social graces”
Stock our classroom and playground with constructive toys and encourage constructive play
Foster creativity through music, art, and play
Prepare children for school days to come with a combination of independent play and group activities
Screen all books and strive to present the best in children’s literature
Work around themes, helping children to connect concepts and basic skills to the greater world

Sample Schedule

An Example of a Day at Skyline:

7:00 – 9:45 AM         Free Play and option to do art projects
9:45 – 10:00 AM       Clean Up Classroom
10:00 – 10:20 AM     Circle Time
10:20 – 10:40 AM     Snack Time
10:40 AM – Noon     Outside Play
Noon – 12:45 PM     Lunch Time
12:45 – 1:20 PM       Outside Play
1:20 – 1:40 PM         Story Time
1:45 – 2:45 PM         Rest Time
2:45 – 3:30 PM         Wake Up, Snack Time, Inside Play
4:00 – 6:00 PM         Outside Play

Spanish or French – one day weekly / Dance – one day weekly

Discipline
Discipline at Skyline Preschool is handled in a positive way with the intention that the children will begin to learn problem solving techniques as well self-control from our discipline procedures.

For an infraction of a classroom safety rule (i.e., running in class, throwing toys, etc.) a youngster is given three warnings before going to time-out. When a disagreement arises between children, we try to include the youngsters involved in solving the problem. If physical harm occurs an immediate cooling off time occurs before discussion.

If these disciplinary procedures do not work, we ask for a parent conference. The policy at Skyline Preschool for youngsters out of control and posing physical danger (i.e., biting, throwing toys at other children or staff, etc.) is removal from school for the day.

We will call the parents to pick their youngster up. Again, we emphasize a positive approach to behavior problems and hope that open communication and cooperation between staff and families will lead to solving discipline problems.

Communication and Conflict Resolution

The administration and staff at Skyline Preschool are available to check-in about the wellness and happiness of your children on a daily basis. The school day can look busy, but we are never too busy to make time to talk with you about your child. Since drop-off and pick-up can be rushed and busy times of the day, we encourage you to set up a phone or personal conference time if you’d like to do a more in-depth check-in with us.

We also ask that you share with us information that may be affecting your child so that we can best understand and assist. It is always helpful to know when a parent is out of town, or if there have been recent changes in a child’s schedule.

We recognize that as the primary advocates for your children, it is important that your concerns receive timely responses. We therefore have a structure in place so that concerns and conflicts can be addressed quickly, professionally and respectfully. Here are some safeguards for that structure:

1. If there is a concern about your child or regarding a situation at school, please first address the staff and limit conversation regarding the issue to those directly involved.

2. If you feel your concern has not been heard, or that sufficient action has not been taken, ensure that one of the co-directors is informed.

3. If the issue is still not sufficiently resolved, or if you don’t feel comfortable talking to the co-directors or staff, there are two parent liaisons available to hear your concern: Ankie Edgar and Lisette Bahamondes. These parent liaisons can then raise the issue with the Preschool Advisory Board, and if necessary, the Church Council. These two groups can serve as third-party sounding boards if further mediation is required.

Field Trips
We plan to take several field trips this year and we expect each family to provide transportation and supervision for two of our outings. For each field trip we will be sending home a permission slip to be signed by parents and returned to school before we go on that field trip. Children under 6 and under 60lbs. must be in an approved (CHP) car seat. Please bring a labeled car seat the day of the field trip. Drivers must show proof of insurance. Field trips may be canceled or postponed due to weather conditions or lack of transportation. Drivers forms must be filled out for our files.

Parent Participation
Parent participation is expected on Parent Work Days, The Spring Fling (our annual fundraiser) as well as during field trips

Visitors
Parents are welcome to visit any time. However, nap time from 2:00 until 3:30 is perhaps not the best time to come see us. You might also check to see about field trips on the day you choose to visit. We encourage prospective students and their parents to call ahead before thy visit our school. This assures the visitor that they have a chance too see the program in action, and provides for the safety of our children from strangers.