Our Program

 

Mission Statement

Our mission is to make learning fun for the children. We focus on the skills that children are primed to learn during the preschool years, i.e. the development of social competence, language, and music skills. We support parents in helping their children achieve their full potential, teaching in ways that match the way individual children develop and learn, offering challenges just beyond the level of their present mastery, all in the context of a nurturing community.



Iowa Early Learning Standards*

Guiding Principles

  1. •Children construct understandings through active interactions with their teachers, peers, materials and events.

  2. •Learning is sequential, building on prior understandings and experiences.

  3. •Learning proceeds at different rates in each area; children will show a range of skills and understanding in any one area of development.

  4. •Learning in each area is interconnected. Young children learn best through integrated, meaningful experiences.

  5. •Learning is embedded in a culture. Children learn best when their learning activities are rooted in a familiar cultural context.

  6. •Learning begins in the family, continues in early education settings, and depends on parent involvement and teacher guidance.

  7. •All children have the potential to achieve most of these standards with appropriate supports and instruction.

  8. •* Treebrook has successfully completed the self-study process for meeting the Iowa Quality Preschool Program Standards. (IQPPS), as part of the Iowa Department of Education, and plans a verification visit during the school year 2008 - 2009.




Areas of Development

(Treebrook has an onsite portfolio of how it meets the Iowa Early Learning Standards in all these areas of development. It is available for parents’ perusal.)


Physical Well-Being and Motor Development:

  1. •Healthy and Safe Living;

  2. •Play and Senses;

  3. •Large Motor Development

  4. •Fine Motor Development



Approaches to Learning

•Curiosity and Initiative

•Engagement and Persistence

• Problem Solving


Social and Emotional Development

  1. •Self- Regulation

  2. •Relationships with Teachers

  3. •Peer Interactions

  4. •Awareness of Community



Communication, Language and Literacy

  1. •Language Understanding and Use

  2. •Early Literacy

  3. •Early Writing



Mathematics and Science

  1. •Comparison and Number

  2. •Patterns

  3. •Shapes and Spatial Relationships

  4. •Scientific Reasoning

  5. •Scientific Problem Solving

  6. •Measurement



Creative Arts

  1. •Art

  2. •Music, Rhythm and Movement

  3. •Dramatic Play



Role of Assessment

Teachers at Treebrook work with parents to observe and monitor each child’s development. They share observations and discuss consistent patterns of behavior that occur in various situations. There is a home visit in the summer before school starts, and two scheduled parent-teacher conferences during the school year, or any time a concern arises.


We use the Houghton Mifflin Pre-K ‘Early Growth Indicators: Benchmark Assessment’ (developed with the authors of DIBELS.) It is brief and efficient to administer and score (The seven indicators just take 1 - 2 minutes each, three times a year. It provides reliable information regarding each child’s rate of progress on critical skills over time. We get a good measure of each child’s development in early literacy, language development and early math.


In addition, we keep both a class and individual portfolios, with the help of Treebrook’s new interactive whiteboard (SMART Board), which can record such things as the children’s work during group time, such as when we do our ‘Everyday Math’ routines or discuss and respond to a story.



Curriculum

Treebrook uses the research-based ‘Creative Curriculum for Preschool’ (D. T. Dodge, L. J. Coker, C. Heroman. Teaching Strategies, 2002) as a guide for organizing our classroom into interest areas, and for teaching strategies. We use the Pre-K ‘Everyday Math’ (developed by the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project) that is used by the Iowa City Community School District for Grades PreK - 6. Treebrook also uses the Houghton Mifflin Pre-K Curriculum as a guide for scope and sequence of skills. Carol Spangler has developed broad monthly themes to use as a framework. Children’s own interests and learning styles are respected.  We also incorporate Character Counts! (a project of the Institute for Character Development at Drake University. It is based on the Six Pillars of Character:  Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring & Citizenship.

Visit Character Counts in Iowa)



Daily Schedule

8:45 Arrival & Morning Routines (Wash hands; Attendance; Choose-a-Tray Activity)

9:10 Sharing Circle

10:00 Music Together

10:20 Snack

10:35 “Read” wordless picture books with a partner

10:45 Phonological Awareness

10:50  Storytime

11:15 Center Time (in nice weather, some activities will be outdoors)

12:15 Lunch --Children bring their own sack lunch.

12:30 Storytime Activities

12:45 Departure