Early Preschool: 1½ - 2 year old

Every child’s development is unique and complex, their growth is influenced by factors in their environment and the experiences they have. Teachers facilitate this by providing activities which allow children to use their senses and motor skills to explore the world around them. We help them develop their language skills by using simple directions and many common phrases used in routine situations. They are encouraged to ask the “why”, “what” and “how “questions. At this age they pick up most parts of speech to form complete sentences. We help them appreciate the joy of reading and acknowledge their way of communicating through different medians. We want our children to be logical thinkers to solve everyday problems. They will learn new concepts of size and quantity, while learning how to recognize patterns, complete puzzles and categorize objects. Physically, they will explore the way to use their gross motor skills , by kicking a ball forward, catching a rolled ball and learning how to throw a ball overhand (but with little accuracy). Two-year-olds love finger play activities (e.g., "The Itsy, Bitsy, Spider"), pounding and squeezing clay, shaking rhythm instruments and scribbling. They will learn how to use different tools, and unscrew lids while improving their skills using eating utensils. We will support their creative skills through the arts and help them develop social skills in order to prevent aggression and foster appropriate behavior. Our goal is to establish a solid foundation for your child’s first year of school. We want to prepare our children to be self sufficient and empathetic to others. To nurture and foster a diverse community.

If you are interested in your child attending our school read more about our admissions and application process and download the required forms.

Early Preschool Project Example

One of the ways children learn about their intelligences through projects is by engaging in problem solving and hands on experiences. Teachers provide a yearlong curriculum based on the questions derived from children’s interests. For example children have worked on such projects as Who Are We? and Where Are We? The All About Me section of this project gives the children an opportunity to work as a team and explore themselves and their peers. Expanding on this topic the children described and worked on various ways to use their hands. They learned the art of painting with their hands, the skill of cutting, and developed their sense of touch.

Early Preschool Art Project Example

At the beginning of the school year the Early Preschool class embarks upon a journey to discover “Who Are We? Where Are We?” As the Visual Arts teacher I work with the children to understand the element of space. I focus primarily on the Preschool and other buildings in the area and show them different ways to represent space through drawing, building blocks, maps and 3D dioramas. As you know, every child is different and needs to be taught in a way that suits their interests and abilities. By utilizing different methods I will engage each student in the project based on their preferred method.
This project will enable the students to recognize the different parts of a building, how to find their way through a map and also how to represent space both two and three dimensionally. At the end of this project the class works together to create a large Pop-Up Neighborhood based on our surroundings here in Jersey City. To get the class ready for the “Who Are We? Where Are We?” project we read the story In One Neighborhood and afterwards go on a walk to observe the different buildings and stores we see.