Welcome to Small Friends Preschool

Our Philosophy and Purpose
Small Friends, Inc. provides a developmentally appropriate learning environment for three and four year old children. We believe children are active, capable and willing participants in their education for life. Children learn within the context of relationships. Children learn through active exploration and investigation and develop skills in social and natural learning situations. Children are active "meaning-makers" of their world who effectively use play, active exploration and investigation, problem solving, observation, prediction, and other skills to construct their own understanding of the world around them.
This process occurs within the context of relationships. Consequently, we recognize the importance of all relationships: peer-peer, family-child, teacher-child, family-child-teacher, etc. and seek avenues for building relationships, knowing that the quality of these relationships strongly influences the learning potential for all parties involved. We seek this environment for the children entrusted to our care in partnership with and great respect for the parents of the children. We believe the participation and support of the parent(s) is essential for reaching these goals.
Small Friends does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion, age, marital status, disability or sexual orientation. Throughout this website the pronoun he is used to indicate both genders.

Curriculum
Curriculum at Small Friends encompasses a complex and varied interaction of developmental areas, including assisting in developing social skills, supporting language, cognitive and developmental skills, and facilitating children's learning strategies and their efforts to make sense of their world. We draw from a variety of educational philosophies and approaches in our efforts to learn about children, how they learn and what we as teachers can do to support their development and growth. These resources include theories and ideas from Erikson, Piaget, Dewey, Vygotsky, Reggio Emilia, Kohlberg, Gardner and others, and help us gain an understanding of how children of this age learn and develop. Teachers also utilize each other's knowledge and experience. However, the best resource for us to understand how your child learns is you, the parent. We hope you will provide us with ongoing information so we may do the best job possible in joining with you to provide a rich and joyful experience for your child (ren).

Environment

The foundation of our curriculum reflects a sociohistorical and constructivist viewpoint that is based on the value of relationship, language, play and investigation. We use the guidelines established by the National Association for the Education of Young Children as the backbone in our efforts. Program decisions are based primarily on these guidelines. Copies of the NAEYC guidelines are available.We see children as active learners who learn best through direct interaction, exploration, investigation and play.The environment is set up to reflect this viewpoint. Each school day is different, although activity areas remain constant: block area, book area, housekeeping, painting, invention, computer, etc. Small changes and enhancements are made within the areas. We typically take a topic, a question or an interest from the children or the teachers and incorporate it into the learning areas, although this topic is not the only one up for exploration. Half or more of each session is devoted to these activities.
Teachers invest their time in establishing relationships with the child and the family, in supporting peer and adult-child relationships in an effort to provide an environment conducive to optimal development and enjoyment. Teachers also invest time in promoting conflict resolution skills in age appropriate levels, set up the activities and explorations within each area, plan and lead group time and outdoor or gym time. While the teachers will plan and supervise the session, we need your constant interaction and involvement with the children and the environment if we are to provide the best educational environment possible.Your involvement, feedback and support are vital to the program.
Some children will stay in one area while most will sample everything. We respect a child's needs and interests in pursuing one area for long periods of time while also supporting a curriculum that will help him in other facets of his development and interest. Each child is encouraged to try a variety of activities. We utilize small groups, large groups and dyads for supporting investigation and play. The child is able to use the materials in his own way, move at his own pace, and choose his own experience within safety guidelines. We will also encourage and support children in developing an area of interest or exploring a question in depth. Individual children, small groups or the larger group sometimes do in-depth investigations over a period of time.
We consider language and language development to be crucial to a child's development. The environment and the activities are set up with language as the central focus. Conversations, collaborations, stories, writing drama, etc. are all integrated throughout the areas of the classroom and throughout the day. Teachers will frequently record, tape and otherwise document the activities, conversations and thoughts of the children. They use these records to further their own understanding of the children and to help establish and promote a dialogue with the children, the parents and the staff. We consider this exchange to be crucial in establishing and maintaining a truly educational environment.
We try to help a child establish a positive self-concept of himself as an individual and as a member of a group as he learns to respect the rights of others and to express his rights and feelings appropriately.We also strongly believe that we all learn through relationships, exploration and conflict. In promoting this goal we have established some basic classroom rules for safety and for the respect of individuals and the group. Parents are expected to support and abide by these rules. The staff will be happy to discuss any questions or concerns you may have.

Discipline
The teachers strive to strike a balance between individual needs and group needs using a developmentally appropriate teaching style. We support children's efforts in becoming good problem solvers, whether the problem is how to get purple paint when you have only red and blue at the easel, how to get a turn with a toy you want or how to express your feelings and needs in an effective manner. Teachers will also encourage children to find out their own answer to a question or idea through exploration, investigation and reflection. This style of teaching may differ from what you may be used to in significant ways.
At Small Friends we expect age appropriate-behaviors, which includes everything from hugging to hitting. Because we have such a good adult/child ratio, we can address a concern before it becomes a problem. We can redirect a behavior or interest, assist the parties in solving their own problem or model a possible solution. If a child is having a difficult time we might suggest an activity that we think would help him gain some space and/or perspective. If a child is losing control, we will often do one of two things. In the first option, we would suggest that the child find a quiet space or activity within the classroom where he can stay until the child himself can tell he is ready to return. At this time the teacher would help the conflicting parties resolve their dispute. The other common option we use is to stay with that child as we remove him from the classroom, giving the child some supervised and supportive time away from the problem. Upon returning, the teacher and the child would address the dispute or situation that led up to the loss of control.
We anticipate that all children will need assistance with social skills. We find that time, repetition, consistency, role modeling, etc. are effective behavior changing approaches. Spanking and verbal abuse are unacceptable by anyone in the classroom, including a parent with her/his own child (ren) while they are in Small Friends' supervision. Corporal punishment is not acceptable at any time with any child by anyone in Small Friends.
We strongly feel it is our job to support children in expressing their feelings appropriately while respecting other individuals' rights and feelings. Both the "aggressor" and the "victim" need to learn more effective communication skills. We recognize that parents are the most informed persons regarding their child's overall development and temperament and, consequently, we will seek information from parents so we may do the best job teaching that we can. If we feel that additional information from professionals such as doctors, psychologists, therapists, etc. would be helpful, parents may be requested to seek such information and share it with the teachers. We understand that some information or diagnoses are difficult to share and we respect a family's privacy. However, we cannot do our job well unless we have adequate and accurate information. We are willing to work with the professional, the parents(s) and the child. If a parent chooses to not share adequate or accurate information with the staff or if the child with difficult behaviors is not responding to efforts made by the teachers over a period of time, the family will be requested to seek additional help and/or an alternative environment.