Enrichment Class

We have two Enrichment Classes, which are open to all children in our Four-Year-Old Classes. The classes are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

In the Tuesday Enrichment Class the children learn about various topics including:

• Practice in writing the upper and lower case letters
• Different cultures and holidays from around the world, which includes dances and songs as well as folk tales from different countries
• Foreign Language (Spanish)
• Science
• Math
• Baking and cooking special foods for different cultures

The children in the Tuesday Enrichment Class also learn about holidays from the following countries: Mexico, France, England, Viet Nam, The Philippines, India, Russia, China, and Japan. They have fun with science experiments such as a volcano, sprouting roots, and making bubbles. This class will also have weekly Spanish lessons and work on Alphabet crafts and Holiday crafts.

Both Thursday Enrichment Classes are based on thematic units, which means that we follow a specific theme in any of the following areas: language arts, math, science, social studies, arts & crafts, music, large motor activity and cooking. The topics are:

• Bats and Spiders
• Space
• Famous artists and classical music
• Polar Animals
• Snow
• Dinosaurs
• Rain
• Ocean Animals

Here are some of the highlights from the Thursday Enrichment Class: (Bats and Spiders) We make a huge spider web out of yarn as each child held one end. (Space) The children play in our homemade “space shuttle” with astronaut dress-up gear and also “blast off” rockets. (Famous Artists) The students paint in the style of Monet, Van Gogh, Matisse and Pollack and others. (Dinosaurs) We have a visit from Sweetbriar Nature Center with a dinosaur theme.

Your child may attend either one of these classes or both, and may go to school four or five days a week. Enrichment classes will fill up on a first come first serve basis.

Gym Program

We are excited to announce that My Gym Children's Fitness Center classes are now being offered at our school as an enrichment program for all children ages three to five. Each week your child can participate in 45 minutes of gymnastics, sport skills, group games and most of all fun. These activities are all geared to improve balance, agility, strength, coordination as well as self esteem. The gym program will include:

• Warm-up
• Relay
• Gymnastics
• Sport Skill
• Group Game
• Dance/Song/Puppet

Music Program

Come join Megan's Musikgarten in the Cycle of Seasons! During this 45-minute class, three to five year olds will explore the farm, go to a fair and become acquainted with all of the sights and sounds of fall. Then we will meet winter friends and learn all about how they flourish in the cold.  Spring is sprung!  Let's get ready to move like the parachute seeds from a dandelion that we see on the way to the circus!  Activities nurture musical, as well as overall development and include:

• Movement exploration
• Listening and creating
• Playing instruments such as rhythm sticks, jingles, shakers, drums and resonator bars
• Listening to poems and stories

Musical concepts, such as rhythmic and melodic patterns, tempo, dynamics and timbre, are experienced in many ways. Megan's Musikgarten believes that all children have musical aptitude and that early childhood is the time to develop this potential in an active, joyful and developmentally appropriate way. This class promotes musical literacy, singing and rhythmic skills, aural perception, language development, motor coordination, ensemble skills and social interaction while awakening the child's imagination. Musikgarten is an ideal way to prepare a child for later instrumental or vocal study, and to be a more perceptive listener and thinker in the arts, as well as in all other disciplines.

Music and Movement Program

Children ages three to five will go on a learning adventure into the world of music and movement. During this 45 minute class children will explore music through the use of instruments, song, games, yoga, group activities and especially dance. Dancing is a great way to keep fit, build confidence, improve coordination, and develop rhythmic skills. Children will be introduced to a variety of music genres with lessons on active listening, identifying instruments and recognizing patterns and beat. Self expression and creativity will be fostered in this action packed program where the children will be encouraged to describe how the music makes them feel as well as to express these emotions through movement.