FAQS
When can I visit and see the preschool?
Email the Preschool Director, Michele Zipperer at whpreschooldirector15@gmail.com, to arrange a personal tour at a prearranged time.
My child is very advanced. He/she already knows the letters of the alphabet and the all the colors and shapes. What can a “play-based”, “Reggio-inspired”, or “emergent curriculum” preschool program offer us?
A play-based preschool program is the most developmentally appropriate way for young children to learn the most important tasks of early childhood. Many early childhood educators today will agree that play is the vessel by which curriculum should be developed. Play offers a wide variety of purposes for students. These purposes can include: enjoyment, building of social skills and roles, exploration, making sense of themselves and the world, adaptation, learning, creativity, experimentation, expression, survival, exercise power, dealing with emotions, release of stress, testing of limits, risk-taking, development of the “whole” child, as well as bonding and making friends. Exposure to basic academic skills can be interlaced throughout the program, primarily through read-alouds, vocabulary investigation, and activities related to problem-solving, predicting, and investigation. An emergent curriculum is one that builds upon the interests of children. Topics for study are captured from the talk of children, through community or family events, as well as the known interests of children (puddles, shadows, dinosaurs, etc.). Team planning is an essential component of the emergent curriculum. Teachers work together to formulate hypotheses about the possible directions of a project, the materials needed, and possible parent and community support and involvement. While student interest is the core, teachers are still the primary planners of the curriculum and units of study; students are not simply following their own interests and doing whatever they want to do.
I really like visiting the WHUMC “Tot Lot” with my child. Will we still be able to use the playground when the preschool students are there too?
During the school year, the Tot Lot is closed to the public during the preschool day which runs from 9:30-12:30 Monday-Friday. When preschool lets out for the summer, the Tot Lot is available for all to use.
What is your “Snack Policy”?
Students will bring a snack from home each day that they are attending our preschool program. Our school will be a “nut-free” program and each family receive a detailed list of suggested snack foods and specific nut-free brands.
What is your Toilet Training policy?
It is our expectation that children enrolled in the 3-, 4-, and 5-year old programs be toilet trained prior to the first day of school. Children enrolled in the 2 ½ year old class DO NOT need to be toilet trained prior to the beginning of the school year. It is our policy not to introduce toilet training to your 2-year old child for the first time at school, but we will support and reinforce this goal once parents let us know that they are pursuing this skill at home.
