The Joyful Sunbeam Preschool Handbook
Birthdays
We celebrate birthdays! Parents may bring in a special birthday treat for the class to share during snack time.
Clothing
Children should arrive dressed for play. We will be playing outside and doing daily art projects which are potentially messy - although washable. Please send your child in weather-appropriate clothing. Children should wear shoes to play outside.
Curriculum
Preschool is a time to instill a lifelong love of learning and should be hands-on as children happily make discoveries! The Joyful Sunbeam Preschool includes scripture stories, social skills, fine and gross motor skills, and kindergarten readiness. The following curriculum resources are used:
Curriculum
Preschool is a time to instill a lifelong love of learning and should be hands-on as children happily make discoveries! The Joyful Sunbeam Preschool includes scripture stories, social skills, fine and gross motor skills, and kindergarten readiness. The following curriculum resources are used:
- Macmillan-McGraw-Hill Little Treasures Pre-K Program: I purchased this wonderful program. It is a research based academic and social curriculum designed for 3-and 4-year-olds.
- The Amazing Action Alphabet: A phonics program teaching letters and sounds by seeing, hearing, and doing.
Learning goals include upper and lowercase letter and sound recognition, rhyming, phonemic awareness, writing their own name and letter formation, shape recognition, number recognition, counting skills, sorting and patterning, science exploration, scissor cutting skills, fine motor artwork, gross motor play, social skills, and following directions.
Discipline
I maintain a positive discipline policy focusing on prevention, redirection, love and consistency. During the first week of school, children will be taught preschool safety rules and help create our classroom rules. Natural consequences are perfect learning opportunities.
Drop Off/Pick Up
Arrival: Come right on in at the front door - no need to knock! For safety, I will lock the door 10 minutes after arrival time. Just ring the doorbell if you are running late!
Dismissal: Please come in the front door and pick up your preschooler. Please drive cautiously as you leave as other little ones will be walking to their cars. If you have any questions, concerns or ideas, please come talk to me at pick up time. Feel free to park in the driveway to help keep the street clear for my neighbors.
Gum
Please do not send your child with any gum in his/her mouth for preschool. I have learned from experience that I will find it on my carpet or elsewhere by the end of our preschool day! Thanks!
Gum
Please do not send your child with any gum in his/her mouth for preschool. I have learned from experience that I will find it on my carpet or elsewhere by the end of our preschool day! Thanks!
Homework
Each preschool day the children will have the opportunity to choose 5 books from our class library to take home. Enjoy reading these books and talking about them at home together! Please remember to take good care of the books and return them the next week.
Each preschool day the children will have the opportunity to choose 5 books from our class library to take home. Enjoy reading these books and talking about them at home together! Please remember to take good care of the books and return them the next week.
Potty Training
If your child is not yet potty trained, he/she may attend school in a pull-up. Please let Heather know if you give permission for her to help change your child, if needed, and pack wipes and extra pull-ups in your child's backpack.
Snack Time
We will always say prayers and wash our hands before eating. Please send your child to school each week with a water bottle and healthy snack.
Text
If you need to contact me during preschool hours, please send me a text. I will check my phone before pick-up time in case there are any changes. Please do not call during preschool hours unless it's an emergency as this is a distraction for the preschoolers. I don't have a smart phone so emails will not be seen until after class. Thank you!
Tuition
Please pay tuition the first class of each month. The Monday ABC Preschool Class is $40/month. The Wednesday LEGO Preschool Class is $50/month. All students pay a $30 registration fee. The Monday class is less expensive because there are less classes taught due to Monday holidays. Also, the LEGO class has a high curriculum cost as I need to purchase the DUPLO LEGO education sets each month to coordinate with our theme classes each week.
The first class of each month, I will have a tuition envelope ready at drop-off with your child's name on it. Please find your child's envelope and cross off that you paid the current month's tuition as you place the money inside. This system allows you to be in charge of the tuition payments and allows me to greet your children and focus on teaching and loving them.
I gratefully ask, that if you are able, to please pay in cash. Cash allows me to use the tuition money directly on preschool expenses. When I deposit checks, my husband gets excited to transfer the money to savings and is disappointed when I say the money is actually all going toward construction paper, paints, markers, a new children's book, and LEGOs. Cash allows me to more easily spend tuition money back on classroom costs without justifying every purchase with the Mr. Thank you for helping keep my household finances simple.