Preschool. So much to do. So much to learn. So little time. Make the most of it at Hogarth Country Day School where we’ve been educating young children since 1980. Everybody has fun at Hogarth! That’s actually one of our two rules. Everybody must have fun. The other is, Everybody must be safe. Check out this video to see all that fun everybody’s having at Hogarth.
Young children need consistency in their day-to-day lives. A schedule and routine upon which they can rely decreases stress and avoids confusion. This is not to say that children need unbending rigidity day in and day out. Spontaneity can add a bit of spice and tons of fun, and the teachers are always ready to follow the children down an interesting path.
Read on to see how the day usually unfolds at HCDS. If you like what you see, contact us for more information.
- The children wash up first thing. Good personal hygiene habits help keep everybody healthy!
- The children have a mini playtime while waiting for all of their friends to arrive. During this time, they will do Pocket Chart Attendance. (FYI, several of the links on this page can only be accessed with a password.)
- Beginning in October, as soon as everyone has arrived, children in both classes work with our weekly Agenda. The weekly Agenda is a curriculum workhorse! It is the heart and soul of the Hogarth literacy program and a big piece of our math curriculum. We work with a new Agenda in each class every full week of school from October through the beginning of May. Here’s a sample Agenda, with related questions you might ask your little one each week:
Who was The Mystery Kid? What color highlighters did The Mystery Kid choose? What shapes did The Mystery Kid pick? What stories did you read? What songs did you sing? Who held the flag today? Who did you play with? What did you play with? Did you get a chance to do everything you wanted to do? What do you want to do next time you go to school? Who would you like to play with next time you go to school? You could even sit down at the computer with your child and enlarge the Agenda to look at together each week when I post it in the Highlights.
- Starting in October, the EK children work with a daily Calendar. Starting in January, the PK children work throughout the month on a Listening Sheet.
- During the course of the day, the group comes together for more singing and a story time. We follow up story time with our 100 Book Party activities.
- The children are offered a light snack at some point during the session. Spring water is available at any time. (Please see our Nutrition Policy for further information.)
- Students have the opportunity for self-directed and/or teacher-selected playtime activities.
- The children are invited to do art activities or craft projects at least once each week.
- Everybody Peeps and Reports at least once each week. (You’ll find detailed explanations if you follow the links.)
- The children participate in movement activities (typically dance) each day.
- Depending on the weather and our scheduled activities, the children may play on the playground during the fall, early winter, and spring months.
- In early winter, the children start keeping Journals. What does journaling look like in preschool? It looks like this.
This child worked for at least a half-hour on his journal entry, which he entitled “Robot Stuck in a Storm.” He didn’t have to work that long, he could have been done in 2 minutes if that was all he had in him that day. This is what happens when a curriculum is both appropriate and inspiring.
- Once a month the children have Sharing Day, which is much like Show and Tell.
This student brought 3 little inchworms in a Petri dish. The children observed the squiggly critters through magnifying glasses and discussed all things inchworm. I pulled out a set of inchworm counters I happen to have and set the kids loose to measure whatever their hearts desired. They loved everything about their inchworm encounter! This is a great example of seizing a curriculum opportunity when it presents itself, otherwise known as emergent curriculum, which we embrace at moments like this. We are flexible enough to take a delightful detour.
- Classes end with our departure song, Happy Trails to You.
