9:00 am Arrival
Children arrive, outerwear placed in cubbies, shoes on.
Free play at centres.
9:30 am Circle Time
Welcome song, calendar, special person, alphabet song, letter of the week, story time, craft instructions
9:50 am Craft and Free Choice Interest Centers
10:15 am Snack Preparation
Clean up time, washroom break, handwashing
10:30 am Snack Time
Children eat snack while socializing with peers.
Snack will be enjoyed outdoors when possible.
11:00 am Outdoor Free Play
Children will explore nature, enjoy the forest and playground, feed birds, collect nature items, climb trees, ride bicycles
11:30 am Home Time
Sign out child with teacher, collect backpack and items to be sent home.
Sample Daily Plan
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (4 year olds)
$190/month
Tuesdays and Thursdays (3 year olds)
$140/month
School fee is billed monthly from September to June.
Please note there is a $50 non-refundable registration fee, $120 fundraising bond, and $40 field trip fee due at registration.
PRESCHOOL Fee schedule
Green Circle Preschool is a unique natural learning environment that provides children aged 3 to 5 with opportunities to learn and play in and from nature. Our guiding principle is to provide a creative preschool experience that emphasizes intellectual, emotional, social and physical development. We incorporate natural audio, visual and other sensory experiences into the indoor classroom, located within Parkallen Elementary School, and take advantage of the luscious green spaces just outside our doors in the Parkallen community whenever possible.
Children connect with their natural environment by discussing the time of the sun- rise and sunset each day; celebrating natural phenomenon like Summer and Winter Solstice; participating in the Parkallen Community Garden; learning from naturalists about the urban landscapes around them; and playing in a space filled with plants and the sounds of nature.
Aims and Objectives of the Program
Respect for others is emphasized at Green Circle Preschool, where children learn to share, wait their turn, and be polite in group situations. Through interaction with the teacher, children develop a healthy respect for authority while maintaining their self-esteem. Special days, like birthdays and holidays, are also celebrated at the preschool, and a graduation celebration is held each year for those moving on to kindergarten.
Social Development
Physical Development
The Green Circle program encourages manipulative skills and fine motor development, and children engage in daily whole body activities to enhance gross motor skills, visual perception, and sensory processing abilities. The preschool aims to have as much outdoor play as possible each day, with activities like climbing, sliding, jumping, and running that fulfill the learning outcomes for preschool children as suggested by occupational therapists. Children are also encouraged to put on and take off their own outdoor attire.
Creative and Emotional Development
At Green Circle Preschool, children learn to accept temporary absence from their parents at their own pace through a variety of enjoyable activities. Self-reliance is encouraged and rewarded, and individual expression is built into all activities to foster feelings of self-worth. During free play time, children can choose from a wide variety of activities that reflect their interests, and available classroom activities and centers change frequently based on student interest and seasonal learning themes. During whole-group activities like circle time, the teacher incorporates ideas from all of the children.
Intellectual Development
Each day at Green Circle begins with free play followed by circle time that includes calendar activities to teach counting, pattern recognition, and concepts like months, days of the week, and weather. Speech and literacy concepts are incorporated into all areas of the classroom, including reading books and using poems, songs, and nursery rhymes to model correct speech patterns. The preschool also focuses on basic mathematical concepts, dramatic and creative play, and scientific ideas at the children's own level. There is a specific table for science-based concepts with a new activity each week, and children can learn about simple principles of physics through activities like sand and water play, woodworking, and crafts. Students will also learn biological science through experiences like watching a chicken egg hatch or a butterfly emerge from a chrysalis.
