The Chatham Preschool Program has been designed to offer children the highest quality preschool education in a secure, nurturing and stimulating environment. Learning is facilitated by giving children the opportunity to be part of a community of learners, make choices about which activities and materials they will use, allowing children to establish independence, self-esteem, and confidence while encouraging learning at a child’s own pace. The program utilizes a curriculum based on the premise that young children learn best through engagement.

Our goal and responsibility as kindergarten teachers is to help each child develop a passion for learning. We seek to create an environment for learning which welcomes students to share opportunities to grow as learners. We provide a creative and stimulating environment where every child is made to feel safe, secure, and important. We recognize that children learn at varying rates, and when given the opportunity, will thrive in a learning environment that is developmentally appropriate, individualized and challenging. We use a variety of hands-on strategies to help students achieve their goals and be the best learners that they can be!

Six and seven year old children enter first grade at various developmental levels. By the end of first grade they become more independent and responsible for their learning.

Second grade learners grow like beanstalks! It is a year of discovery and promise! Students strengthen basic foundational skills in all areas as they are encouraged to become independent thinkers and problem solvers who are not afraid to take risks. They are becoming critical thinkers who analyze and evaluate the world around them, thinking carefully about what to do or what to believe, based on evidence and reason. Second grade learners are creative thinkers who learn to see problems as a chance to solve something in a new and different way and never give up!

Third grade students are in the middle childhood stage. You won’t see dramatic changes in motor skills because this is a period of refinement, when coordination improves and fine motor skills are sharpened; however, you will notice remarkable changes in social and thinking skills. Your child is now building on the base of skills developed during early childhood and moving toward greater independence, both intellectually and emotionally.