ABOUT NEW HOPE PRESCHOOL
ABOUT NEW HOPE PRESCHOOL
OUR MISSION
New Hope Preschool is a non-profit preschool and is an extension of the Children's Ministry Program of New Hope Presbyterian Church. We offer hands-on, developmentally appropriate preschool education to children ages 3 and up.
With the overall goal of preparing our young learners for kindergarten and beyond, the children are taught in a loving, faith-based environment, by state-qualified teachers who strive to meet the unique needs of each child using Howard Gardner's philosophy of "Multiple Intelligences."
Our curriculum focuses on further strengthening each child's social, emotional, spiritual, cognitive, and physical development through developmentally appropriate practice. In order to achieve this, children participate in painting, drawing, creating, pretending, building, listening, talking, climbing, running, singing, dancing, and exploring, just to name a few!
Our Philosophy
We believe children learn best in a structured environment where praise is readily given.
We believe children need movement throughout the day.
We believe children should be able to sing and laugh, talk and listen, and be talked to and listened to each day.
We believe parents, teachers, and children are partners in education.
We believe appropriate behavior is learned through consistent guidance.
We believe in furthering a child's Christian growth through praise songs, worship, and prayer.
We believe a child's preschool experience should be happy, fun, exciting and nurturing.
It is our privilege to care for and teach your child.
CURRICULUM
The content covered in our classrooms varies based on age, but the overall curricular philosophy remains consistent throughout each classroom. New Hope Preschool is more play-based than academic-based and offers developmentally appropriate early childhood education to children ages 3-5.
We offer hands-on, thematic curriculum based on the principles of Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory. Each learning activity is designed with a particular “intelligence” in mind. The intelligences include linguistic, spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, musical, naturalist, logical/mathematical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Everyone has their own learning strengths, including young children.
By offering such a wide range of curricular areas, teachers can more easily differentiate instruction to better reach each type of learner. The Multiple Intelligences Theory lends itself beautifully to the learning centers that make up each of our early childhood classrooms, embracing the understanding that children can, not only build upon the learning strengths they already have, but also improve upon those that are not their dominant intelligence.
Preschool Classrooms (Age 3 by October 1 and potty-trained): These are our youngest learners, most of whom are in a school setting for the first time. The overall goals for the Preschool classrooms are socialization (with peers and adults), increased independence, and improvement in fine motor skills. Teachers help children learn which words to use to communicate their needs from asking for help with a task to resolving a conflict with a friend. Children make a lot of learning choices throughout their day as they play both in small groups and individually. The Preschool Day also includes Circle Time, Snack, Playground, and Lunch Time.
Pre-K Classrooms (Age 4 by October 1 and potty-trained): Pre-K picks up where Preschool left off! Early reading, math, literacy, and science skills are part of both teacher-directed and child-directed learning opportunities in preparation for kindergarten. Social skills continue to be taught and practiced, and writing (proper letter formation and name writing) has a greater focus in Pre-K. Like in Preschool, the Pre-K children also have Circle Time, Playground, Snack, and Lunch Time.
ALL of our students get phonics instruction through the “Alphatales” program, and the “Get Set For School” curriculum (from Learning Without Tears) is used for some of our literacy, math, and writing instruction.
Play is another important component of our curriculum. Each classroom incorporates a minimum of 45 minutes of free play into each day. Research has consistently shown the value of play for young children. Through play, children develop social competence, problem solving strategies and skills, imagination and intelligence, language, and perceptual-motor abilities.
Teachers also have an important role during free play. They help facilitate age-appropriate conversations between children, and assist with problem solving as conflict arises.
Teachers also model "play" by joining in with the children when appropriate or necessary. Finally, teachers assist with engaging children in play activities until they are able to do so independently.
Chapel Time: Each child will have “Chapel Time” once a week, taught by our Director. Chapel Time includes a Bible story or “character” lesson, prayer, music, and movement.