Programs
Activities & Experiences
What's a day at FNS like?
Each of our programs is team taught by three professional teachers, with parent assistance in the mornings.
All our programs are based on appropriate practices outlined by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
The gentle supervision of our supportive, warm, positive, creative, energetic and very experienced teachers is what really sets FNS apart from other preschools.
The specific activities and experiences offered in each class vary from day to day and program to program. This is especially nice for children enrolled in more than one program.
Our school is a converted house that offers a cozy home-like atmosphere. Our expansive play yard nestled among the trees with a “secret garden” allows the children to explore the natural environment at their own pace.
The daily routine remains the same, each day – providing predictability and structure. The teachers initially set up the environment but the children will add to it, bringing their own personalities and ideas, often collaborating with friends. The children are encouraged to indulge their imaginations and to choose their own activities. The environment is welcoming and safe. We suggest children wear clothes that can get flour dusted, paint splattered, sand filled, and water drenched!
What sort of activities and experiences will my child have?
Each day the teachers lay out a rich array of activities inside classrooms, outdoors under the eaves and in the play yards. All activities are designed to promote creativity, intellectual growth, large and fine motor development, sensory experiences, as well as provide an opportunity to problem solve and master social/emotional concepts. For the children, they are just plain fun! The emphasis is less on content (doing a project "right") and more on process.
Some activities are individual - like making a bead bracelet, decorating a crown, painting a leaf.
Others are communal efforts: a paper dragon for the parade, a paper mache piñata, baking blueberry muffins. We believe that children learn best when given the opportunity to do things their way. So projects are hands-on and open-ended. Making butterflies, for example, never means cutting out pre-drawn shapes and gluing them together under the teachers direction to make a "proper" looking bug. Instead the children are offered a table full of sequins, pipe cleaners, tissue paper, and colored pens so they can be inspired to produce their own creation.
Special activities for our classes include:
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Teddy Bear picnic
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Pajama Day
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Space Week
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Humane Society visits
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Walk to the mailbox to mail Valentine’s
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A weekend with the classroom bear
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Holiday celebration with Piñata
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Mother’s Day Tea
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Album Day - where the Pre-K children are presented with an album including some of their artwork created throughout the year, and accompanies by personal notes from the teachers
