Preschool Program Overview

The goal of Pre-HEaT is to enrich the lives of young children by providing opportunities for them to learn, create, and move while forming friendships with other children. To meet this goal, Pre-HEaT offers a weekly drop-off preschool program for children ages 3 through Pre-K (final year of preschool before K). Each class has 12-16 students, one lead teacher, and one teacher's aide. Each preschool class, students will read a book together and complete the following activities based upon that day’s read-aloud.

Literature Theme

Each week the class will read a book and explore the themes and ideas presented in that book through the activities provided by the teacher. The teachers will create open-ended art, music, and movement activities based on the book of the week. This will give our days routine and continuity but also freedom and diversity to allow children to gently explore the activities based on interest. 

Art

Young children will be given the opportunity to experiment with fine motor skills while letting their own imaginations take the lead. Art activities will center around the process of creation rather than the completion of products or crafts. A child-driven approach will allow children to work at different levels of skill and interest as they participate in art activities inspired by the book we are reading for the week.

Music

Songs, rhymes, and fingerplays are a great way for children to interact and use their budding language skills. In Pre-HEaT, children will be exposed to songs related to the designated weekly book as they enjoy simple music and rhythms that they can learn.

Movement

Children need to move! Movement activities will encourage children to move in new ways and become more in control of their bodies. Movement activities based on the designated weekly book will allow children to interact with one another while working on gross motor skills.

Play Focus

Play and unstructured time with other children is an important part of the Pre-HEaT class. Students will have an opportunity to meet new children, problem-solve, and explore their environment through play.