Class Descriptions
Mushroom offers half-day classes for children ages two through five, with a total school enrollment of approximately 120 children.
Our student-teacher ratio (six to one) allows the teachers to nourish, stimulate, support, and recognize the uniqueness of each child.
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Our student-teacher ratio (six to one) allows the teachers to nourish, stimulate, support, and recognize the uniqueness of each child.
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2’s – Meets twice per week for two hours: M/W (9:00-11:00) or T/TH (9:00-11:00) or T/TH (12:30-2:30)
This class provides the first opportunity for children to attend school and separate from a parent. Children are introduced to the school environment and begin the process of learning about themselves and others. As part of their individual growth, students learn to communicate and interact with other children in appropriate ways; to function in a group setting; to understand boundaries and rules; and to become confident and independent as they explore the world around them. Class size: 2 teachers for 8 students.
3’s – Meets three times per week for two and one-half hours: T, W, TH (9:00-11:30) or T, W, TH (12:30-3:00)
This class focuses on building self-esteem and on developing positive feelings about being in school. With the developmental levels in mind, this group works on developing skills in social interaction, communicating needs and feelings, and becoming comfortable with self, peers, adults and a changing environment. The teachers facilitate learning and encourage the child to be the source of his/her own development through planned daily and weekly themes and hands-on projects. Use of manipulatives, art, books, imaginative play and physical activities foster growth in social and language skills, reading and math readiness, and creative expression. This class works on developing fine motor skills through using scissors, stringing beads and other hand-eye coordination activities. Class size: 3 teachers for 18 students.
4’s – Meets four times per week for two and one-half hours: M, T, W, TH (9:00-11:30) or M, T, W, TH (12:30-3:00)
This class focuses on helping children become confident, secure, enthusiastic learners and community members. The focus is on creating an emotionally safe, supportive and stimulating environment that encourages children to be active, creative, and independent explorers who make their own choices and create their own learning. Rather than teaching academic skills by rote, the emphasis is on developing intellectual skills such as reasoning, hypothesizing, questioning, predicting and analyzing. Children are encouraged to seek mastery of basic academic skills in the service of their own intellectual pursuits. The increasingly social nature of 4-year-old play allows opportunities to further develop social skills, such as negotiation and problem solving. Children have the opportunity to explore literacy and numeracy through a combination of teacher-facilitated and self-structured activities in both large- and small-group settings. The children’s main work and learning takes place during self-initiated, free exploration of learning centers throughout the classroom. In addition to learning centers, children participate daily in choice-based table activities, which promote fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and conversation. The group comes together for a daily “Gathering” to share news, plan the day and read stories. Each day, children also have opportunities for active play and creative expression through process-focused art activities. Class size: 3 teachers for 18 students (AM) & 2 teachers for 12 students (PM).
5’s – Meets four times per week for two and one-half hours: M, T, W, TH (9:00-11:30)
This class offers these older preschoolers an enhanced school curriculum. At this age, they are ready and excited to push further and ask amazing questions and discover answers. Socially and cognitively, the children are often ready for more involved cooperative-play experiences, more in-depth study of concepts and higher-level thinking challenges. This environment provides the framework for creating a joyful and enthusiastic community of self-directed and collaborative learners. The classroom is very student centered and provides many opportunities to build confidence in one’s ability to solve problems. Along with the emergent curriculum, thematic units are designed to target many different skills including oral language development, listening, literacy, science, social studies, mathematical reasoning, creative expression, fine motor/gross motor skills, and social/emotional skills. The goal is to create an engaging environment where the children feel valued, safe and comfortable as they continue to discover themselves as learners. Class size: 2 teachers for 12 students.
It is important to remember that each child enters class at his/her own developmental level, with needs unique to that child. The teachers strive to guide the children into a cohesive group, while recognizing the needs of each child and placing emphasis on individual growth within a shared environment.
This class provides the first opportunity for children to attend school and separate from a parent. Children are introduced to the school environment and begin the process of learning about themselves and others. As part of their individual growth, students learn to communicate and interact with other children in appropriate ways; to function in a group setting; to understand boundaries and rules; and to become confident and independent as they explore the world around them. Class size: 2 teachers for 8 students.
3’s – Meets three times per week for two and one-half hours: T, W, TH (9:00-11:30) or T, W, TH (12:30-3:00)
This class focuses on building self-esteem and on developing positive feelings about being in school. With the developmental levels in mind, this group works on developing skills in social interaction, communicating needs and feelings, and becoming comfortable with self, peers, adults and a changing environment. The teachers facilitate learning and encourage the child to be the source of his/her own development through planned daily and weekly themes and hands-on projects. Use of manipulatives, art, books, imaginative play and physical activities foster growth in social and language skills, reading and math readiness, and creative expression. This class works on developing fine motor skills through using scissors, stringing beads and other hand-eye coordination activities. Class size: 3 teachers for 18 students.
4’s – Meets four times per week for two and one-half hours: M, T, W, TH (9:00-11:30) or M, T, W, TH (12:30-3:00)
This class focuses on helping children become confident, secure, enthusiastic learners and community members. The focus is on creating an emotionally safe, supportive and stimulating environment that encourages children to be active, creative, and independent explorers who make their own choices and create their own learning. Rather than teaching academic skills by rote, the emphasis is on developing intellectual skills such as reasoning, hypothesizing, questioning, predicting and analyzing. Children are encouraged to seek mastery of basic academic skills in the service of their own intellectual pursuits. The increasingly social nature of 4-year-old play allows opportunities to further develop social skills, such as negotiation and problem solving. Children have the opportunity to explore literacy and numeracy through a combination of teacher-facilitated and self-structured activities in both large- and small-group settings. The children’s main work and learning takes place during self-initiated, free exploration of learning centers throughout the classroom. In addition to learning centers, children participate daily in choice-based table activities, which promote fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and conversation. The group comes together for a daily “Gathering” to share news, plan the day and read stories. Each day, children also have opportunities for active play and creative expression through process-focused art activities. Class size: 3 teachers for 18 students (AM) & 2 teachers for 12 students (PM).
5’s – Meets four times per week for two and one-half hours: M, T, W, TH (9:00-11:30)
This class offers these older preschoolers an enhanced school curriculum. At this age, they are ready and excited to push further and ask amazing questions and discover answers. Socially and cognitively, the children are often ready for more involved cooperative-play experiences, more in-depth study of concepts and higher-level thinking challenges. This environment provides the framework for creating a joyful and enthusiastic community of self-directed and collaborative learners. The classroom is very student centered and provides many opportunities to build confidence in one’s ability to solve problems. Along with the emergent curriculum, thematic units are designed to target many different skills including oral language development, listening, literacy, science, social studies, mathematical reasoning, creative expression, fine motor/gross motor skills, and social/emotional skills. The goal is to create an engaging environment where the children feel valued, safe and comfortable as they continue to discover themselves as learners. Class size: 2 teachers for 12 students.
It is important to remember that each child enters class at his/her own developmental level, with needs unique to that child. The teachers strive to guide the children into a cohesive group, while recognizing the needs of each child and placing emphasis on individual growth within a shared environment.