Our Daily Activities
6:45 (to 8:00AM): The day begins with Snack time. The children arrive. They hang their coats on their special hooks and put their supplies in their cubbies. They settle in their chairs and have a snack, typically milk and a grain—toast, crackers or the like.
8:00AM: The Children visit the various learning centers.
Click on “Virtual Tour” for a peek at the centers
9:45AM: School begins with My Baby Can Read, a video program that introduces the children to the first steps of reading.
We welcome the day by looking at the calendar, identifying the day, date and season. We sing about the days of the week and the months of the year. Then we sing a song about the weather. The Helper updates the calendar.
Before we begin our lesson of the day, we offer our prayer requests to the Lord.
On Monday, Miss Pam introduces the theme of the week,
the letter, number, shape, color and social/emotional focus.
Then we fine-tune the direction of our day.
*On Monday, it's Language Arts. We talk about the letter of the week, the sound it makes, trace letters with our fingers, write them, practice our names. We also talk about words that begin with that sound. On Monday, we use some form of paint for our arts and crafts project.
Tuesday is Science. We explore our theme with hands-on activities, such as cutting up an apple, seeing its parts, touching it, tasting it. Then watching over time to see what would happen in the air.
Wednesday is Math. We talk about our number and shape of the week, simple addition and subtraction, counting objects, tracing, writing the numbers and ordinal sequencing. Plus, we do a cooking project.
Thursday is Social Studies. These activities are based on skills needed for an understanding of geography, history, map reading, cultural awareness, and today’s relevant events. On Thursdays, the children wear the color of the week and they bring Show and Tell.
Friday is Review. We find fun and interesting ways to review the alphabet and numbers.
Arts and crafts follows each lesson.
Twice a month, Miss Patti, from The Joyful Noise Project, comes to interact with the children through music, dance and expressive art.
10:00AM The children eat breakfast, which is typically milk and a fruit with a grain—toast, bagels, English muffins or the like. We sing a song introducing the meal, along with a prayer.
“God is good. God is great.
Let us thank Him for our food.
By His grace we all are fed.
Give us Lord, our daily bread.
It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen.”
After the children complete the meal, they ask to be excused and count to the number we are working on that week.
On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we count in English.
On Tuesday and Thursday, we count in Spanish.
But Before Breakfast, (around 9:45AM), we have Circle Time.
*Each day we have a “Special Helper.” The helper is chosen alphabetically by first name. The Special Helper gets special privileges. From telling us how to change our weather calendar to passing out the utensils at meal times, there are many benefits to this position. The child is first in line to go outside or in choosing learning centers, and is featured on the blog that day. The “Special Helper” is first on their special day, but would then be at the end of the line the next day. We rotate in order. It’s all fair, and the children grow to understand order and co-operation.
Time for Circle: We gather on our circles* and sing songs, starting with a song to welcome each Tenderheart family member.
Johnny’s here today. Johnny’s here today.
We’re so happy that Johnny’s here today.
Some of the children perform for us by twirling or dancing during their time in the spotlight. Before they resume their seat on their “circle” each child usually hugs Miss Pam or gives her a high five.
*Each child has a “circle” with his or her complete name on it. At circle, they have the opportunity to experience letter recognition and ownership.
We sing a variety of songs, sometimes using musical instruments. We incorporate songs about faith, the alphabet, animals and everyday life. If we cannot go outside, we end our circle time with some form of physical activity. Sometimes we set up an obstacle cource, sometimes we do exercises, and sometimes it's just fun and games.
Circle is a fun gathering time!
10:00AM: Breakfast followed by bathroom visits and teeth brushing
After breakfast each group has pre-set manipulatives arranged in their assigned areas.
The toddlers gather in the Library with developmentally-appropriate puzzles, shape-sorters, pop beads and the like to practice fine-motor skills.
The pre-school children gather in the Learning Center with materials needed to practice fine-motor skills. They have the opportunity to practice writing letters and numbers, using scissors, stringing beads, sewing cards, links and more.
Story-Time: Each group ends this time segment reading a book chosen to meet the theme of the week at an age-appropriate level.
Around 10:30 or 10:45 depending on the weather and the interest in the manipulatives, we go outside to enjoy our playground (weather permitting) or the learning centers are open for free play.
11:45 AM: We eat lunch, following the same routine as breakfast. We sing Miss Pam's rendition from a song about prayer by Steven Curtis Chapman,
“Let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray. Let us pray.
Every moment of the day, it is the right time.
And the Father above, He is listening with love,
and He wants to hear us pray, so let us pray."
We say grace and eat lunch.
Lunch is a protein, 2 vegetables or a vegetable and a fruit, a grain and milk. We do the same count before leaving the table.
12:15PM: Transition from lunch to rest. The older children settle down in front on the television, watching PBS (educational tv),
while their cots are placed in their pre-assigned spots.
12:30PM: It’s rest time. The television set goes off, the lights go down and
we play music to set the tone.
2:30PM: It’s snack time. The lights go on. Rest time is over. The children take their seats in the library. They watch something on the television (PBS or a DVD related to the theme of the week), while enjoying their snack.
3:00PM: The television set goes off and the we go outside (weather permitting) or the learning centers are open again.
The children enjoy free-play until their parents arrive by 4:30PM.