Program Specific Goals

Program-specific Goals

Some of the goals of our program include:

•To help a child feel comfortable, secure and trusting in his/her first school setting, the first SEPARATION from his/her parents.

•To proceed slowly, including attendance by a parent during the first session of the school year.

•To provide a secure, nurturing, positive environment for children to discover and learn.

•To provide an opportunity in a non-pressured atmosphere for children to develop good social skills SOCIALIZATION.

•To help children develop a sense of self-worth and pride in themselves, their play, work and accomplishments.

•To give children an hour of "free choice or unstructured" time at the beginning of each school day - a time when children are allowed to move freely among the four rooms of varying interests.

•To allow children to choose where they will spend time, depending upon their own feelings and interests at the time.

•To foster a child's self-esteem, so that each child feels unconditionally accepted, loved and respected.

•To help children develop though processes and problem-solving skills through active hands-on experiences.

•To emphasize the joy and excitement of learning.

•To provide a rich environment and wide variety of materials for math and reading readiness activities in preparation for kindergarten.

•To help each child succeed, win and gain the resulting self-confidence and self-control.

•To provide learning opportunities which will challenge, not frustrate or bore.

•To help a child function as a part of a group a group that is strengthen by his/her individual difference and contributions.

•To challenge each child in order to foster a sense of accomplishment and pride in themselves and enhance the development of a healthy well-integrated individual.

•To provide a warm personal relationship between the staff and children, enrollment is limited.

If we can help a child to feel happy in a school setting and proud of themselves and their work, we will have given him or her the tools which will help throughout school and life experiences.

Berkeley Hills Preschool is a developmental preschool, emphasizing the total growth of a child: physical, mental, social and emotional. This school provides a rich learning environment where each child receives positive encouragement to progress at his/her own developmental level. All activities and materials are designed to accommodate the widely varying growth and developmental rates of preschool children. At Berkeley Hills, the children learn by doing and by acting upon materials rather than by drill and rote learning.