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Older Preschool Room
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The Older Preschool Program serves children 4 - 5 years old. CCCC's preschool ratio is 1 teacher for every 8 children, exceeding minimum state licensing requirements, thus allowing more time for nurturing one-on-one relationships between the teacher and child and for small group activities. The capacity for the older preschool room is 18 children. The older preschool schedule and curriculum are designed to assist in preparing children for kindergarten. The program continues to build off of our younger preschool goals of adding more structure, decreasing flexibility, and minimizing transitions. The daily routine consists of teacher-initiated activities, large group times, reading, writing, science, math, large motor, meals, rest, clean up, and child-initiated activities and play. The classroom teacher team changes the equipment in the classroom every three to four weeks to provide children with a variety of age-appropriate toys and equipment to engage with during child-initiated playtime. Large group activities increase the child's attention span and listening skills while developing confidence in a group setting by enhancing social and emotional skills. Curriculum is developed on a weekly basis focusing on a variety of subjects. Preschool teachers use a number of strategies and activities to encourage growth and development, including: playful interactions, songs, stories, positive reinforcement, direction, redirection, and modeling of appropriate behavior. The older preschool program focuses on school readiness which includes: expanding social skills and positive interactions with peers, problem-solving skills, being able to pay attention and follow directions, finishing tasks and working independently, health and safety habits, and a strong emphasis on helping children recognize, verbalize, and control emotions. The Older Preschool Room uses the Second Step social-emotional curriculum and the Woven Word literacy curriculum.