Many families use preschool and daycare interchangeably, but the benefits of daycare and preschool are not the same. At Matthew’s Hope Firm Foundation, our preschool program has been developed to meet the learning goals of the children we work with and the goals and needs of the families we serve.
The Goal of Preschool vs. the Goal of Daycare A Preschool Program
• Ensures young children between the ages of two and five have a safe and engaging environment
• Prepares children to enter kindergarten with an emphasis on early education, both academic and social/emotional
• May offer different methodologies (such as our Montessori-based environment) which can help parents tie the way that their child learns into their parenting style
• Often follow a school year schedule with time off for the summer and holidays A Daycare Program • Provides safe childcare for young children, and many go from infancy to school-aged
• Generally offers more free play with a focus on social interaction, a wider age range and longer hours
• May offer flexible childcare options with drop-in care, after-school care, and holiday break care
• May provide more scheduling options
What Are Some Similarities Between Preschool and Daycares Firm Foundation Preschool
aims to provide our children with a safe place for whole-child growth, including social-emotional development, play-based learning, physical activity, and developing their communication skills. Children’s brains are developing rapidly during their early years and nurturing connections between a child and their parent/ teachers plays a big role in healthy brain development. It is very important for families to look for high-quality interactions between children and the childcare provider. Our children often spend more time in their learning environment than they do at home, so it is important that children feel safe, loved and cared for in this environment. A healthy early learning environment should allow children to have free and structured play, hands-on learning through sensory play, and plenty of outside time. Music, reading, and art are also important parts of a curriculum-rich learning environment. When considering childcare options, it is important to understand that the primary focus of early childhood education is, or at least should be social emotional development. Children must begin to focus on life skills, like empathy and be set on a path to responsible decision-making. Our Montessori-based environment sets our students up for increased confidence, independence and day to-day practical life skills to achieve these goals. Learning Standards in a Preschool Classroom Pre-K is the final year for a preschooler before entering kindergarten. More academic emphasis is placed on this age group, however, academics are part of all of our Firm Foundation early learning goals for each school year. Healthy, achievable goals begin in our classrooms upon entry, as early as 12 months, in our classrooms. Our Firm Foundation students who entered kindergarten after our preschool program met, and in most cases, exceeded the expectation for entry into kindergarten.
How Firm Foundation Preschool Combines Preschool and Daycare
Our Firm Foundation Preschool program is committed to continuing to provide a high-quality early learning environment by providing highly qualified early childhood professionals and high-quality learning materials to support our Faith/Montessori-based curriculum. Our preschool offers extended care for families over holiday breaks and holidays when most preschools are closed, we open our extended care and summer camp to students who have previously been students of Firm Foundation Preschool, and we offer a summer camp program for families who need year-round childcare, and we ensure child-care availability for elementary-aged children of our Matthew’s Hope Moving Forward Program guests. Rather your family is searching for a high-quality preschool program or daycare, Firm Foundation Preschool remains committed to providing a safe, Christ-filled, curriculum-rich learning environment where your child can reach their God-given potential, while also helping your family meet your family goals.
If you are interested in learning more about our preschool program, please free to contact me by email at Meagan@MatthewsHopeMinistries.org. I want to warmly welcome you and your family to tour our preschool and I pray that we have the opportunity to welcome your family to our school family! In Christ, Meagan Galamback Firm Foundation Director Reference Leslie Booren, Stanford Graduate School of Education, 2021 – Children in Preschools Receive Higher Quality Care
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