Our School Day

What happens during a typical preschool day? Here’s what it looks like at Brooklyn, for our mixed 3 and 4 year olds class:

The day begins with morning circle time. The students, family volunteers, and teacher sing hello and goodbye. The teacher engages the students in an interactive discussion about the day’s activities, a weekly or seasonal theme, or an upcoming event.
Open play time begins after circle time. During this time, students are free to choose their own adventure. Classroom materials and projects are changed daily, weekly, and seasonally, so that students continue to engage in the classroom environment in different ways.
Community snack time takes place after open play. We provide a vegetarian, nut-free snack at school each day. Students receive plates with various snacks at a shared table where they sit with a family teacher and converse with their classmates. At the end of snack time children clean their plates and wash their hands. Our snack preparation always accommodates students with dietary restrictions.
Open play moves outdoors after snack time. Students are free to climb on the play-structures, ride trikes and bikes, play ball, dig in the sandbox, share the tire swing, cook in the mud kitchen, engage in group play, and more.
Students return to the classroom for closing circle and story time. When the school day ends family teachers meet in the classroom for a short debrief of the day’s events. Students are free to continue playing outdoors, under parental supervision.

Jellyfish have a similarly structured day:

The day begins with open play. The teacher sings hello to each student as they arrive and dive right in to play. The teacher engages the students in an interactive craft activity aligned with a seasonal theme, or an upcoming event.
Circle time takes place after open play. All students gather around the “Jellyfish Ocean” a large blue rug. The teacher engages all the students in a story time that is aligned to the theme of the day as well as songs and other physical interactive activities. The teacher will select appropriate activities that arise from the individual class progression and experience.
Community snack time takes place after circle time. We provide a vegetarian, nut-free snack at school each day. Students get to pass plates of food around a shared table, serve themselves, and clean their own dishes. Our snack preparation always accommodates students with dietary restrictions.
After snack time everyone heads outdoors rain or shine. Students are free to climb on the play-structures, ride trikes and bikes, play ball, dig in the sandbox, share the tire swing, cook in the mud kitchen, engage in group play, and more.
Students return to the classroom for closing circle and story time. Each student gets a musical farewell after a story and a recap of the days events. When the school day ends parent teachers meet in the classroom for a short debrief of the day’s events. Students are free to continue playing outdoors, under parental supervision.