Students
at Smart Start are not put on a time schedule. Instead they will follow a daily
routine which is not structured around specific time limits. A daily routine
provides repetition and continuity necessary for the young child’s feeling of
security. Our setup provides students with less interruption. Teachers choose to
complete activities and transition to other activities based on the students’
needs, circumstances, and interests.
The
routine may vary from room to room, but includes the essential periods of time:
a time for sharing, clarifying, and evaluating; large blocks of time where each
child can choose his or her own activities from a variety of learning areas; and
times that are quiet and active.
Meeting
Time: Students greet each other, talk about important events, sing,
learn about new materials and plan their day.
Work
Time (Centers and Projects): Students work in small groups
or individually, and develop ideas through encounters with materials set up
in center, conversations, group discussions, and symbolic representations in
multiple forms: art, music, movement, manipulatives, dance, drama,
constructions and writing.
Snack: Students eat snacks in the classroom or may go to the
kitchen and participate in a cooking project snack.
Group
Time: Students share and
review their work time activities.
Outdoor/Indoor
Play: Students play outside if weather permits. If weather
does not permit, they are taken into the multipurpose room for active play
and/or out onto their covered patios.
Lunch:
Students may eat in the classroom or outside.
Story
Time: The teacher reads stories to children and guides
students on specific areas of reading development.
Rest: Students are required by law to receive a rest time.
All students will be given a sufficient amount of quiet time to fall asleep.
Children who do not fall asleep will be allowed to work on quiet activities.
Class Journal: Students come together, review, and dictate the day’s events in a classroom journal. Each journal is posted outside each classroom for parents to read before entering the class.
Prepare
Student To Go Home
Classroom Journal from Class 5