Patterson Preschool

PHILOSOPHY

Patterson Preschool is dedicated to providing a positive, child-centered place of learning.

Our program supports positive social interaction and cooperative play.

We assist in each child's growing ability to resolve conflicts, share spaces and equipment, and to value similarities and differences.

We respect the uniqueness of each child and honor and encourage the whole child's development: social, emotional, physical and intellectual. We strive to provide children with a joyful, rich and stimulating environment that ensures success and builds confidence.

We believe preschool can be a great first step away from home and that the preschool experience is a valuable learning opportunity for both child and parent.

THE TEACHER

Our teacher, JiAna Dollarhide, joins Patterson Preschool after several excellent years with the Vivian Olum Center and Unity School in Eugene.

With her dedicated appreciation for nature and music, as well as pure enjoyment in happy kids, JiAna brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm which we are excited to welcome into the Patterson Preschool family.

THE PRESCHOOLER

At Patterson, children are encouraged to find enjoyment in social interactions, participate in group times, make the most of self-directed choice times, explore materials, laugh, get dirty, question, be silly, sing, dance, and just have fun!

Our goal is to support a child's desire to play. We believe this is what is most important in early childhood and where a lifelong love of learning begins.

THE CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE

Children are encouraged to find enjoyment in social interactions, participate in group times, make the most of self-directed choice times, explore materials, laugh, get dirty, question and just be kids!

Our goal is to support a child's internally motivated desire to play. We believe this is what is most important in early childhood and where a lifelong love of learning begins.

PARTICIPATION

Children are encouraged to participate in classroom activities such as circle and story times. They are, however, given the allowance to follow their own needs if they are not disruptive to group time. The goal is to acknowledge a child's independence and needs while teaching them to be respectful of others and the classroom routine. The teacher strives to maintain a balance between the individual child and the group's well being.

READERS AND WRITERS IN THE MAKING

Children take their first steps towards learning to read and write very early in life. The environment and curriculum at Patterson Preschool supports this development of pre-literacy skills through active exploration and play.

In our classroom you will hear children singing; this is phonemic awareness. You will see children using recipes for gooey peanut butter balls, children pretending to work at a post office, children finding their name on a toothbrush; this is exposure to different print and its uses. In our classroom you will see dinosaurs moving through sand and planets hanging overhead; this is vocabulary enrichment. And in our classroom you will see children listening to stories, telling stories, acting out stories; this is pre-literacy at its best!

We recognize that in this engaging and developmentally appropriate environment children will gain a love of learning and pre-literacy skills to support their development into strong academic learners.

THE CO-OPERATIVE EXPERIENCE

A co-operative preschool offers children a nurturing, family oriented environment as their first exposure to school. Having parents in the classroom increases our adult to child ratio and children learn to accept guidance from other trusted adults.

A co-operative preschool offers a great deal to its parents as well. Parents gain a better understanding of their child's individuality through observing them with other children of the same age. Parents directly take part in their child's education as well as learn more about the development of young children by observing a skilled teacher and associating with other parents.

Parent-members model problem solving, cooperation and commitment as they interact and work with other parents and children. The commitment of time and energy to the co-operative experience is not only rewarding and beneficial for the individual family but for many families, as that time and energy helps the preschool to thrive and continue to offer quality early childhood education to the community.