Toddler Transition to Preschool
I hope you have been pleased with your child’s experience and are planning to continue at Fort Hill. We will be sending reenrollment forms and summer enrollment forms to your homes on Monday, February 3rd. The forms are due back with a non-refundable deposit before Friday, February 14th.
Toddlers who reenroll at Fort Hill, and turn three-years-old before December 1st, will transition to the preschool program at the beginning of the 2020-2021 academic-year. The preschool program differs in several ways from the toddler program. This blog is intended to provide toddler families with some information about the preschool program.
We plan a variety of activities to support children and families in making the transition from the toddler to the preschool program. These include:
- many opportunities during the spring and summer for children to visit the preschool classrooms, visual arts studio, and playground;
- an invitation for you and your child to attend an Open House on Sunday, January 26th from 10:00 – 11:00 to meet the teachers and visit the classrooms;
- an invitation to contact Lori McKenna to arrange an observation of the preschool classrooms during the spring semester;
- an opportunity for you to meet with the studio teachers, preschool teachers, the toddler teachers, and me to discuss the transition at 3:30 pm on Wednesday, February 12, 3:30 – 4:30 pm; and,
- home visits and an orientation program in the fall 2020.
The following sections describe some of the differences between the preschool program and the toddler program.
Schedule
All children in preschool attend 3, 4, or 5 days a week. The scheduling options for preschool for the 2018-2019 year are:
- 3, 4, or 5 days 8:00 – 12:45 (all children eat lunch at Fort Hill)
- 3, 4, or 5 days 8:00 – 2:45
- 3, 4, or 5 days 8:00 – 4:45
Families who enroll 8:00 -12:45 or 8:00 – 2:45 may extend a day until 2:45 or 4:45 on a space-available basis. The fee for this program is paid separately and is not eligible for the Smith College employee tuition grant.
Tuition
The tuition rate for preschool is less than for toddlers because the class size and teacher: child ratios are different.
Class Size
There are three preschool classrooms. One classroom, Group S, is limited to 14 children. The other two rooms, Group A and Group B, are larger and are limited to 20 children, although we typically enroll fewer children in all three rooms. Preschool classrooms may be either mixed-age rooms with both three- and four-year olds, or single-age rooms, depending on the ages of the new applicants and returning students each year.
Teacher: Child Ratio
In the toddler classrooms we maintain a ratio of 1:3 and in preschool the ratio is typically 1:6 or 1:7. Both these ratios exceed state requirements, which mandate a 1:4 ratio for children between the ages of 15 months and 33 months and 1:10 ratio for children between the ages of 33 months and 60 months.
Teachers
The Massachusetts teacher certification requirements differ for each age group (infant/toddler and preschool) and therefore the teaching teams at each level typically remain as either infant/toddler or preschool teams. It is almost certain that your child’s current teachers will remain in the infant/toddler wing and your child will meet new teachers in the fall in the preschool.
We have several strategies to ease this transition. Your child will begin visiting the preschool classrooms later in the spring. In the summer, the toddlers typically spend much time in the preschool areas. Preschool teachers will make home visits in the fall before school begins and there will be an orientation period in August.
Groupings
The age-eligible children currently in the West, South, and East Rooms may be placed in preschool Groups S, B, and A. Children typically do not stay with all of the children from their toddler room. We ensure that every child is placed in a group with at least one other child with whom he or she has formed a strong friendship. Please feel free to share information with your child’s teacher during the May conference if your child has special friendships. Class lists are finalized at the end of July and mailed to families by August 1st.
Looping
Children in Groups A and B typically spend two of their preschool years with the same group of children and teachers. Children enrolled in the Group S classroom spend one year in Group S and then move either Group A or B for the following year(s).
Because the kindergarten-age cut-off in most local kindergarten programs is five-years-old by September 1st, children whose fifth birthday falls between September 1st and December 1st typically spend three years in preschool and children whose birthday is before September 1st typically spend two years in preschool.
Visiting Program
Similar to the toddler program, children in preschool are free to visit other classrooms, as well as the visual arts and music studios, during the morning. The teachers maintain a system (i.e., magnets with the child’s name and picture) to monitor the location of each child as she moves among the spaces. This system offers children opportunities to visit friends in other classrooms and experience a wide range of materials. Preschoolers also frequently visit siblings and familiar teachers in the infant/toddler wing.
Daily Schedule, Snack, Lunch, and Nap
The preschoolers typically begin the day on the playground shortly after 8:00 am. They also typically eat lunch and begin nap later than the infant/toddler rooms. Snack in the preschool is “open” or “choice” snack and children choose the time during the morning they want to eat snack and they independently set their place, serve themselves, and clean-up their space. Because of the number of children and the small refrigerators, preschool lunches are kept in their cubbies, not in a refrigerator; many families use ice packs to keep the lunch cold.
During the summer the teachers will begin slowly adjusting routines and introducing new routines to ease the transition.
Curriculum
Similar to the toddler program, the preschool curriculum is inspired by the Reggio Emilia Approach to early education and care. To learn more about the preschool curriculum, please visit this page to access the blog postings from the preschool classrooms (Groups A, B, and S) and the visual arts and music studios. You will see children engaging in longterm, in-depth projects and experiences that support their developing social/emotional, literacy, mathematical, and other learning.
Assessment and Reporting
Similar to the Infant/Toddler program, the preschool teachers meet with families in the fall; write a narrative report prior to the December conferences; and, collect samples of the children’s work to develop a portfolio to share at the May conference.
Thank you!
Thank you – I hope you will join us for:
Open House: Sunday, January 26, 2020, 10:00 – 11:00 (Nick’s band will play in the Common following the Open House!)
We will hold an Open House on Sunday, January 26th from 10:00 – 11:00. The Open House offers an opportunity for you and your child to visit the preschool classrooms and meet the teachers.
Our annual concert with Nick’s band, In the Nick of Time, will follow the Open House at 11:00 am. We hope you will be able to attend the Open House and stay for the show! Please feel welcome to bring a friend to the Open House and to the concert.
Toddler Transition Meeting: Wednesday, February 12, 2020, 3:30 – 4:30
Please join us to talk about the transition from the toddler program to the preschool program. All the preschool and toddler teachers, as well as studio teachers, Jen and I, will be there to share information about the preschool, answer questions, and offer an opportunity to see the classrooms and get to know the teachers. We will meet in the Common at 3:30.
Preschool Classroom Observation
If you would like to observe a preschool classroom in session, please visit the office or call Lori McKenna, 413-585-3290.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
