our goals 1. It is our goal to provide a developmentally appropriate program and environment where each child can unfold as fully as possible at his or her own pace. Because we know that the more ideas a child has in his or her mind, the more he or she can think, we want to provide an environment where children are stimulated to ask questions, share thoughts, look for answers, and creatively solve problems together. 2. Because play is a significant mode of learning, it is our goal to provide ample time and developmentally appropriate materials for child-initiated play. 3. We know that learning is a result of actual experiences; therefore, it is our goal to provide an atmosphere where children can learn through discovery. 4. It is our goal to provide a place where children can feel loved, cared for, nurtured, encouraged, and secure enough to venture out, try new experiences and face new challenges with confidence and to feel secure enough to make mistakes and try again. 5. It is our goal to provide an orderly, yet flexible and balanced program with different levels of difficulty, pacing and a wide variety of choice and experience. There needs to be time for inside and outside play, individual and group activities, small and large muscle activity and time for teacher-directed and child-initiated activities. 6. It is our goal to help children learn to plan a project, to begin the task and see it through to completion—individually, in small groups and in large groups—with their teachers present for support and guidance. 7. It is our goal to provide an environment that will nourish and expand each child’s creative dimension through art, music, drama, language and movement. 8. It is our goal to help each child recognize his or her many and varied emotions and grow in his or her ability to constructively express them. 9. It is our goal to help each child develop an understanding of self in relation to others, to develop an awareness of others’ needs and feelings, and to develop a concern for others; to see children helping one another, sharing, creating together, and solving problems constructively. 10. It is our goal to help children learn to respond appropriately and creatively in a group setting—singing, moving, listening and talking in turn. 11. It is our goal to help children take responsibility for themselves in an age-appropriate manner—to good health and safety habits and to be responsible for personal items. We also want to help them learn to take responsibility for personal actions—to clean up after play and to work out a problem with a friend. 12. It is our goal to introduce the children to the global community of other cultures, customs and diverse people and traditions as well as being Americans. We want each child to begin to discover the uniqueness and value of each individual person whether they live next door or thousands of miles away. 13. We want each child to know God as a friend—a personal loving Creator and Savior, that created each of them with inherent value, significance and individual worth. 14. For the family, it is our goal to provide a place for friendship, encouragement, support, growth, fun and involvement with their preschooler.