Below you will find answers to some of our most frequently asked questions:


What is our curriculum?
Highly respected by educators, Pusch Ridge Preschool & Kindergarten combines two well-designed teaching models of early childhood learning – The Creative Curriculum and the Project Approach method of learning. Working in conjunction with each other, these teaching tools bring a hands-on methodology to the interactive learning environment in which the children are immersed. In our schools, the learning process begins at infancy and cumulatively builds throughout the child's formative years, focusing on "whole child enrichment," including cognitive, socio-emotional and academic learning. Our curriculum includes such areas as infant sign language to develop early communication skills, Spanish language instruction to expose children to a useful second language, phonemic awareness to build early literacy, and an esteem-building program, designed to help children develop and feel comfortable with their values, tolerance for others and community awareness. Our whole child approach helps develop both academic skills and confidence as our students progress through kindergarten. Additionally, similar concepts are implemented in our Before & After School programs to further enrich the learning of our school age students, including a nationally acclaimed esteem-building program called "Character Counts."

What is our educational approach?
Pusch Ridge Preschool & Kindergarten uses a set of guiding principles and practices that our teachers follow as they work with and care for children. These principles are intended as an "open framework" where teachers are free to adapt to the special needs and conditions of their group, their setting, and the community. "Active learning" — the belief that children learn best through active experiences with people, materials, events and ideas, rather than through direct teaching or sequenced exercises---is a central tenet of our curriculum's approach for all age levels.

How do children learn in an "active learning" setting?
Since we believe that children learn best by pursuing their personal interests and goals, children in Pusch Ridge Preschool & Kindergarten are encouraged to make choices about materials and activities throughout the day. As they pursue their choices and plans, children explore, ask and answer questions, solve problems, and interact with classmates and adults. In this kind of environment, children naturally engage in "key experiences"—activities that foster developmentally important skills and abilities. We focus on 58 key learning experiences in child development for the preschool years and a wide range of practical strategies for promoting these key experiences. These key experiences are grouped into 10 categories: creative representation, language and literacy, initiative and social relations, movement, music, classification, seriation, number, space, and time.

What does Pusch Ridge Preschool & Kindergarten's preschool setting look like?
The space and materials in our school settings are carefully selected and arranged to promote active learning. The center is divided into "interest areas" organized around specific kinds of play. We have separate areas for block play, art activities, house play, small toys, computers, books and writing materials, and sand and water play. In each area materials are organized so children can get them out easily and put them away independently.

How is the day organized in our school?
Our teachers give children a sense of control over the events of the day by planning a consistent routine that enables children to anticipate what happens next. A central element of the day is the "plan-do-review sequence," in which children make a plan, carry it out, and then reflect on the results. The daily routine also includes time for small- and large-group experiences and time for outside play.

How do teachers interact with children in our school?
Our teachers are trained and certified to participate as partners in children's activities rather than relate to children primarily as managers or supervisors. Our training emphasizes positive interaction strategies: sharing control with children, focusing on children's strengths, forming authentic relationships with children, supporting children's play ideas, and adopting a problem-solving approach to social conflict.

Is language taught in our schools?
In addition to English language, grammar and phonics/phonemic awareness instruction, students are exposed daily to Spanish and sign language, with instructors visiting each classroom, teaching children an appreciation not only of the language, but also culture, geography, music and dance.

Does our preschool program teach math and reading skills?
Our preschool teachers use a more effective method to teach math, reading, writing and other academic skills than traditional teaching. Instead of teaching through a series of teacher-directed activities, drills, workbooks, or other "school-like" activities, teachers provide experiences and materials that help children develop the broad language and logical abilities that are the foundation for later academic learning. For example, to encourage children's beginning reading and writing skills, our centers incorporate a print-rich environment and provide opportunities throughout the day for children to listen to stories, explore books and other print materials, and work with writing tools and materials. To promote math abilities we provide materials that enable children to use beginning skills in counting, comparing numbers, sorting and one-to-one correspondence.

Are art and music important parts of our programs?
Art and music are part of every day's activities in our schools. Art and music materials are available for children to use freely at work time in our classrooms. Many of the small-group experiences planned by our teachers involve art materials; large-group experiences usually involve music. Teachers use key experiences in creative representation and music to highlight ways they can support the important abilities children are developing in these areas.

Are computers a part of our preschool classrooms?
Computers are integral in our daily preschool programs. We have selected high-quality software programs that are appropriate for the preschool-age group, and computer equipment is arranged so that they are inviting and freely accessible to children.

What about children with special needs?
Our teachers approach children with special needs by emphasizing the broad cognitive, social, and physical abilities that are important for all children rather than by focusing on the child's deficits. By offering parents free cognitive assessment, specialists identify where the child is developmentally, and then provide a rich range of experiences that would be appropriate for a normally developing child at that level. For example, they would encourage a 4-year-old who is functioning at a 2-year-old's level to express his plans by pointing, gesturing, and saying single words and they would immerse the child in a conversational environment that provides many natural opportunities for using and hearing language.

Do we employ a learning environment in our infant and toddler programs?
Yes! Our active learning approach has been successfully implemented in our programs from infancy through kindergarten age. Our younger children are taught by teachers using the Creative Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers, tailored toward the developmental stage of younger children. They provide appropriate experiences and materials for children, implementing a daily schedule, planned activities, and active learning throughout each day.

Do we also help children learn to appreciate the benefits of giving back to their community and others?
Absolutely! Through our corporate giving program, children and parents work together on our charitable fund raising, through growing their wish gardens, volunteering at charitable events at the school, adopting a wish receiver, and participating in our Character Counts Program, designed to help children appreciate the six pillars of character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship.