Preschool and Pre-Kindergarten

(For children 3, 4 and 5 years old)

Children at this age learn most effectively in an environment with a balance of fun, exploratory play, with an introduction to letters, numbers, shapes, and colors. Our preschool children take these beginning skills and build on them for Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten-readiness.

Tobin Beaudet Schools in Needham offers a Preschool and Pre-K program for children ages 2.9 to 5 years, with a ratio of preschooler to caregiver of 10/1.

Preschool & Pre-Kindergarten Hours:

  • Full year program, with optional summer program
  • Open Monday – Friday,  7:30 am – 6pm
  • School closings: Closed approx. 12 days per year and 1 week during the summer

Scheduling Options: (72 School St, Needham)

All children are enrolled for a 5 day schedule

  • Full Day: 7:30 am – 6pm
  • Early Pick-Up: 7:30 am – 3:15 pm
  • Mid Day: 9am – 3:15pm
  • Click here for our 2023-2024 school year enrollment contract

Language Arts

Your child will be in a language-rich environment—with lots of opportunity for sharing and encouraging conversation skills, introducing environmental and carefully prepared print, as well as exposure to lots of wonderful children’s literature.

  • Learning Letters: As they grow, your child’s simple scribbles turn into the beginning of controlled marks, and then to intentional forms and beginning letters.
  • Teaching Method: Our teachers use a variety of manipulatives, sensory play opportunities, and a variety of art and writing materials for fine motor practice and development of a productive pencil grip.
  • Preschool & Pre-K Writing: Your child will work on making the connections between letters and sounds–the basis for future reading. Weekly letter practice focuses not only on how the letter is formed for writing, but also how the letter is formed in your mouth when speaking and trying to make connections to other letters and sounds.
  • Daily Routine: Your child’s classroom experience will include: practice writing names, repeated exposure to print in the classroom, dictating a story to a teacher who will write it out, and expressing thoughts using art and beginning letter forms.
  • Daily Read-Alouds: Your child will have daily read-alouds and one-on-one reading with a teacher, as well as access to quality books throughout the day, providing the foundation for a love of reading!

Science & Math

  • Exploration: Science and math are all about exploration in our Preschool class. Your child will have different materials to build with, explore, count, sort, pattern, group, and graph. Teachers use everyday situations to lay the groundwork for STEM concepts: for example, counting fruit slices at snack, pouring water in the sensory table, and constructing an amazing block structure.
  • Monthly Learning Themes: Your child will have an organized way to learn about our world, the animals we share it with, and the way things work.
  • Animal Science: Your child will explore nature and learn about respect for the animal kingdom through weekly Animal Science lessons with Matthew Coughlin, known to the children as Mr. Matt.

Foreign Languages

  • Spanish & Mandarin: Through stories and simple words, your child will be exposed to both Spanish and Mandarin as part of their Preschool & Pre-K class.

Social Emotional Learning

  • Learning School Behaviors: Preschool and Pre-K set the stage for learning ‘school behaviors’ that go a long way toward future success. Children are encouraged to follow a structured routine, share toys with classmates, and work together with classmates on a group goal.
  • Emotions and sharing: At Tobin Beaudet,your child will learn about their emotions and how to share them in a safe, respectful way. Our teachers introduce self-regulation and executive function skills that will prepare your child for the school years ahead – while having fun in a nurturing, warm environment.

Fine Arts

  • Music and Art Every Day: Our Preschoolers explore visual arts and music daily in their classroom. Your child will model with clay, create sculptures and 3D structures, paint and draw, and glue and make collages. We sing songs as part of our daily routine and share opportunities to dance, play instruments, and move our bodies to rhythms.

Physical Education & Wellness

  • Get Moving: Moving is a way of life for children, and we give them ample daily opportunity to run, climb, jump, bounce, dig and play! Come to our early childhood playground, which offers a wide range of active play, along with large group games, seasonal water and snow play. Your child has two outside opportunities each day, weather permitting, as we understand that young children have to move to learn.

Measuring Progress

At Tobin Beaudet Schools we respect each child as an individual, knowing that they learn and develop along their own timeline. As education professionals, our teachers are well-versed in child development and supporting children’s individual learning goals.

 

Nurturing, Educating, and Empowering Children