About
Philosophy & Approach
The Preschool at Peachtree Road United Methodist has had the privilege of serving students and their families for more than six decades. While continually adapting to evolving educational opportunities, resources, and research, The Preschool maintains its purpose of nurturing the whole child. Whether a student is taking his first steps or preparing to step into Kindergarten, The Preschool's mission is to offer a loving environment in which children feel safe to investigate their worlds, explore their interests, and engage with peers and teachers in meaningful ways. The Preschool seeks to be an inclusive, faith-based leader that honors tradition and embraces innovation in early childhood education.
The Early Childhood Division at The Preschool includes children in the Toddler and Twos classes, while the Preschool Division serves our Threes, Pre-K, and 5/6 students. Although different in content, both divisions implement our balanced, play-based, backward design curriculum. By first identifying what a child should know and be able to do according to the Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS), teachers begin with an end goal in mind and then develop meaningful learning opportunities that advance students toward it, monitoring their progress and differentiating instruction as necessary along the way.
With guidance from the GELDS, classroom experiences in both divisions address children's developmental progression along a continuum for social-emotional growth, approaches to learning and play, cognitive ability, language acquisition, and motor skills. Carefully crafted activities engage students in curiosity and self-direction, cooperation, and flexibility, as well as measured and imaginative play. The Preschool’s balanced approach to learning provides both the structure and the freedom necessary to inspire students toward active learning and to empower them to understand their feelings and themselves as learners.
With guidance from the GELDS, classroom experiences in both divisions address children's developmental progression along a continuum for social-emotional growth, approaches to learning and play, cognitive ability, language acquisition, and motor skills. Carefully crafted activities engage students in curiosity and self-direction, cooperation, and flexibility, as well as measured and imaginative play. The Preschool’s balanced approach to learning provides both the structure and the freedom necessary to inspire students toward active learning and to empower them to understand their feelings and themselves as learners.
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood”
-Fred Rogers
-Fred Rogers
Methods, Tools and Technology
The framework for our whole-child program includes tools, methods, and technologies that introduce a foundational understanding of concepts that children will encounter throughout their educational experiences. Opportunities for critical thinking accompany activities that enhance cognitive and motor development, while also encouraging creativity through active, hands-on learning.
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Methods
Instructional methods inside our classrooms keep children at the center. Intentionally designed activities appeal to the three primary learning styles - visual, auditory, and kinesthetic - and foster students' cognitive and social-emotional growth as they learn to express themselves and relate to others. From art, STEM, and music classes to playground and circle time, everything children do at The Preschool is a carefully planned learning experience. -
Tools
Classroom tools include manipulative exercises that focus on specific concepts as well as themed learning centers that engage children in such as art, building, reading, and dramatic play. Whether working individually with a teacher or practicing role-playing and turn-taking with their peers, our students remain actively involved in their learning. -
Technology
Recognizing technology as a fixture in today's world, The Preschool bases its inclusion in our curriculum on the evidence-based position statement published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media. We believe that "effective uses of technology and media are active, hands-on, engaging, and empowering; give the child control; provide adaptive scaffolds to ease the accomplishment of tasks; and are used as one of many options to support children's learning.” Our specific technologies - interactive whiteboards, digital portfolios that engage both students and parents, and individualized language and math analytic, diagnostic, and practice platforms - function to extend student learning and support the creativity and skills they're already developing through personal interaction and engagement.
National Association for the Education of Young Children, & Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media. (2012). Technology and interactive media as tools in early childhood programs serving children from birth to age 8. Technology and Media Resources
Address & Contact Info
Located on PRUMC’s beautiful Buckhead campus, The Preschool is an independent, faith based school, for children 12 months through 6 years-old. We are committed to nurturing the whole child in preparation for the most distinguished public and private primary schools in Atlanta.
