The Magnolia Children’s School Philosophy

Our mission in to provide physically and emotionally safe environment for children to learn about themselves, their peers and the world around them. We are multi-aged, child directed, play-based preschool. Our primary emphasis is on social and emotional intelligence. Our program is not confined to school hours, but extends beyond to be a support to families through parent education, family events and social support. We believe that to be an effective environment for learning we need to be respectful of the individual child, his or her family structures and his or her cultural backgrounds. We celebrate the multiplicity of the human family. We actively support each child’s unique self and encourage their place as the primary agent of their own learning.

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Goals and Objectives

Goal: To develop self-help skills in the children
Objective: By the time the children leave our program for kindergarten they will be able to wash their own hands, clear their place, dress themselves and keep track of their belongings and do their “job chart” job.

Goal: To develop pro-social play patterns and conflict resolution skills with a vocabulary to describe emotional states.
Objective: By the time children leave our program for kindergarten they will be able to express a wide range of emotional states without harming others, will use language to ask for what they want, will be able to listen to other children, will participate in facilitated meetings to work things out, and will be able to facilitate a meeting to work things out.

Goal: To develop pre-reading and pre-math skills in the children
Objectives: By the time children leave our program for kindergarten they will have the following pre-reading skills: recognize the names of all the children in writing, be able to read the job chart and clean up chart, be able to create stories for dictation, hold a pencil in a pincer grasp, write their own first name, be able to “read” quietly by themselves for 15 minutes, and understand that the written words convey meaning that is stable across time. By the time children leave our program for kindergarten they will have the following pre-math skills: be able to set the table with one cup per placemat, be able to count to 30 days for the calendar, understand the pattern introduced by the calendar, understand the concept of more, less and the same and be able to accurately follow snack signs.

Goal: To develop an awareness of the diversity and multiplicity that exists in the human family.
Objective: By the time children leave our program for kindergarten they will understand that families have many different structures and have a language for talking about those differences; that people come in different sizes, shapes and abilities and know that they are all “normal”; that there are ways in which people are different and ways in which we are all the same.

Goal: To develop a sense of community among the families, provide support to parents and parent education.
Objective: While they are in the program, families will attend some of the social events, all families will volunteer time to the school, parents will attend conferences about their child, when parents have questions about the program or child development they will ask the staff, children will socialize with one another outside of school, and when families are facing stressful life events such as births, deaths and moves they will receive instrumental support such as meals and childcare.

Goal: To develop a sense of professionalism and respect for each other and the children among the staff.
Objective: At staff meeting teachers will actively participate and speak honestly, teachers will continue to learn and think about curriculum and child development and teachers will consult one another when they are struggling with an issue with the children.