Early Childhood Academics

Beginning 2025-26, the Twos Classes will be five days per week, Monday through Friday, with half-day, extended-day, and full-day options available.

Two-year-olds are introduced to school within a small peer group among nurturing teachers. Nestled within a growing garden with direct access to woods and trails, our natural classroom includes a large play-yard with equipment where children can explore, practice motor skills, observe the seasons, grow and garden, and immerse themselves in the elements. Activities are designed to support social-emotional learning, physical foundational senses, self-care, cognitive development, and exposure to early math, science, and literacy components. The Two-Year-Olds Classes consists of periods of independent play, child-directed learning, and teacher-structured group activities.

Our Interdisciplinary Approach

Our Two-Year-Olds Classes encourages learning through play. Play is any activity that is intrinsically motivated, involves active engagement, and results in joyful discovery. Play often nurtures the imagination, contains elements of make-believe, and is non-literal. Materials and environment reflect an intentional invitation to children to explore hands-on, using a variety of senses, and with an appropriate measure of risk-taking and consideration for self and others. Teachers create a predictable routine to the school day and model actions. They guide language and physical activity through artistic projects, open exploration times, fingerplays and songs, cooking, told and read stories, and meaningful work. In this way, the young child learns, not through only direct instruction, but through direct experience of the world.

The Pre-School 3 & 4 (PS 3 & 4) Program is a two-year program for three- and four-year-old children who interact and learn in mixed age groups. Each day consists of independent play, teacher-directed group activities, and individual instruction in a nature-based outdoor setting.

The Pre-School teachers collaborate extensively to implement the program with a commitment to a small student-teacher ratio. Participation is five days per week.

Our Interdisciplinary Approach

The PS 3 & 4 experience at St. Anne’s-Belfield School is designed to be an enticing and dynamic environment which recognizes that children learn through play. We know that children need to connect through their senses, exploring through self-discovery to make sense of their world. To support this growth, teacher-created learning stations are at the heart of our multi-age classrooms, both inside and out. Each outdoor learning station provides different opportunities for hands-on exploration of nature, the chance to experiment and notice cause and effect and the ability to use the natural world to extend curriculum concepts. Each child is able to relate to the materials in their own unique way. The teachers serve as facilitators, encouraging and supporting the child’s individual needs and interests. We know that this intentional process lays the groundwork for the development of a curious mind and the love of learning that will extend well beyond the Pre-School years. 

The Junior Kindergarten (JK) program is designed for those children who typically have summer and early fall birthdays. Each day consists of opportunities for independent play, teacher-directed group activities, and individual instruction in a nature-based outdoor setting. 

Our Interdisciplinary Approach

The Junior Kindergarten experience is for children who are ready for emotional, social, physical, and cognitive experiences beyond the expectations that are required in a Pre-School setting. 

Our program is designed to provide a dynamic environment which recognizes that children learn through play. We know that children need to connect through their senses, exploring through self-discovery to make sense of their world and allow them to build upon teacher-directed activities. Each child is able to relate to the materials in his or her own unique way. The teacher serves as a facilitator, encouraging and supporting each child’s individual needs. We know that these creative centers lay the groundwork for the life-long development of a curious mind and the love of learning.

A full-day program, the Junior Kindergarten program offers additional challenges during this year to pursue developmentally appropriate investigations, research and problem solving activities as well as time for social growth.  A carefully developed curriculum is designed to support curiosity which lays the groundwork for the life-long development of the love of learning.  

The students are introduced to new concepts and centers through a guided discovery approach. Guided discovery is a method described in the book, “The Responsive Classroom” by Ruth Charney. Guided discovery is a teacher-directed, hands-on approach to instruction. The purpose is to prepare students to use classroom materials and develop critical thinking skills. The teacher uses a series of question and answer relationships to encourage children to compare, describe, explore, and question new concepts. This prepares students to work independently and think critically.