Preschool Program

The Magic Years Nursery School is founded upon the belief that the preschool years are critical in your child’s physical, intellectual, and emotional growth. This should be the time of discovering the world around him/her and how he/she fits into it. It is a time of sense experience and a time to encourage his/her creative potential. In this first important step outside his/her own home, he/she should begin to trust others, to get along in a social setting, and to build a sense of assurance about himself/herself as an individual person. The job of a good nursery school is to promote these ends.

Balance is a keyword in the formulation of the program of The Magic Years Nursery School: balance between individual and group experience, between free play and structured activity, between small and large muscle development. Freedom is stressed, but within limits imposed by concern for the group. Here a warm and supportive atmosphere is supplied by trained and sensitive teachers working with small classes. This is the one time in your child’s school life when problems encountered in group experience can be worked out in a leisurely and flexible fashion.

Magic Years is a developmental, project-based preschool in which learning through play and learning social skills are emphasized. We offer a hands-on experiential approach to learning through projects and activities. Children are exposed to math and science through cooking, gardening, and experiments. Literacy activities include stories, dictation, flannel stories, and office play. Music and body movement are an important part of our daily program. We now include Spanish Sing-Alongs in which the children are exposed to Spanish through songs, body movement, and games.

Children graduate from Magic Years well-prepared for kindergarten.  They know how to get along with each other, they know how to follow directions and be respectful in group time, and most importantly.. They are excited about learning!

We have a gradual separation policy. At Magic Years separations are done on an individual basis. Someone that a new child is comfortable with (parent, nanny, grandparent) must stay with the child as he/she starts school. The teacher works with that person until she/he can gradually move back and eventually leave the child. As this process gradually occurs, the child feels more and more comfortable with the teachers and the new environment. For most children, this is the first major step away from home; it should be made without trauma. Subsequent separations will be easier when this is successfully completed. This process requires a lot of skill and experience.

When a child first starts at Magic Years, the parent or caregiver stays with the child in the class. The parent should bring reading or writing materials to school so that he/she can be occupied while the child is in the class (instead of being the child’s playmate). The teacher will work closely with parents in the separations. A parent will never “disappear” without saying goodbye. If a child is having a difficult separation, sometimes a home visit is arranged so that the child can have a chance to bond more with the teacher in a “safer” environment.