Athens First United Methodist Church and the Weekday Preschool believe that every child is a child of God and should have every opportunity to develop spiritually, socially, emotionally, cognitively, and physically to their highest potential in a loving environment. Our emphasis on the spiritual nurture of children and staff makes the program at Athens First United Methodist Church Weekday Preschool is a special one. With a structured day and trained caregivers that follow the accreditation requirements for the National Association for the Education of Young Children and North Georgia United Methodist Preschool Association, every opportunity will be provided for a child to feel secure as they discover the world around them.
Objectives
- To provide a spiritual foundation for children.
- To encourage the development of children spiritually, socially, emotionally, physically and intellectually.
- To help children know themselves as unique individuals.
- To help children develop trusting and responsible relationships with other children and adults.
- To provide developmentally appropriate curriculum designed to meet the individual needs of every child.
- To provide time for social interaction with other children.
- To provide activities designed to develop large and small motor skills.
- To provide opportunities for children to develop basic learning skills for pre-reading, pre-writing, math and science integrated in the day’s activities.
- To provide opportunities for children to succeed at the tasks suitable to their developmental level.
Curriculum Goals
- Spiritual: To help children be aware that they are a child of God and therefore worthy of love, acceptance, and support.
- Social: To help children feel comfortable in a school setting, trust their new environment, make friends, and feel like they are part of a group.
- Emotional: To help children experience pride and self-confidence, develop independence and self control, and have a positive attitude toward life.
- Cognitive: To help children become confident learners by letting them try out their own ideas and experience success, and by helping them acquire learning skills such as the ability to solve problems, ask questions, and use words to describe their ideas, observations and feelings.
- Physical: To help children increase their large and small motor skills and feel confident about what their bodies can do.
