French Preschool in Newton, MA

The Teddy Bear Club, Newton:
The Teddy Bear Club Preschool and Kindergarten located in Newton, Middlesex County, MA, has an international flavor not only because of its French atmosphere and culture, but also thanks to the diversity of students who attend the program. We cater for children from Newton, Aubumdale, Waban, Chestnut Hill, Nonantum and surrounding communities. Over one hundred and fifty students constitute the Teddy Bear Club body. While at least seventy percent of our students are American, many families come from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Peru and Russia. Our programs focus on the development of the whole child by enhancing the child´s cognitive, physical, social and emotional skills. Children explore their world through active play, use of manipulatives and nurturing guidance. They participate in well-organized, bilingual learning experiences designed to stimulate and promote curiosity, imagination and independence.

The Teddy Bear Club offers two distinct programs:

* The Academic Program runs from mid-September to early June
* The Summer Program runs for six weeks, divided into three two-week sessions, starting mid-June. Applications are accepted on a first-come first-served basis.

Session Options:
Parents may opt to enroll their child in the 2-day, 3-day or 5-day program, as follows:

* 2-day option - Tuesday and Thursday
* 3-day option - Monday, Wednesday and Friday
* 5-day option - Monday through Friday

Session Schedules
The Teddy Bear Club sessions are 3 hours each. Children attend either the Morning Session or the Afternoon Session.

* The Morning Session runs from 9:00am to 12:00pm
* The Afternoon Session runs from 1:30pm to 4:30pm

Class Enrollment
The Teddy Bear Club academic program is designed for children ages two through five years old. Each class level is called a Jardin (garden). Petit Jardin applicants (our youngest class) must be at least two years old by September 1st.

Class assignments and groupings are determined by age, gender, social, emotional and intellectual needs. The following is a brief description of our Jardins:

* Le Petit Jardin is a program for children two to two years nine months. This toddler program is designed for our youngest students.
* Le Moyen Jardin is a program for children two years nine months to four years old and prepares children for our pre-K program.
* Le Grand Jardin is a pre-K program for children four to five years old. This class prepares the children for kindergarten.
* Le Jardin Maternel is a kindergarten program for children five years old and older, and also serves as a transitional kindergarten program for children slightly under age five. This afternoon program is only available as a 5-day option.

Students may be assigned to a mixed-age class if the number of applicants for a particular age group is larger than the class capacity. All of our classes are small and have a low teacher-to-student ratio.

Curriculum Activities:

French
Many recent studies have shown that very young children exposed to a foreign language are much more likely to become proficient in that language and to have native-like pronunciation. In addition to developing a life-long ability to communicate with more people, children may derive other benefits including improved overall school performance and superior problem-solving skills as a result of early foreign language learning.

Wellesley nursery schools, Wellesley daycare, Wellesley kindergarten schoolLanguage learners of any age typically understand a foreign language before being able to speak it. This is very true of The Teddy Bear Club children. They learn French without even trying! After just a few sessions, the children are able to understand much of what they hear in French with very little effort. Next, they will begin to produce one or two words utterances. We often see by the end of the year that the children are able to form short phrases on their own, sometimes plugging in French words into more complicated structures in their first language.

Weekly targeted vocabulary words are introduced communicatively in interactive lessons through rhymes, props, French books, and group games. Emphasis is placed on auditory comprehension and oral expression. Not only is French being introduced to our young students through interactive “French Lessons” but, also, both English and French are incorporated throughout the day in all of our activities.

Academics
Early positive educational experiences at school and loving relationships at home provide a powerful foundation for academic success.

Brookline, MA USA and Needham, MA USAAcademic goals and objectives for The Teddy Bear Club are guided by the Preschool Frameworks established by the Massachusetts Department of Education and coupled with our own developmental beliefs. Teachers continually observe children and design lessons that both support and extend learning experiences in a safe and secure environment. In addition, our children are encouraged to explore

Literacy
The reading program specifically selected by The Teddy Bear Club includes a research-based, multi-sensory, language approach. Oral kinesthetic (mouth movement) cues, imagery, and mnemonics (memory tricks) are used to foster phonemic awareness, reading and spelling skills in a structured format. Letters and sounds are introduced using colorful picture cards, imaginative stories, character letter songs and coloring activity pages. Reading readiness games and activities are designed by our teaching staff and geared to support concepts presented. Emergent reader series are used in both big book and individual book formats. In addition, children listen to stories carefully selected to represent various literature genres. Our abundant supply of books, both in the classrooms and in our French/English library, enables children and teachers to select books that meet learning objectives as well as individual preferences. Knowledgeable and enthusiastic teachers create an atmosphere that empowers children and encourages confident, lifelong reading.

Brookline, MA USA and Needham, MA USAWritten language skill development begins in our Petit Jardin! Children are natural “hands-on” learners. Manipulative activities allow children to develop physical coordination. Teachers assist children as they progress from simple hand/eye coordination activities, such as putting pegs in holes or elastics on a Geo-boards, to more complex fine motor control such as drawing circles or lines, transferring liquid from one container to another using an eye-dropper, or buttoning a coat. Our youngest children are taught grasping skills that promote fine motor development. Art activities are designed to allow toddlers to gain further control of paintbrushes, crayons and colored pencils. Directionality skills are enhanced by the use of jigsaw puzzles as well as by similar activities designed by the teachers. As the children progress through the Jardins, they are introduced to letter formation as they begin to write their names, label drawings and recognize the conventions of written language such as leaving spaces between words and using punctuation marks. The Dolch Sight Word vocabulary is used as a basis for both reading and writing skills. Both oral and written language skills are seen as tools that allow children to enhance their communication of ideas and feelings.

Communication skills are further addressed by promoting speaking, listening and performance opportunities throughout the morning and afternoon programs. Spontaneous conversations and self-expression enable children to communicate their needs and become more self-sufficient. Children use Circle Time to share relevant experiences and practice active listening skills. Teachers design activities that expose the children to public speaking, improvisation, and story interpretation. Dramatic roles both during Le Petit Théâtre time in the spring, and weekly sessions within the Jardins, awaken the children's innate sense of creativity while encouraging self-expression and the development of self-confidence when communicating with one another.

Math
A numerically powerful child develops meaning and looks for relationships among numbers and operations. Our teachers use many Montessori-based manipulatives as well as carefully chosen games, activities, and literature when children are taught to reason, calculate, estimate and problem solve. They begin by being introduced to concrete mathematical materials that allow a progression from concrete to abstract concepts through play and experimentation. Problem-solving skills are continually being promoted and reinforced.

Children in our youngest class, Le Petit Jardin, begin to learn the names of numbers and establish one-to-one correspondence. They are able to recognize and produce simple patterns and designs. Shape recognition and basic concepts of time are explored at this level.

As children progress though the Jardins, they explore the following curricular areas: Number Sense and Operations; Patterns, Relations and Algebra; Geometry; Measurement; Data Analysis Statistics and Probability. Practical application of skills is embedded into hands-on projects and real life situations. Concepts are supported by songs such as: “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on a Bed” as well as gestures, puppetry, props, and musical instruments. Math Literature is selected to introduce, support and/or reinforce concepts taught.

Science
Science is all about exploration and discovery. Our fun, hands-on experiments take us to the fields of biology, botany, geology, meteorology, and even chemistry and physics! As with all of our activities, a science activity can be sensorial, manipulative, promote language and math skills, and help the child feel wonderful about having discovered something new!

Some of our science projects this year will include: planting a seed and watching it grow, experimenting with various properties of water; participating in our daily weather reports, finding and studying objects collected during our nature walks, and developing hypotheses as they mix primary and secondary colors. Field trips whether on campus or off, allow the children to enhance their classroom understandings.

Environmental Awareness is an integral part of the science curriculum in the Grand Jardin and Jardin Maternel classes. Our goal is to help our young students understand and respect all living things in our world. By targeting various elements of nature through monthly themes, and by exposing the children to appropriate and specific environmental problems, we encourage them to develop a sense of responsibility and involvement in their community and their world.

Social Studies
Children are natural-born explorers! Following the steps of Christopher Columbus, armed with world maps, compasses and a lot of imagination, children move from understanding the concept of self (I, Me) to the concept of other (us, we, our). They begin to learn about their family, their community, their state, their country and their world.

The children of the Grand Jardin and the Jardin Maternel will travel around the world and discover all the wonders that our beautiful planet Earth has to offer. The children will learn to use a globe, locate the continents and identify many countries and their flags. But most importantly, they will become acquainted with other cultures, their traditions and languages. They will acquire an awareness of the large multicultural world in which we live through stories, songs, artifacts and visitors. In addition, the children learn to appreciate and sample the varied and delicious cuisines from the countries that they study.

Diversity is celebrated at The Teddy Bear Club in numerous ways. Children hail from local as well as international origins. Parents are encouraged to join their children in presenting special cultural traditions, foods and paraphernalia from their native countries. Celebrations of holidays from around the world enable all the children to recognize our diverse backgrounds.

Computers
All of the children enjoy the use of The Teddy Bear Club's computers. Educational software in both French and English is offered to practice vocabulary as well as math, pre-writing and pre-reading skills. These activities help the child develop hand-eye coordination as well as communication and problem-solving skills. In addition, the children have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with a learning tool that is widely used when they transition to the elementary schools.

Language Lab
Listening stations, with individual headsets, expose the children to the sounds of native French speakers through stories and accompanying activities on audiocassette.

Arts and Crafts
Art is an integral part of The Teddy Bear Club curriculum. We provide a variety of sensory art activities using various media such as: tempera paint, watercolors, acrylics, drawing and collage materials, playdough, clay and much more. These media encourages children to discover their own creativity through the art process. Most of our projects are designed to promote the child's own creativity through discovery of the potential of art materials. A child may proudly come home with a blank piece of construction paper with dried glue all over it. Nothing may have been glued on it, but that child may have spent 15 minutes working hard with that glue stick - and even put the cap on! This is art to the child! This is what we call process art instead of product art, and in general, this type of art process is more developmentally appropriate for the child. Some art activities will be more teacher-directed, while many others will remain child-initiated.

Practical Life
Practical Life skills are daily living skills needed both at school and at home. These skills lead to greater physical skills, perfection of movement and concentration. They foster independence combined with a sense of accomplishment which ultimately leads to a stronger self-esteem. Children take great pride in participating in adult-like activities at their own pace. Practical life activities such as greeting one another courteously or tying a shoelace are integral parts of The Teddy Bear Club curriculum.

Performing Arts

Movement
Movement develops the children's large motor skills and fosters the development of strong muscles. Children acquire an awareness of their body in space as they move freely around a room and it also teaches them to control their bodies. Many children do not realize how long their legs are when they are kicking, or what will happen when they swing their arms. Our movement curriculum strives to offer the children many fun and creative ways to move and exercise, so that when appropriate, a child can focus and concentrate on more structured activities. Various types of dance, yoga, obstacle courses and parachute games are some activities the children are exposed to in creative movement.

Music
Music is a language and the body is the first true instrument! All children are naturally musical. Our primary goal is to enhance the natural appreciation that children have for music. We want them to use music for entertainment and relaxation, as well as to assist with routines and signal transitions. Throughout the year, other musical objectives include playing various percussion instruments and listening and moving to different genres of music such as classical, folk and jazz. Special activities will guide the children to recognize various tempos, pitches, and to express rhythm with their bodies and/or instruments. Children can often identify types of music with emotions such as: this song sounds happy or sad. Listening to various music genres also allow the children to explore the voices, songs and instruments of other cultures.

Drama
Drama awakens the children's innate sense of creativity, encourages self-expression and develops self-confidence. It exposes the children to public speaking, improvisation and story interpretation. Each month, a special story is selected which highlights a theme or special event. We begin by reading the story a few times in English, until the children are familiar with the plot. Gradually children are encouraged to participate by acting out parts of the story incorporating the use of props, dialogue, music and dance.

During the last term of school, The Teddy Bear Club drama program focuses on each Jardin planning, rehearsing and presenting special performances for their classmates, teachers, parents and family members.