Our Mission
At LGAP we recognize the incomparable trust that is placed in us when you choose to enroll your child in our school. We strive to nurture your child in realizing their own individual potential as a well-rounded, secure, confident person with a strong motivation to learn and a strong sense of self as they enter school.
Our teachers develop individualized teaching strategies devised to match your child's own learning style. This promotes growth in all areas of development.
Daily School Schedule
Our schedule is flexible according to the needs of the day, here is an example of our typical daily routine.
Morning
Welcome!
8:15 - 9:15 AM
School opens and children arrive to a mixed-age group free choice play. Open-ended activities are set up by teachers. Children participate in group play, arts & crafts, or they may choose to look at books from the class library. Once everyone has arrived for the day we begin to transition to Circle Time.
Morning Snack & Library Time
10:00 - 10:15 AM
Our morning snack offering changes daily and our menu is rotated seasonally. These snacks are meant to fuel the children and keep them ready to play and learn! Library time is held after the children finish snack. We have a wide selection of books that change with our seasonal themes as well as a few constant classics that the kids love.
Circle Time
9:30 - 10:00 AM
Our circle time brings all of our students together in the morning for a fun rotation of songs, dancing, and concise lessons about our current focus topics. Topics include our focus letters, themes, shapes, etc. Each child is encouraged to participate in all aspects of circle time activities.
Recess & Indoor Class Rotation
10:15 - 11:45 AM
Recess is held in our spacious and sunny backyard playground. The children have numerous areas of play to choose from; such as two main play-ground areas, a sandbox, a grassy picnic area, and a black top area for tricycle riding or chalk coloring. After recess the children are split into their class groups for a focused class time. Teachers prepare developmentally appropriate and engaging activities and art projects for the students to participate in during this time.
Afternoon
Lunch & Half-Day Pickup
11:45 - 12:30 PM
During lunch time our younger class eats together in the kitchen while the Jr.K eat in our main room. Teachers begin to prepare for nap time and assist the children with their lunch-time needs.
Half-Day students are picked up for the day at 12:30 PM.
Small Group Activities & Full Day Departure
2:45 - 3:30 PM
Once nap time is over the children can choose to have an afternoon snack or to play. If we stay indoors activities like play-doh, kinetic sand, arts and crafts, and others are set up. If the weather is nice the group will go outside for another outdoor recess. At 3:30 our Full-Day schedule children are picked up for the school day
Story Time & Nap Time
12:45 - 2:30 PM
When students are done with their lunch we begin our transition to story & rest time. The children help get their rest time mats ready with sheets, blankets, pillows, and an optional stuffed animal from home. The children listen to story time or they can choose to look at a book themselves on their rest time mats. From 1:00 - 2:30 PM the children are quietly resting or sleeping on their mats.
Extended Care
3:30 - 5:30
For the final two hours of the day we have a small group of mixed-age children engaged in free play until pick up time. Between 4:45 - 5:00 PM an additional snack is offered to the children.
Little Explorer's Class (24 months - 3.5 years)
In our youngest combo class, we work on developing social skills that will be needed throughout their school career such as some of the children's first interactions with other children outside of their families, becoming accustomed to being away from family throughout the day, and speaking up for their needs.
Our class consists of a morning circle time, play time with their classmates, art projects focused around the theme, shape, color, and number focus of the week.
For our 3 year old's we begin teaching basics that they will need to know in Jr. K, for example the correct way to hold a pencil or crayon, how to safely use scissors, and the beginnings of learning to write by tracing.
How we implement...
Social-Emotional Learning
A focus on learning to communicate their emotions and needs, form friendship bonds, and overcome challengers they may face. We provide the stepping stones for the children to develop trust, empathy, and a sense of right and wrong.
Creative & Visual Arts
At this age art is all about experimentation! The Little Explorers will get hands on and learn about the different shapes, colors, textures in art, and learn how to use artistic materials such as paint brushes, glue, glitter, and many more!
Literacy & Language
Starting from the ground up we focus on the Little Explorer's being able to express their needs verbally, process and answer questions, understand and engage in lessons, and interact with their peers.
STEM
We take a hands-on approach in our STEM learning by guiding the children in discovering the world around them. Simple things like color mixing, block building, sink-or-float type experiments, and learning about the solar system help us build the foundation.
Health & Wellness
The beginnings of personal hygiene such as washing their hands and using tissues to blow their nose are a keystone in this age group's health and wellness learning. During lunch the children also learn about healthy foods and how they help our body's grow strong!
Junior Kindergarten Class (3.5 - 5 years)
In our Jr. K class we continue to offer a play based program that prepares students for kindergarten in a developmentally appropriate and fun way!
We are comprised of all of the elements listed in the 3 year old class as well as implementing more handwriting development through age-appropriate Learning Without Tears workbooks. Children begin learning to arrange words with the letters they have learned as well as start to write letters and words without tracing them. Phonics are introduced as the children begin the learning steps to reading. Our class consists of a daily learning circle where we read a book together as a class, go over our daily calendar, as well as a weekly letter focus and daily projects and workbook practice. We have multiple art projects and activities weekly for the children to be hands-on with the learning material and show their creative side!
How we implement...
Social-Emotional Learning
We help our Jr. K kids progress in their emotional learning by guiding them in showing awareness of others feelings, engaging in imaginative play, peer to peer conflict resolution, and being able to vocalize how they are feeling. We aim to lead by example while the children are playing.
Creative & Visual Arts
The children have guided access to more advanced artistic tools such as scissors, different types of paints and materials to express their creativity through art. Our art projects center around our current class focus but always encourage the children to show their creative potential.
Literacy & Language
We provide the guidance for the Jr K. class to recognize alphabet letters as well as their sounds, tracing letters and beginning to write them independently, being able to engage in story time and tell stories themselves, learn about rhyming and sight words, and write their own names.
STEM
Learning by doing is the best way for children to engage in the sciences. The children eagerly learn about the natural world around them through rotating lessons that pair with hands on activities. Toys that teach engineering basics, beginning mathematics, and scientific inquiry are provided.
Health & Wellness
Already having a basic understanding of hygiene, we teach the Jr. K the basics they need to know about those things called "germs" and how to keep ourselves and our friends healthy. We have regular conversations about healthy foods and how they help us grow strong!