Preschool
The Delmar Arts Academy Preschool is a vibrant, year-round program for children aged 15 months to 5 years, centered around the arts: painting, sculpting, music, dance, drama, and kids' yoga. These activities are key to a child's development:
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Visual Arts: Encourages creative thinking, communication, and physical skills.
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Dance: Enhances expression, patterning, body awareness, spatial concepts, and flexibility.
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Music: Improves coordination, goal-setting, concentration, and self-esteem. It also boosts sports skills, speech-flow, mathematics, and reading achievement.
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Drama: Fosters imagination and social growth.
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Kids Yoga: Builds self-esteem, imagination, self-discipline, and relaxation techniques.
A Harvard study concluded that music, visual arts, and dance can develop critical thinking, which includes logic, reasoning, and problem-solving.
Delmar employs the High Scope Curriculum, designed for active learning and elementary school success. It is based on the idea that children learn best from activities they plan and execute themselves. Trained High Scope teachers understand children's mental construction of the world and build on their thoughts and actions. They have daily opportunities to decide their activities, with the teacher using these decisions as teaching starting points. This method includes five active learning ingredients:
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Materials for each child.
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Manipulation of those materials.
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Choice by the child of what to do with the materials.
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Words chosen and used by the child.
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Support by the teacher that helps the child think about his/her actions.
The High Scope goals are to support emerging skills, promote active learning, provide direct experience with real objects, apply logical thinking, establish and maintain a daily routine, and ultimately prepare children for kindergarten in a fun environment, associating learning with fun and creating a mindset for future success.
Delmar also utilizes Conscious Discipline, a behavioral management tool that integrates classroom management with social/emotional learning, addressing both the adult's and child's emotional intelligence. It transforms daily conflicts into opportunities to teach critical life skills. Research shows that Conscious Discipline increases cooperation, decreases problem behaviors and aggressive acts, increases academic scores, teaching time, parenting effectiveness, and creates a positive school climate.
Moreover, Delmar is a dual-language preschool, teaching English and Spanish and exposing children to various cultures. We welcome families of all faiths, cultures, and nationalities.
We believe in the power of community and encourage parent involvement. Teachers often invite parents with relevant knowledge or talents to share activities with the class. We also hold monthly community-building events, such as our annual Chinese New Year celebration, Kite Day, Thanksgiving Pot-Luck Dinner, and Labor Day BBQ.
