Preschool at the Reston Children’s Center is a magical place. Our children learn and grow in a unique, open-environment setting designed to promote social skills, choice making, and both structured and free play -- all of which help our children develop self confidence and compassion as they make new friends, learn new life skills, and prepare for a lifetime of learning.The preschool program consists of two unique programs that serve children from the ages of two-and-a-half years to five years:
- Full-day Preschool: Children have the option of attending two full days, three full days, or five full days, with a 12-month enrollment, September through August.
- Part-day Preschool: Children are assigned their days of attendance according to their age. Children who are two and a half come two mornings a week, children who are three come three mornings a week, and children who are four come five mornings a week, with a ten-month enrollment following the Fairfax County public schools calendar, September through mid-June.
Each week, children participate in additional activities including physical education, story time, and music class. Children take frequent field trips to local playgrounds, parks, museums, fire and police departments, and local businesses. Once a month there is a “special day,” which follows a specific theme (like pajama day) and children get the opportunity to enjoy additional, theme-related activities for the day. RCC has strong ties with the local community and frequently hosts members from our community, such as veterinarians and members of our local fire department. Our children and staff gather together during these presentations for town hall meetings to enjoy our special visitors.
Home base teacher and a small class of children
Our youngest classes carry a ratio of one teacher to seven children.Classes of children three years of age have a one teacher to nine children ratio.
Four-year-old classes have a ratio of one teacher to ten children.
Typical Daily Schedule
| 6:30–7:00 | RCC opens its doors and welcomes all our children. Quiet activities are provided. |
| 7:00–7:45 | School-age children move to the school age program building. More activities including puzzles, manipulatives, free art supplies, and items from creative play are provided for our preschool children. |
| 7:45–8:00 | Story time is offered to all our preschool children in our Language Arts Library. |
| 8:00 | Breakfast is offered to all children. Quiet activities are provided for those children who have eaten. The children and staff who have completed breakfast and are ready move outside for playtime. |
| 8:30–9:00 | Outside playtime is provided for all our preschool children. If the weather is inclement, then inside activities are provided. |
| 9:00–9:30 | Circle time. Teachers and children move inside and prepare for circle time in each child’s home base area. Circle time is used for morning greetings, story time, and preparations for morning open time. Part-day preschool children arrive and meet with their teachers in their home base areas for morning greetings and preparations for morning open time. |
| 9:30–11:00 | Open time. Every home base area serves as a learning center during open time. We spread out and enjoy our building and our playgrounds as we participate in art, big blocks, creative play, dramatic play, free art, housekeeping, language arts, manipulatives, math and science, outside play, sand and water tables, unit blocks, and snack. Each child has the opportunity to choose one or many areas of child-directed and /or teacher-directed activities. Each teacher is responsible for an area on a rotating schedule. |
| 11:00-12:00 | Small group time. All children return to their home base area with their teacher. This period of time is used for stories, music, group projects and activities, and outside playtime. |
| 12:00 | Lunch is served in each Full-Day Preschool child’s home base area with their teacher. |
| 12:30-1:00 | Preparations are made for nap. All children have playground and bathroom time before nap. |
| 1:00–3:00 | Naptime. |
| 2:30–3:00 | Quiet reading and inside/outside playtime for children who have completed nap. |
| 3:00–3:30 | Children rise from nap and prepare for snack. Snack is served at home base area with their teacher. |
| 3:30–4:00 | Small group time. This time is set aside for stories, group activities, outside play, and preparations for the afternoon schedule. During this time on Tuesdays and Thursdays we have music and library hour. |
| 4:00–5:00 | Open time. Our children and teachers participate in afternoon open time that offers a selection of activities similar to our morning open time, with the exception of Tuesdays and Thursdays, which are our music and library days. |
| 5:00–5:15 | Story time. Our groups join together for story time. |
| 5:15-6:00 | Mini open time and playground time. |
| 6:00–6:30 | Quieter activities around the big art table and in nearby areas as the building prepares to close for the evening. |
Ten Areas of Play
Play is children’s work and it is through play that children learn. Our daily open time and open classroom environment provides a diverse selection of learning areas that encourage learning through play, cooperative mentoring between teachers and children, and children and children. Every child has the opportunity to choose and participate in one area or many areas of interest. These areas are child-directed with teacher supervision and/or teacher-directed activities. Each teacher is responsible for an area on a rotating schedule.
We use and enjoy every area of our building and our playgrounds. Our morning open time involves the children of our full-day and part-day programs and both programs’ staff. Our afternoon open time involves only the full-day children and their teachers and our support staff.
Art: It is here that conceptual and perceptual development occurs. We provide diverse, stimulating, open-ended activities using various types of materials that promote creative thinking. Finger painting, easel painting, watercolors, clay and Play-Doh sculpting, cutting, gluing, and creating occur here.
Big Blocks: Big blocks provide a building opportunity on a large scale. Each child has the opportunity to expand his/her view of the world through building structures that involve large motor skills and large blocks. Wood vehicles and our woodworking prop boxes are creative additions to this area.
Creative Play: In creative play, our children have the opportunity to play with their friends and teachers as they recreate their world on a smaller scale. Our children will have a chance to share the train table and dollhouses, while moving vehicles to and from the family farm, gas station, castle, and fort.
Dramatic Play: This area is in conjunction with housekeeping and is supported by our prop boxes. Our children are provided an opportunity to stretch their imagination and play in the worlds of make-believe to the worlds of mommy and daddy’s work. In combination with housekeeping our children have the opportunity to create their home and their work environments.
Free Art: Many of the same developmental process of art come into play here with the opportunity for each child to choose the supplies and direction of their own project. This area is a pre-primer to reading and writing development.
Housekeeping: Housekeeping provides a creative area for each child to pretend or act out the events of his/her life experiences. It lends an opportunity for role-model behavior between children and the many adults in their lives, and the give and take of social behavior with their peers.
Language Arts: Language arts time, story time, dictation, are all vital parts of our children’s day and their developmental need to express their thoughts and emotions. Talking and sharing with their teachers and peers about everyday events is important and the beginning and continuation of successful communication skills. The experience and practice of learning, listening, and contributing to group discussion is a valuable life skill. Our children’s words are important. Reading stories, acting out plays, and telling tales with puppets are some of the ways we encourage our children to share their thoughts and language with us and each other. Music and movement are also a celebrated component of our language arts program and are offered in our language arts library.
Manipulatives: This area provides an opportunity to develop and fine tune fine motor skills. These include eye/hand coordination, size concepts, sequencing, visual discrimination, spatial relations, one-to-one correspondence and much more. Puzzles, Legos, Klondikes, and smaller type items are available here to strengthen these very important muscles and skills.
Math and Science: The emphasis of this area is that everything here, there, and everywhere is explored. All children have the opportunity to understand their world from their home through their neighborhood, to their school, to the larger community around them through exploration. This is accomplished through touching, seeing, talking, observing, comparing and contrasting, measuring, weighing, counting, and exploring, exploring, exploring.
Outside: Outdoor play is a very important part of our program for all of our children. Coordination, balance, large motor and muscle skills use are expanded and developed through organized games and our children’s developmental need to run, jump, and slide around our playgrounds. We use our playground, our physical education days, and our field trips to work on, strengthen, and celebrate these very important physical skills.
Sand and Water Tables: Sand and water are combined for multi-faceted fluid play. Our children can sift, pour, measure, dig and bury with water or sand while discovering the differences between liquids and solids.
Snack: Snack is offered to all our children during open time. It is another opportunity for family style dining and the assistance in our children’s self-help skills involving serving, pouring, passing, eating and conversing. Everyone helps with clean up, too.
Unit Blocks: In this area, each child is able to integrate their ideas of the world into buildings and building. Play here promotes problem solving, cooperation and a feeling of success with the completion of their construction. Creative play items and wood structure items are available and may be used to add to the creative process.
We use and enjoy every area of our building and our playgrounds. Our morning open time involves the children of our full-day and part-day programs and both programs’ staff. Our afternoon open time involves only the full-day children and their teachers and our support staff.
Art: It is here that conceptual and perceptual development occurs. We provide diverse, stimulating, open-ended activities using various types of materials that promote creative thinking. Finger painting, easel painting, watercolors, clay and Play-Doh sculpting, cutting, gluing, and creating occur here.
Big Blocks: Big blocks provide a building opportunity on a large scale. Each child has the opportunity to expand his/her view of the world through building structures that involve large motor skills and large blocks. Wood vehicles and our woodworking prop boxes are creative additions to this area.
Creative Play: In creative play, our children have the opportunity to play with their friends and teachers as they recreate their world on a smaller scale. Our children will have a chance to share the train table and dollhouses, while moving vehicles to and from the family farm, gas station, castle, and fort.
Dramatic Play: This area is in conjunction with housekeeping and is supported by our prop boxes. Our children are provided an opportunity to stretch their imagination and play in the worlds of make-believe to the worlds of mommy and daddy’s work. In combination with housekeeping our children have the opportunity to create their home and their work environments.
Free Art: Many of the same developmental process of art come into play here with the opportunity for each child to choose the supplies and direction of their own project. This area is a pre-primer to reading and writing development.
Housekeeping: Housekeeping provides a creative area for each child to pretend or act out the events of his/her life experiences. It lends an opportunity for role-model behavior between children and the many adults in their lives, and the give and take of social behavior with their peers.
Language Arts: Language arts time, story time, dictation, are all vital parts of our children’s day and their developmental need to express their thoughts and emotions. Talking and sharing with their teachers and peers about everyday events is important and the beginning and continuation of successful communication skills. The experience and practice of learning, listening, and contributing to group discussion is a valuable life skill. Our children’s words are important. Reading stories, acting out plays, and telling tales with puppets are some of the ways we encourage our children to share their thoughts and language with us and each other. Music and movement are also a celebrated component of our language arts program and are offered in our language arts library.
Manipulatives: This area provides an opportunity to develop and fine tune fine motor skills. These include eye/hand coordination, size concepts, sequencing, visual discrimination, spatial relations, one-to-one correspondence and much more. Puzzles, Legos, Klondikes, and smaller type items are available here to strengthen these very important muscles and skills.
Math and Science: The emphasis of this area is that everything here, there, and everywhere is explored. All children have the opportunity to understand their world from their home through their neighborhood, to their school, to the larger community around them through exploration. This is accomplished through touching, seeing, talking, observing, comparing and contrasting, measuring, weighing, counting, and exploring, exploring, exploring.
Outside: Outdoor play is a very important part of our program for all of our children. Coordination, balance, large motor and muscle skills use are expanded and developed through organized games and our children’s developmental need to run, jump, and slide around our playgrounds. We use our playground, our physical education days, and our field trips to work on, strengthen, and celebrate these very important physical skills.
Sand and Water Tables: Sand and water are combined for multi-faceted fluid play. Our children can sift, pour, measure, dig and bury with water or sand while discovering the differences between liquids and solids.
Snack: Snack is offered to all our children during open time. It is another opportunity for family style dining and the assistance in our children’s self-help skills involving serving, pouring, passing, eating and conversing. Everyone helps with clean up, too.
Unit Blocks: In this area, each child is able to integrate their ideas of the world into buildings and building. Play here promotes problem solving, cooperation and a feeling of success with the completion of their construction. Creative play items and wood structure items are available and may be used to add to the creative process.
