Beginning Together, WPSN's unique class designed with both you and your child in mind...

• 2 Days AM class meets Thursday and Friday, 9:15-11:15
• The class includes two co-teachers, 15 children and their accompanying adults.
• The director or a guest speaker joins the class during the weekly discussion groups. "Talk times" alternate with time reserved for creating a portfolio of your child's yearlong experience.

Beginning Together is the start of the educational journey at WPSN. Each child is accompanied by a caring adult (parent, extended family member, or caregiver). Without the stress of separating, children engage in a wide range of play, gradually separating at their own pace within the room. By year's end children have developed relationships with their teachers and the other children. With the support of an adult partner in play children use the materials of the preschool...

• How does clay behave when you poke it? Wet it? Cut it with a wire?
• What can you create using paint?
• Where does orange juice come from?
• What can you do with a tube?

With skilled teachers to assist with negotiations, children begin the process of learning to take a turn, share resources, solve conflicts and help a friend.

One of the pleasures of Beginning Together is giving parents time to focus on their child's play. We learn about recording observations and make clipboards available for easy note taking. At mid-year, Emma, age 2, wanted her own clipboard. She too wanted to do "notes." Over the course of many weeks, Emma experimented with a variety of tubes. With pen in hand Emma drew a circle, and told us that this was the tube. She then went on to add an elongated oval. After a few moments we realized that this very young child had done drawings of the 2 different views of a tube. We were astonished! We didn't know that observational drawings were a possibility at this age. This is the Reggio experience, learning along with children.

As one parent said, Beginning Together is a gift to your child, and to yourself!"

Weekly adult "talk times" are led by the Director, teachers or guest speakers, with topics such as...

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