Health and Safety Continues to be a Priority in our Preschool Programs

#HEALTHandSAFETY have always been a priority in our YMCA School Readiness Programs! Know someone looking for a high quality, affordable preschool experience? Be sure to tell them about the YMCA! https://www.midymca.org/preschool

The Phelps Ingersoll Center for Children provides high quality, professional childcare and early childhood education to children age 3 – 5 years. The center provides a safe and nurturing environment that promotes the physical, social, emotional and cognitive development of young children. In addition, the Center acts as an education resource for parents and provides assistance in meeting the needs of the families served.

#NurturingPotential

Teaching children about self-expression is important to their development—especially while they’re still young and haven’t experienced much peer pressure to “fit in” yet. Sacrificing personal expression in place of conformity is shown to lead to lower self-esteem, depression, and unhappiness in children.

By encouraging your kids to express themselves, you can ward off these negative issues and help your kids build self-confidence, independence, creativity, and self-advocacy. Fostering self-expression will set your children up for success. - NAEYC

Every Wednesday, we'll feature a pic of our Preschool Art Gallery. "What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?" https://www.midymca.org/preschool

Know someone looking for preschool? Be sure to tell them about the YMCA!

https://www.midymca.org/.../middlesex-y-preschool... The Phelps Ingersoll Center for Children provides high quality, professional childcare and early childhood education to children age 3 – 5 years. The center provides a safe and nurturing environment that promotes the physical, social, emotional and cognitive development of young children. In addition, the Center acts as an education resource for parents and provides assistance in meeting the needs of the families served.

June-2021

As Summer begins, our School Readiness Program celebrates the transition of students from preschool to Kindergarten. Despite the many challenges facing teachers over the past year, they have done an AMAZING job of creating a safe environment for students to develop the skills needed for success in Kindergarten.

“At no point was I ever really uncomfortable or uneasy about sending her back after the COVID shutdown. The teachers did a great job getting them back in with the routine and doing everything they had to do to make sure the students were safe. It has been such a great experience and she is so happy that I am kind of sad about her moving on to Kindergarten in the Fall. She has changed and grown so much. It’s amazing and fulfilling to see her starting to write her name and count to 100. We practice her skills often at home. She is totally ready for kindergarten. We will still stay involved with the Y and have signed her up for swim lessons. My daughter is a fish and loved her preschool swim lessons that were included in the preschool center program. In a few years, we will be ready to enroll our 2nd daughter and can’t wait for her to be a part of the Y Preschool Program."

Danielle - Parent of a YMCA School Readiness Student

Giving children a chance to create is a great way for them to express themselves, explore, and learn to problem-solve.

Children benefit from exposure and practice in all types of art, including music, visual art (drawing, painting, sculpting), roleplay and open-ended play, dance, poetry, and more. Adults can actively encourage this type of learning by:

Listening to music, singing songs, and repeating rhymes
Providing open-ended activities — like toy kitchens or blocks — to encourage pretend play
Looking at and talking about art with children — use descriptive words, talk about how the art makes you feel and what it makes you think of
Working with clay or play dough to help children strengthen their hands and express themselves through sculpture at the same time
Dancing to different types of music and moving your body fast or slow to draw attention to rhythm and tone
Reading wordless books with children and talking through the story together

Let our caring teachers help prepare your child for kindergarten. We offer two programs. Year round full day program at the Middlesex YMCA and a program at MacDonough elementary school that follows the MPS school calendar.

School readiness funding keeps the cost affordable for all families regardless of your income level. The Y welcomes all families

Learn more at https://www.midymca.org/preschool

6.3.2021 Creative role playing of being a butterfly!

Butterfly pretend play! While our preschoolers wait for their caterpillars to turn into a butterfly, they are enjoying some creative play outside wearing butterfly wings!

As children grow, they begin to understand and use language to communicate. Eventually, they begin to understand that pictures and words convey meaning. Key areas of development include: