MRH operates a comprehensive Early Childhood Education program designed to assist parents and children from birth through first grade. MRH offers the following educational programs at the Early Childhood Center:
- Parents as Teachers, birth to age 3
- Preschool, full day and half day, ages 3 to 5
- Full day and half day Kindergarten
- Multiage, Kindergarten and 1st grade
The design of the program is one of mixed-age groupings. Each preschool classroom at the Early Childhood Center is made up of children three to five years old with a wide range of boys and girls with varying ethnic backgrounds. Parents may choose a traditional or multiage classrooms for students in Kindergarten and 1st grade.
The following principals provide a basis for our Early Childhood Education program:
- Each child, parent, and staff member is a unique individual with skills, feelings, and perceptions, which may or may not be similar to our own.
- People can learn to value themselves and to value other people's feelings, needs, and individuality.
- A warm, nurturing environment is necessary for the development of a positive self-concept, creativity, and a willingness to take risks and motivation to learn.
- We value children's play as a means to understand the world around them.
- The development of motor, sensory, and perceptual skill must be encouraged in order to provide the framework for later educational and life experiences.
- The family and school must work together as partners in the educational process.
MRH's curriculum is based on the Project Construct Approach. The constructivist approach allows children to choose topics they are interested in learning about. MRH educators believe children learn more readily when they are actively and directly involved in meaningful experiences.
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