What to Expect from WNS

Arrival and Departure

ARRIVAL

Please have your child come right in the front door!  Imagination Stations will be waiting in the front room upon arrival. These activities rotate and are relative to the season.  On snowy or wet days, please dress your child in appropriate attire (snow boots and pants; rain boots and jacket; etc).

DEPARTURE

Parents can wait outside until class is over. Muddy clothes or hands may need extra attention when you arrive home! If your child is going home with someone other than his or her regular guardian, please let me know ahead of time.

LATE POLICY

Children must be picked up within 5 minutes of class ending.

Snacks

Daily snacks will be provided.  When possible, snacks will come from the class garden.

Allergies: Please let me know if your child has allergies of any kind.

A day at Wasatch Nature School

Days will flow naturally with our flexible but routine schedule. I invite and embrace emergent curriculum as we follow students’ interests. I see myself as a facilitator of learning, and try to be in tune with students’ needs, skills and discoveries. The sample schedule provides a framework of our day.

SAMPLE CLASS SCHEDULE

9 a.m. Arrival and greetings. Wash hands. Majority of students at Imagination Stations while I pull individual students out for one on one and small group learning time
9:30 a.m. Circle time with songs, stories, activities and games to introduce the week's theme and focuses in math, language and literacy skills (see curriculum tab -> Busy Bee for more information)
10 a.m. Restroom, hand washing and snack

10:20 a.m. Outdoor learning with activities such as taking care of pets, nature walks, nature investigation and science experiments.

11:20 a.m. Hand washing, circle time conclusion with review of the day, contributing to our class nature journal, a self-sufficiency exercise or game and good-bye song. 
11:30 a.m. Pick up

*In cold, snow, wind or rain, we will still go outdoors. It may be for a shorter period of time. In this case, we extend our time with Imagination Stations and incorporate a special project, experiment, or game.

*In my dreams we would have acres of area to explore.  As it currently stands we are utilizing my backyard and main floor as well as taking nature walks to the neighborhood lake.

Clothing

Please dress your child in clothing that can get dirty so that they will feel free to participate in messy projects and experiments. I provide smocks for some things but I can’t guarantee it will be enough. If your child's clothing becomes wet and uncomfortable, I will help him/her change into their extra set of clothes.

On snowy or wet days, please dress your child in appropriate attire (snow boots and pants; rain boots and jacket; etc).  On sunny days have them wear a hat and sunscreen.

CHANGE OF CLOTHES

Please provide an extra set of clothing to leave at school. Extra set of clothing should include: shirt, pants, underwear and socks.  Be sure to label everything!

COLD WEATHER ATTIRE

We go outside every day!  I have gathered some used snow boots for parents that would like to purchase them ($5/pair).  

You will not need to leave anything at school beside an extra set of clothing but please have the following in your child's home wardrobe:

FALL/SPRING                                                 WINTER

Rubber rain boots                                         Snow boots (available for purchase $5)
Rain jacket                                                      Snow jacket
Hat                                                                    Snow pants OR Snow suit           

Light gloves                                                    Waterproof gloves

Light jacket                                                     Warm hat

                                                                           Warm socks

Religion at Preschool

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) and will incorporate Christian principles and songs during our daily routine. 

Student Assessments

WRITTEN ASSESSMENT is the documentation and analysis of a student’s work collected over time in his or her real world environment as well as written teacher feedback regarding each student.

STUDENT PORTFOLIO is a collection of a child’s work that helps to illustrate the progress and skill development a child makes over the course of time. 

Communication

PARENT AND TEACHER CONFERENCES

I perform ongoing assessments of your child’s development. I take the opportunity for scheduled conferences twice per year.  I will hand out progress notes beforehand as a starting point for discussion. Conferences are for adults only.

YOUR WEEKLY EMAIL

Once a week I will send an email with reminders, important dates, flyers, etc.

PARENT DROP-BOX

The drop-box is a convenient way to return a form, make a payment, or leave a note for me.