Jane Carroll, Story Editor
Photos by Matt Sisser
The sound of laughter and little footsteps can be heard from down the hall in NCHS, tucked away in the far corner of the high school where the New Canaan Public Schools Preschool Program is. While most high school students navigate core classes on early mornings on Wednesdays and Thursdays, some students sit on a rug reading books, guiding craft activities and helping teach the preschoolers skills needed to enter kindergarten.
High school students taking the elective Child Development I and II have the opportunity to work hands-on as teachers at a preschool. The electives use the preschool to build off of the curriculum in order to integrate school lessons with real life. The main director of the Preschool Donna Sapienza said “Our mission is to expose the children to different opportunities through our high school students,” she said. “The Child Development students work with the children by observing, teaching and collaborating with the preschool program.”
Prior interacting with the preschool students, a typical child development class period will consist of planning crafts, story times, and STEM activities. The high school students prioritize growing the relationships with the preschoolers. “A typical lesson taught by the high schoolers is choosing a story book, then forming a lesson around that,” said Ms. Sapienza. “Then they will choose a craft that relates to the book. The high schoolers will choose two activities. Preferably an activity with sensory, literacy, math, art or movement,” said Ms. Sapienza. “At the preschool we stress the importance of STEM based lessons to help the cognitive development of the children.”
Once the preschool program and high school students collaborate, the behind the scene action comes into play. The Child Development students create a book for the parents of their designated child. The students are paired with a preschool student in order to track how much the child has fundamentally progressed.
Sean Killelea, NCHS Math teacher and a parent of a preschool child at NCPS who weighed in on his experience sending his children to the preschool program. “Ms. Sapienza and Ms. Ann put on a phenomenal program that not only prepares the children for kindergarten, but creates a learning environment that uses the high school students to help the preschoolers excel,” said Mr. Killelea.
The high school students ensure that the lesson plan for the preschoolers has educational value and purpose as well as developmental aspects. Child developmental II student Aria Babayev spoke about the preparation in class. “We learn in class about the different areas of development in children, such as physical development like mobility, or metacognition,” said Aria. “We create the lessons to incorporate learning components in the preschool activities, STEM crafts are often done to fulfill the learning component.”
Aria is taking the Child Development elective because she wants to work with children in her future career. “I’ve done internships at other preschools, but it’s nothing like child development,” said Aria. “The class allows a hands-on experience with a teaching aspect involved which is why most of my classmates take Child Development.”
Mr. Killelea stressed the importance of the interactions between the high schoolers and preschool students and how it nurtures the toddlers to behave. Through day to day interactions the preschoolers learn to have mature interactions with their peers, and listen to their teachers. The preschool program activities and lessons provide many educational benefits as well. The Child Development students are partnered up with a preschooler and track the learning progression of the child to create an end of the semester binder to give to the parents.
Throughout the semester of Child Development the class features examination of each child’s progression. “Where the preschoolers typically progress is the areas of learning we work to measure and discuss in our class. They look for mostly cognitive development and see where they are in that scale. They also observe toddlerhood and the stages of social development on a social scale.”
“I can’t say enough positive things about the program,” said Mr. Killelea. “From the directors, high school students, and the stories my children brought home there is really nothing like it.”
For many families and students alike, the preschool program continues to stand out as one of the most unique and impactful experiences offered at NCHS.
