Cedars Christian School

Overview

Pre-school is an excellent place for student and parents to enter Cedars. In pre-school, families get a taste of the Christian school community, its Christ-centered programs and its organizational framework. But what is pre-school? First of all, it is not a "head start" academic program. Rather, it is an opportunity for children to grow in their attitudes and abilities. Pre-school focuses on all the dimensions of learning mentioned in Cedars' vision statement. This includes an emphasis on each child's spiritual, social, emotional, aesthetic, and physical development.

Preschool Philosophy of Education

Young children learn best when they are active. Play and fun activities are enjoyable and nursery school lessons are kept very short and informal. Cedars' pre-school program provides child-centred learning through the nurturing of the whole child. We help children learn through play, through the use of age-appropriate education, and through giving children plenty of time to learn at their own speed.

Christian Perspective

Cedars' pre-school program reflects the same Christian philosophies and principles taught throughout the elementary and high school. Taking the first step into education can be traumatic and exciting. Your child is a very important person. At Cedars Christian School we believe that God has primarily given parents the responsibility to nurture and educate their children. Therefore, our primary purpose is to assist parents to fulfill this educational task.

It is our desire to honour God in all aspects of learning and play. We use prayer before meals and at other times to honour God and celebrate special days such as Easter, Christmas and other special holidays. Many of the stories we read are Bible stories. Discipline problems will be managed using loving, firm, consistent, non-punitive approaches. No corporal punishment of any kind is used at Cedars. Our Nursery School teacher, fully qualified in Early Childhood Education, seeks to live out her Christian faith in the classroom.

Parent Participation

Cedars pre-school program is a "parent participating" program and you will be asked to help on duty days once every 3 - 4 weeks (6 - 8 weeks if one class per week). If you are unable to attend, you will be asked to find your own substitute from a list, which will be provided. Alternate arrangements must be made for younger siblings on your duty days. There is a maximum class enrollment of fifteen children per class.

Attendance, Ages, Snacks, Sickness, Licensing

The pre-school program will be offered both as morning classes or afternoon classes. The program is provided for children between the ages of three and five years of age. Children must be three years of age by the end of December. Children bring their own nutritious snacks. Any child that is too sick to go outside and play must be kept at home. A sick child can be quite irritable and needs sufficient bed rest. A sick child may also infect the other children, and this is unfair to their parents. The pre-school program is licensed and inspected by the Ministry of Health to ensure its compliance with the Community Care Facility Licensing Act.