Our Classroom

A typical day at Sunnymont-Westside starts with a short circle time with your class to say hello to each child and talk about which activities are featured that day. We then move on to indoor and outdoor play.

Inside the classrooms, there are plenty of choices, including: playdough, manipulative toys, wood blocks, dramatic play, library, a writing center, science, fine motor, math and music.

Our outdoor activities include: water and sand play, riding toys and tricycles, climbing structures, balance and gross motor activities, outdoor art, gardening, woodworking, collaborative building, science and sensory activities.

Snack is considered part of our curriculum and children visit the kitchen station to prepare and “cook” their own snacks. In the 4 Day Transitional Kindergarten Class, children will sometimes bring their own snacks packed from home as preparation for Kindergarten lunch times.

We end our day with another circle time that features stories, rhymes, instruments and music and movement activities.

Find out more about each class here!

Cubbies and Kids' Sink

This is where the kids rush off to start their day at Sunnymont-Westside! Everyone washes their hands to clean off the germs and allergens, and we start the day together in the indoor classroom.

Art Table

As young children explore art, they learn about color, shape, form, technique while building coordination and creative expression and practicing fine motor skills. Our goal is to have children explore a variety of techniques and media for both two and three dimensional art at a weekly indoor art activity.

Art may also be offered outside, in the form of easel painting, collage art, painting tree stumps or our playhouse, chalk drawing, or other outdoor arts activities.

Rainy Days

Rain doesn’t stop us! Not the kids anyway, while the working parents do try to find shelter. Kids come prepared in their raincoats and rainboots, but you’ll see some kids using their rainboots to collect precious rain water and that their raincoat is merely a suggestion! We have a collection of raincoats, boots and ponchos for kids and adults who came to school in dry clothes and would prefer to stay that way. Also, rainy days = earthworms!

Writing Table

Here the children find paper and tools (pencils, crayons, chalk, scissors, hole punches, tape, and staplers) so they can create, explore, and practice drawing and writing as they become interested in these skills.

Dramatic Play Area

This is a wonderful play area that we change through out the year. It starts out as a kitchen, someplace all kids are familiar with. As the kids get more comfortable playing at school, the teachers transform it to a bookstore, veterinarian’s office, post office, and camping grounds! By playing out the adult roles they see around them, children build identity and self-esteem, as well as enhancing cognitive development.

Blocks Area

The blocks and wooden vehicles stick around all year…and this room is what will transform into different dramatic play areas like the post office, veterinarian’s office, camping site, and a bookstore!

Manipulative Activities

While manipulative activities happen all over the school, at least one table inside or outside is set aside for a manipulative activity each day. This table offers activities such as patterning blocks, pegs, puzzles, beads, and building sets, offering many different ways for kids to work on their fine motor skills and consider cognitive concepts such as patterning and matching and grouping different objects.

Outdoor Kitchen

This is our outdoor kitchen and play house, where there is always a sand cupcakes baking away! There are hoses nearby in case the kitchen needs to be hosed down, or a sudden kitchen “fire”. And those hoses also have potable water, so in case you catch your child tasting the water, they’ll be just fine.

Sandbox

The sandbox is a great place for learning about sharing space and cooperation. As children explore the sand, they are building motor skills, coordination, scientific understanding, problem solving, and teamwork.

Climbing House and Fire Engine

Children learn self confidence, balance, spatial awareness, motor planning and proximity as they explore our our climbing house. And when the teachers have carefully arranged red tissue paper “fires” throughout the playground, and set out the firefighters’ jackets, boots and hats, the kids spring into action to save our school!

Gross Motor Skills - Walking Across the "Pond"

Children learn self confidence, balance, spatial awareness, motor planning, problem solving and proximity as they explore different gross motor activities planned every week. This one is the children exploring the “pond” and finding a way to cross it!

Bike Road and Tire Swing

There is a path where the children can ride on trikes, cozy coupes, tractors, three wheeled scooters, flying turtles, and more.

Our tire swing also offers many other learning opportunities. How many kids do we have swinging? How can we share the space? Who will help push? Can we still swing even on a rainy day? (Yes!)

Life Skills Activities

Yes, a toddler can handle hammers and nails! They may be little, but doesn’t mean that they’re not very capable and amazing! We weave life skills into our curriculum for lots of practice. It ranges from learning to cut with child safe knives to building with tools.

Climbing Structure

Children learn self confidence, balance, spatial awareness, motor planning and proximity as they explore our monkey bars, tire swing, and climbing house.