Mama's Little Helper

Wow! I know I know…its way too early for me to be checking out preschools….yada yada…I know!
My Credentials if you will… I want to about 15 different preschools with my sister two years ago when she was picking a preschool for my nephew. I would say I have a good foundation to go out on a limb and say this school was AMAZING! It’s a must see!!!

I went there today for a business meeting and had no intentions of falling in love with their program
I see two moms chatting in the parking area and ask them if it’s ok to park where I parked. They paused to answer my questions and help guide me in the direction of the school. Feeling very welcomed, I head towards a small older building surrounded by trees and farm area. On the right hand side I see what appears to be a nice size playground (later I find out they just rebuilt it). I had to use my imagination because it’s February and we have a couple of feet of snow on the ground, but I can tell it has great bones…ha!
There is a cool little chalk board out front that greets you with what you will be doing today. There are also little signs asking for donations of scrap wood and toilet paper rolls. Scrap wood…hmmm….yup these kiddos are making things! They have a wood working area!

I walk in the door and I’m greeted by one of the teachers, Jean. She was very welcoming and showed me around the historical school house. Pointing out to me that her daughter who was now all grown up had drew one of the decorations on the wall. The school has been there for over 30 years!

We had our business meeting at a table that only went up half way to my knees. She looked at me and said I hope you don’t mind…ha! Not at all, I exclaimed, I’m used to having tea with my 2 year old daughter and I sit at these tables all the time…she was relieved.

She told me how a lot of families have a long history with the school and how much the school is involved with the local community. The children visit local businesses and interact with the neighborhood. For example, there is a nursing home that has a vegetable coop and the children go pick veggies with the elderly. What a great idea! Then, they bring back their loot, cut it up themselves and make a soup for themselves and bring a batch back to the nursing home. Ok, I’m sold!!! This is the experience I want for my child! Every year the children/staff make a quilt that they give to someone in the community that needs it. They also do fundraisers to offer financial aid to families that have fallen on hard times. This is just one of their many charitable events they do throughout the year. I love the fact that they are teaching our children at a young age to help others that may not be doing so great right now.

The toys are all creativity based (looks just like my house) where the children get to use their imagination. The children are in circle time singing, counting, talking about letters and such. Everyone is centered and enjoying their “lesson”. This week the children are learning about mailing letters. Normally they would visit the post office, but not with all this snow! Dinosaurs and birds are just a couple of the topics the children have learned about this year. A weekly music class with Kathy Block (whose 2 daughters are former students) is welcomed by the students. Children’s book authors have made appearances in the past, what a special treat for the students to be able to talk to an author and have the author read the story they wrote.

There are lots of field trips the students take to locations where the host/s typically have had a connection to the school. For example, they take a hayride in the fall at George School, because the gentleman in charge of the grounds there had two children who attended the school over a decade ago. There fishing day is held in May; for the past several years they have fished for “sunnies” in the New Hope ponds belonging to a WFNS grandfather. They wade in a nearby stream looking for crayfish and salamanders on the property of another WFNS family. At Thanksgiving time, they travel to the historic home of a WFNS family to drink hot chocolate prepared over a cooking hearth similar to those used by the Pilgrims. These are just some of the examples of the wonderful activities that your child will be experiencing.

We wrap up the meeting and I walk back through circle time, this time they are making a cake for this weekend’s celebration with their dads. Everyone is sitting in the circle singing and waiting for their turn to stir the ingredients. It was really a sight! I could imagine Jenna right in there waiting for her turn to stir.

WFNS Website:http://www.wrightstownfriends.org/
WFNS Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wrightstown-PA/Wrightstown-Friends-Nursery-School/224249052730