Date: Fri 20-Sep-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: DOTTIE

Quick Words:

schools-Wesley-Learning-Center

Full Text:

with cuts: Wesley Learning Center Gives Extra Time To Kindergartners

B Y D OROTHY E VANS

Nobody likes to be rushed, least of all a five-year-old who is working hard to

bring an imaginary dinosaur to life with green and yellow poster paint.

Or fitting puzzle pieces together to create a rain forest scene.

Or making a new friend.

Wesley Learning Center director and teacher Rahnna Peck believes those

everyday learning and socializing activities can best be accomplished with the

help of time and opportunity - and time is the single most important gift a

teacher can give young children.

So it seemed logical to Mrs Peck when she first had her "brainstorm" about

starting an expanded day kindergarten program at the school, that this was a

perfect way to give that gift.

The daily five-hour program now stands as an alternative to the public school

half-day kindergarten program, which is less than three hours long.

"They need a longer day to process at this age. Then they'll be more ready for

all-day first grade," Mrs Peck said recently from her school office at 92

Church Hill Road, adjacent to Sandy Hook's United Methodist Church.

Mrs Peck has been a United Methodist church member since 1966, and she

graduated from Newtown High School in 1972, having lived in the Newtown area

most of her life.

Perhaps as a result of her long familiarity with the area, she said she feels

in touch with the community. Clearly, she is sensitive to the demands that

change have placed upon it.

For example, when the Wesley Learning Center nursery school was founded four

years ago in the church's separate education building, Mrs Peck was among

those who saw the preschool as an opportunity for utilizing space that would

not conflict with Sunday school time.

Over the past four years since the preschool has been in existence, enrollment

has grown from 32 children to 120 children, she said, adding that families

from Sandy Hook, Newtown and Southbury have been very supportive of the

school's traditional three and four-year-old morning and afternoon programs.

Last year, Mrs Peck saw another way to use the space, and "fill a real need"

at the same time.

She was convinced an expanded day kindergarten program that met from 9 am to 2

pm every day, would be well-received, especially because the Sandy Hook area

is growing so rapidly, she said.

"The town is crowded. That's where the growth is. A lot of parents are looking

for extended day," Mrs Peck said.

Before the program could become a reality, however, Mrs Peck and her committee

obtained a copy of the Newtown Board of Education's curriculum guide, to make

sure students graduating from the Wesley kindergarten would be well prepared

for first grade in Newtown schools.

To help with first grade placement, there would be basic screening at the time

of first grade registration, she added.

While they were doing the research, the committee discovered a little-known

fact of state law - that Connecticut doesn't require children to attend

kindergarten.

"That's something I never knew," she said.

But from her own experience as a teacher and music specialist in the

preschool, Mrs Peck did know that a year of kindergarten was definitely

beneficial - especially if it could be at the child's own rate of learning,

with more time allowed during the school day.

Mrs Peck was also pleased at the program's low teacher/student ratio, with two

adults working alongside 13 children in the kindergarten room.

"There's time and opportunity here to get to know each child," Mrs Peck said.

Kindergarten teacher Randi Rote agreed.

"I love the flexibility. We're not rushed," Mrs Rote said.

Indeed, those 13 expanded day kindergartners didn't look at all hurried the

second week of school, as they worked together in groups of two or three at

the different learning centers.

The only source of stress for those children might have been deciding which

area to visit first. There was a kitchen center, a hammering and nailing

activity table, a computer and listening area, a play area with blocks and a

doll house, a counting corner and a book nook.

There was also an area for eating snacks and lunches, which the children bring

from home, and a place to hang coats.

Several large windows looked out on the woods and the playground and the

classroom atmosphere seemed relaxed and homelike, with bright white walls and

newly laid carpet contributing to its neat appearance.

Perhaps it was actually a bit neater and more picked up than most children's

playrooms are at home, but that, Mrs Rote said, was the result of establishing

routines and everyone working together.

"We work with the child's rhythm," Mrs Peck said, noting that a friendly

environment, a longer day and smaller classroom numbers helped teachers, too.