Afternoon Program
C5 conducts special activities in each classroom every afternoon. Each classroom has its own schedule that repeats each week. Both the Infant-Toddler Center and the Preschool Center have a full Afternoon Program.
Consistent with our approach throughout our entire full-day, full-year program, the emerging interests and fascinations of the children in each learning group will also determine the primary theme, focus, emphasis, content, and duration of the activities that are outlined below.
At the Preschool Center
For the Oldest Preschool Learning Groups
Monday ------- Share & Tell: Children, teachers, and parents can share items brought from home; then, explore them together as a group.
Tuesday ------ Expressive Movement: Children, parents, and teachers explore various ways to express themselves through bodily movements, such as yoga, story telling with gestures, stretching, and balancing.
Wednesday -- Weekly Stories with Tim and Table Games: Tim the librarian brings books to read with the group. Children can also explore a variety of table games, some they invented, with help from the teachers and parents.
Thursday ----- Creative Exploration with Paints and Crafts: Children, parents, and teachers work with a variety of materials and tools to create unique works of expression, such as paintings, sculptures, collages, murals, and drawings.
Friday --------- Dance and Instruments: Children engage in free movement to new and old recordings with scarves, ribbons, and props, along with exploration of musical instruments and sounds.
For the Younger Preschool Learning Groups
Monday ------- Yoga, Stretching & Movement: Structured for young children; with mats, music, guided activities, books, posters, videos, CDs, etc.
Tuesday ------ Dramatic Play: Children design plays; conduct enactments of life events; present excerpts from existing plays, movies, books, and children's stories; enact role simulations; etc.
Wednesday -- Crafts: Children work on a variety of materials and processes with the support of teachers, parents, and friends of C5. It is in line with a belief that we share with the preprimary schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy that, "Children have a hundred languages."
Thursday ----- Cooking: Children's mixtures; adult guided activities; tastings; demonstrations of processes, tools, equipment; backing, poaching, and frying food from many lands, etc.
Friday --------- Dancing: Everyone gets involved in free movement to new and old recordings; copying specific ballroom, jazz, ethnic dance steps; and, contributing to the dance party atmosphere and refreshments at the end of the week!
For the Toddlers Learning Groups
Monday ------- Clay: Children use various forms of clay as a material and as a medium for exploring and expressing feelings and ideas.
Tuesday ------ Stories in Action: Children make the themes, plots, and characters in books come alive through a wide range of drama and craft approaches.
Wednesday -- Music Together Session: C5 is certified to offer this structured, world famous program for our children to help them develop music competence and a more sophisticated appreciation for music and movement. It includes songs, chants, and instrumental treatments from many lands and cultures. It offers selections in different languages, rhythms, major and minor keys, new compositions, and new arrangements of folk songs and ballads.
Thursday ----- Yoga & Dancing: Children will breathe and move with yoga mats, music, and guided activities; free movement to new and old recordings; copying specific ballroom, jazz, and ethnic dance steps; and, dance party atmosphere or mellow meditative sessions will be designed to match the children's moods.
Friday -------- Woodworking: Exploration of the materials and tools used in woodworking and related activities, such as hammering, cutting, nailing, gluing, screwing, assembling, measuring, planning, and finishing.
At the Infant-Toddler Center
For the Older Toddlers Learning Groups
Monday ------ Finger Puppets & Plays: Children sing songs and engage in other activities that promote small muscle exercise and development.
Tuesday ----- Balls: Children and teachers explore with different balls in the classroom or out of doors. They may focus on certain kinds, such as basketball, handball, or beach ball; and on specific movements, such as rolling, bouncing, and throwing.
Wednesday -- Toddler Yoga: This is yoga designed for young toddlers. It includes movements, moods, and settings that are referenced from baby yoga books, posters, and videos that C5 has in its library. As with all Afternoon Program sessions, parents are invited to come and join in. This afternoon session could be called, Yoga for Two!
Thursday ---- Music & Movement: Singing, moving, and dancing to music; in addition to large muscle exercises, such as used with balance beams, jump ropes, and climbing structures. Children explore percussion, piano, strings, multiple instruments, listening to CDs of many types of music, etc. The Music Together session can also be conducted on this afternoon.
Friday -------- Baby Massage: Parents, teachers, and children explore the concepts, values, and techniques of nurturing, systematic touch for young toddlers.
For the Infants Learning Groups
Monday -------- Hand Puppets: Children sing songs and do dramatic activities using hand and finger puppets.
Tuesday ------- Books: Children and adults participate in book reading activities and story-telling.
Wednesday -- Bubbles: A wide variety of bubble-related activities can be explored involving the use of different materials, such as paint, water, or bubble wands and using bubble making machines for exploration and observation.
Thursday ------ Buggy Ride: If the weather permits, the teachers will take the infants out of the Infant-Toddler Center on a buggy ride to give them more opportunities to explore and observe nature and the outdoor environment.
Friday ---------- Miscellaneous Music: In addition to the Music Together session that is scheduled for another time, the teachers offer other options, such as Jazz, Reggae, and Classical music and assist the infants in exploring various instruments, sounds, and related movements.
