Classrooms
At Rosedale Playschool, we have the privilege of sharing an indoor classroom and outdoor classroom with our students.
Indoor Classroom
Our indoor classroom is a bright and open space with areas for every child to learn and explore in their own way. The classroom is divided loosely into several sections:
Art
One of our largest sections in the classroom. With creative art easels, a free art table, and an art project table which changes weekly. The children have access to natural and man made art objects, along with a range of paints, glue, markers, crayons, and pencils.
Snack
The beautiful centerpiece of our classroom is our horseshoe snack table, where our students come together to talk and eat. The circular table allows all students to see each other and interact as they build friendships and community.
Carpet and Learning Bench
This is where your child will start and end their time in our indoor classroom. The students sit on the carpet with one teacher, while the other teacher sits on the bench and introduces the Lucky Duck, the art project for the day, reviews any changes in the class and reads a book. During free play students can come into this area to look at books or do large floor puzzles. At the end of the day all the students return to the carpet to talk about their day and say goodbye to their friends.
Playdough
We have new fresh homemade play dough every week in a variety of colours, smells, and at times glitter enhanced. The play dough table is always popular and can have placemat and food cut outs, natural items to made imprints of, or a variety of ways to squish the playdough into a variety of strings and ribbons.
Science Area
This is one of our most dynamic areas for learning. There are plants that the children care for, our pet fish and tiny frog, composting worms, light table, books, and dynamic learning area. We have introduced colour mixing at the light table, fossils, animal tracks, hibernation, space exploration, and more. Hidden in our science area is the quiet cube where students can get away and take a breather in the pillows.
Fine Motor Skills
Puzzles, games, and tracing are the activities of choice in this area. Small pieces, fine drawing, and sorting keep the students engaged and their fingers nimble.
The “House”
The “house” is another focal point of the room and while it is often a house it can transform into a living and working space for whatever the theme is: Safari Hut, Paleontology Center, Doctor/Vet Office, Market, Restaurant, Space Station, Travel Agency, and more. Beside the house is a dress-up area with an ever changing selection of work outfits, dresses, animal costumes, and pieces of fabric.
Trains and Cars
If you have a child that loves nothing better than to build new tracks and ride the rails, this is where you will find them. Here they can Chugga, Chugga and Toot Toot to their heart’s content. They can race cars or build lego and engage in making a city.
Blocks
This incredible area sees some fascinating creativity. We have extra large blocks in both our indoor and outdoor classrooms that encourage large and imaginative structures.
Outdoor Classroom
If it is above -20 C (with the windchill) and not pouring rain, then we are outside. Our students are encouraged to dress for the weather, as we typically play outside half an hour every morning.
Our outdoor classroom is a product of years of parent support and is constantly developing. It is an integral part of our Reggio based programming, encouraging children to explore their environment and ask questions about what they see.
We ask our parents to sign a Nature Walk permission form, so that we can explore the neighbourhood outside of our gates as well.
When your child explores the Outdoor Classroom they will find:
- A beautiful wrought iron gate into a fully fenced play area.
- Two play surfaces: grass and mulch, separated by a handcrafted wrought iron arch and a line of logs.
- Tree circles/stumps for creating paths and exploring
- A rock box for digging
- A wicker Teepee to hide in with our friends
- Two large permanent outdoor chalk boards that we use for both chalk and paint
- Planters that the children help with in the spring and fall (cared for by parents in the summer)
- Toy boxes filled with:
- Large wooden blocks and curved ramp pieces
- Trucks and digging toys
- A variety of other enriching play items that change often:
- Gymnastics ribbons
- Balls
- Scoops and balls
- Binoculars and magnifying glasses
- and more…