Our Philosophy

At Chapel Hill Children’s School we believe that each child is precious and unique, and that each child has the right to grow and learn emotionally, socially, physically, intellectually and spiritually at his own rate. Our teachers will guide this growth by planning activities that provide a variety of experiences that will stimulate growth in each of these areas.

This means that we won’t just be teaching the ABCs. There is so much more that children need to learn! Our goal is to prepare your children for kindergarten in a loving and developmentally appropriate environment. We will be focusing not only on the ABCs of preschool, but also on the emotional, social, physical, and spiritual development of each child.

Emotionally, we want each child to feel loved and secure when they come to school. Preschool is a time to separate from mom and dad and gain some self confidence. At CHCS we foster a positive self-concept in each child by expressing acceptance and respect by honoring the individual efforts and unique success of each child. This loving approach lets each child know that they are important and loved as they begin taking their first steps to independence.

Socially, children are learning to relate to others. Children will learn to play, work and communicate with their peers and adults, adjust to group situations, accept others even though they may be different from themselves, develop a sense of community and accept change in their environment and routines. Children learn to share, to consider the feelings of others, to take turns, to follow rules, to use good manners, and to be respectful of adults. Your child’s teacher will not only instruct and guide your child in these areas, but will also model this cooperative spirit when interacting with other teachers, parents and staff at CHCS.

Physically, children are growing every day! We daily provide activities for children to develop gross motor and fine motor coordination. While playing outside children enjoy gross motor activities such as climbing, sliding, swinging, jumping, pedaling, running, and throwing. In the classroom children develop fine-motor coordination through coloring, cutting, gluing, pasting, painting, stringing, sorting, snapping, and manipulating small objects. These activities help develop and are the foundation for the hand-eye coordination necessary for paper and pencil tasks they will encounter later in their schooling.

Spiritually, we will make sure that each child knows that God made them special and loves them very much! In chapel we sing and praise God as we hear many of the wonderful stories from both the Old and New Testaments. The children also learn that Jesus is with them all the time and that they can talk to Him any time they want. Classes are led by Christian teachers who share God’s love with their students every day.

Academically, we will be focusing on the foundations needed to enter kindergarten. We work with CISD’s kindergarten teachers to ensure that our curriculum lays the building blocks necessary for success. We use the Texas Prekindergarten Curriculum Guidelines as a basis for our curriculum. (www.tea.state.tx.us/curriculum/early/prekguide.html.) We present concepts in a challenging yet developmentally appropriate way with activities and materials that are concrete, real and meaningful to the lives of your children. Worksheets are used sparingly, as we believe that children learn by doing and interacting with their teacher and their environment.

As you can tell, our days are full of fun learning experiences as well as lots of time for play. It is our pleasure and our privilege to be the “hands and feet” of Jesus as we introduce your children to the joys of school.

Marna Parker
Head Director Chapel Hill Children's School