Our infant room is a large bright room with plenty of natural light. The children in this room are no younger than 4 weeks of age and they usually stay in Pooh Corner until they are comfortably mobile, sometime between 8 and 12 months. We have very nurturing staff in our infant room with several staff with over 5 years with Apple Tree. Each staff member has a group of infants for whom they provide daily care.

Children from about 8 months to approximately 20 months are assigned to our Gumdrop room. In this room, daily activities would include: playing, climbing, listening to books, doing puzzles, going outside, singing songs, dancing to music, building blocks and throwing balls. Large motor activities are the order of the day as well as language development. This is a non-stop room.

Although you would think that a Teddy Bear would sit nicely where placed, our "Teddy Bears" are all over. They go outside, do art, read books, do puzzles, go for walks and just have fun. Learning is incorporated into daily activities-counting, colors, letters, etc. The "Bears" have a marvelous circle time in the morning where they learn songs, finger plays and stories.

Between 28 and 32 months of age, the "Bears" become Bees. The children, in the Honey Bees, have a great time doing all sorts of fun things. Walks, art, books, puzzles, out door play, and music help fill their day with learning. With all the books and songs, your child's vocabulary will surely blossom. In this toddler room the teachers work in cooperation with the parents to potty train the children.

The Zoo Crew room is set up in areas of interest, with blocks, books, house keeping, and small toys being some of the areas. The children have a circle/calendar time, listen to books, do art, play on the playground and have free play in the classroom. The Zoo Crew takes walks in the neighborhood and to the nearby park to investigate the outside world. The teachers work on basic preschool skills as well as the social skills needed for success in kindergarten, using the South Dakota Early Learning Guidelines as a starting point for daily lessons.

The Disney Kids continue to use the South Dakota Early Learning Guidelines as a starting point for daily lessons. They get to go on field trips to the library, parks and businesses in the community. The children do art projects that reinforce the concepts of color, shape, location, spacial concepts, order, and all the things that will help them put together the ideas needed to read. The class works on taking turns, transitioning, and sharing.

This pre-school room takes the children from pre-schoolers to ready for kindergarten. Following the South Dakota Early Learning Guidelines, each child will have been introduced to all of the benchmarks in all eight categories. Most children will have these all mastered by the time they start to kindergarten. In the Dragonflies, the children are exposed to Spanish and sign language. Children go on field trips to the library, businesses and parks throughout the year, broadening their view of the world. Classroom responsibilities help them learn leadership as well as teamwork. Outside time continues to be a valued part of their day.

Our school age program allows the children to relax and unwind after a day of sitting at school. Each afternoon, they spend some time playing outside in the fresh air. Many children take time to do their homework before their parents come to pick them up. While inside, they have free choice of activities including an art activity, reading, legos, and more. We van to Cleveland, Anne Sullivan, Rosa Parks, Brandon Elementary, Robert Beniss, and Harvey Dunn. Children may be at Apple Tree on inservice days, conference days, school holidays and snow days. We provide a snack after school and two snacks and lunch on days that there is no school.
During the summer vacation, the school age children go swimming at the public pools, visit many of our parks, and take field trips to many of the businesses in our community. They spend time outside and have planned time and free play inside. We strive to keep the children active and involved.

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