About New Life Preschool

"Let your light shine." Matthew 5:16

New Life UMC Preschool Mission Statement:

New Life Preschool is a ministry of New Life UMC that partners with parents to provide a loving, nurturing and developmentally appropriate environment for children to grow to their fullest potential emotionally, socially, spiritually, physically, creatively, and cognitively.

Educational Philosophy

The teachers of New Life Preschool make every effort to build their lessons around developmentally appropriate practices by

• Making lessons meaningful to children and related to what they already know
• Teaching in a way that recognizes that children do not learn in the same way; they aren’t interested in learning the same thing as everyone else all the time
• Providing instruction that is physically and mentally active – children should be actively involved in learning activities by building, creating, experimenting, investigating, and working collaboratively with their peers
• Providing hands-on activities with concrete objects and manipulatives as opposed to workbook and worksheet activities

The Importance of Play

The importance of play has been well-documented. Play is the work of the child. As a child grows and develops, the child’s play develops along with him/her.

Through play, children are able to put into action the concepts and ideas which are being presented to them in a way which is relevant to their understanding and developmental needs.

Play encourages intellectual learning, which includes predicting, hypothesizing, reasoning, theorizing, etc.

Learning through play occurs in a carefully prepared environment, where the teacher follows the child’s lead to plan meaningful experiences. The environment invites young children to explore, investigate, question, examine, predict, use trial and error, and manipulate while creating in-depth, concrete and long-term learning.

Messy Play

Messy play provides children the opportunity to participate in a range of sensory experiences. Children are able to experiment with different textures and materials by exploring solutions such as fingerpaint, gloop, slime, water, dirt and mud.

Messy play helps children to express themselves, experiment with materials, develop hand-eye coordination, relax and just have fun. Our families are encouraged to dress their children for messy play every day.

Goals of the Preschool Program:

Our goals are to provide a strong educational foundation for children and to prepare them for kindergarten and the world beyond. We accomplish this by providing an enriching, caring, and creative environment where children learn through the joy and adventure of hands-on play. These stimulating experiences offer children the opportunity to explore their environment and practice skills within a classroom setting, shared with their peers. In a loving, Christian atmosphere, we guide children to reach their full potential to become problem solvers who are self-reliant, confident, respectful, compassionate and responsible. We are sensitive to developing each unique child, and we seek to instill a lifelong love of learning.

We desire to carry out these goals through standards of excellence which include:

• widening and deepening each child’s understanding of self, home, school, community, and God
• developing each child’s self esteem
• creating within each child a respect for others and self
• developing the desire to work and play together and to acquire peer relationships
• aiding each child in his/her natural curiosity about all things
• teaching each child to care for personal needs
• providing an atmosphere that will promote creative responses to music, stories, art, and play
• respecting each child’s ideas and opinions
• providing opportunities for parents to interact with other families, knowledgeable preschool staff, and a loving church family

Recent Awards

• Department of Wildlife Resources "Virginia Naturally Schools" Award Recipient
• Winnie.com-"Best Child Care" and "Best Educational Experience" in Midlothian
• Richmond Sportsbackers- Active RVA Certified Early Childhood Education Providers Award
• Midlothian's Best Awards-"The Best Preschool"
• Hulafrog's "Most Loved Preschool"
• Richmond Times-Dispatch Richmond Region "Best Preschool/Childcare" Nominee

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”― Benjamin Franklin