The Bearspaw Preschool 3-year-old program is designed to introduce children to the routines of the classroom as well as basic skills around socialization and independence. Emphasis is placed on listening skills, manners, taking turns, sharing toys and following instruction. Fine and gross motor skill development is accomplished through classroom activities and daily gym time in our full-size gymnasium.

The crafts and activities that our three-year old’s participate in tend to fall in theme with seasonal activities such as fall, winter, spring, Thanksgiving, Halloween, the Holiday Season, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Additional themes such as the farm, shapes, colours, bugs, butterflies, friendship and community helpers are also brought in throughout the year.

While our program is based on learning through play, we do offer a number of science-related toys such as magnets, color mixing, measuring cups, water beads, sensory bins and a light table to ensure our students have a fully rounded experience.

Changes to our Drop off and pick up routines:

Below we  have outlined times in which the students may be  dropped off and picked up outside the school in order to allow for staggered entries. Please note that drops off and pick-ups will be completed in the parking area in a  designated zone and no parents will be allowed into the classroom at this time:

Every Tuesday & Thursday

Mornings 9am-11am
Afternoons 12:30pm-2:30pm

Circle Time *(10 minutes)
Free Play & Craft Time *(40 minutes)
Songs *(10 minutes)
Snacks *(15 minutes)
Puzzles, Stories, Games *(15 minutes)
Gym *(30 minutes)

* Times are approximate and may vary.

Practicing Social Distancing:

Social Distance practice has been mandated, and the parents are not allowed to enter in the classroom. The reason for this is to keep the children cohort group under 30 so your child doesn’t have to be in a mask for class. Our classroom sizes are all under 15 students with one teacher and one aide. Teachers and aids that will be teaching more than one cohort group are required to be in a mask.

Additional Information:

We will be adjusting our program and activities to adhere to the AHS guidelines. This means that at this time we are required to suspend all field trips and special guests until the new year when we will re-evaluate the curriculum again.

In classroom activities will look as normal possible, we will be required to suspend the use of common items such as the water table and sand tables to ensure we are conforming with AHS standards. However we anticipate that our classroom activities should remain fairly normally with the increased frequency of cleaning that we have added into the classroom (An example of increased cleaning for example will be  that after each child touches an item such as a book we  will be required to clean that book prior to it being placed back on the shelf for others to enjoy.)

As the school year nears, we have been advised to talk about Separation Anxiety with our families as this is likely going to increase this year. Experts have advised that the best way to handle this moving forward is to have parents start talking about going to school with your child earlier so that they are able to start to prepare to be away from their homes and parents for a period of time during the day. Also talk about the changes in the routine and the classroom and that parents wont be able to be present in classrooms to start the year. This will provide your little one with as much information as  possible and hopefully provide them with comfort as  they enter the school year.

Once again thank you parents, we are looking forward to opening our doors to your children and having a great, and safe school year.

Please find attached Questions And Answer and “guidance for preschools” from AHS to also help with any additional questions.

Bearspaw Preschool prides itself on being able to offer an enriched program by providing various special guest visitors and field trips throughout the year. These field trips change every year based on seasonality as well as financial availability.

Some of the places we have visited include:

Butterfield Acres
Bowling
Big Hill Springs Hike

Tobogganing
Skating
Fire Hall Tours

Some of our special guests in the past have included:

Miss Tune-Ah
Yoga

Inglewood Bird Sanctuary
Crock-A-Doodle

Quest Theatre
Bricks for Kids