The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Early childhood program engages children
Programs now offered under one roof in Milan schools
By Brian Cox, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: May 1, 2008
For some children, the transition to kindergarten can be a little intimidating. But for about 130 Milan kids, kindergarten is just down the hall.
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Starting this year, a range of district programs for infants to 5-year-olds was brought together under one roof at Paddock Elementary School and under the oversight of a single coordinator.
The move to create Paddock's Early Childhood Center, according to its director, Lisa Mellinger, has allowed children to easily transition from one classroom to another on their way to kindergarten and beyond.
"Learning through this type of environment really prepares kids for kindergarten," she says. "They know what to anticipate and that makes transition easier."
As the children grow, they graduate from one room to the next, but it's never too far and never too different.
In the Tadpoles classroom, children from infancy to three years engage in activities through which they learn science, math and literacy.
The program, originally designed to care for young children of Milan teachers, was launched five years ago and is licensed for up to 12 children. Enrollment averages around eight.
"We really encourage the parents to come in and read to the kids and be involved in the programs," said lead teacher Denene Yarger. "We have the best job in the whole building."
Right across the hall is a classroom just for 3-year-olds. The previous week they made volcanoes; another week they constructed a Jack-in-the-Beanstalk. Here they learn such responsibilities as to hang up their own coat and put their boots away.
Just down the hall is one of two classrooms for 4-year-olds, where the main goal, according to Mellinger, is to get the kids ready for kindergarten.
Thirty-six pre-schoolers filter through the room throughout the day, learning to write their name, how to stand in line and how to follow three-step directions. There is a math station, science station and literacy station.
In the second room for 4-year-olds, which is limited to 18 to allow the four teachers to provide more one-on-one attention, the kids made books about colors, finger-painted and learned numbers through touch-and-feel cards.
The learning in all the rooms is centered on play, Mellinger said.
"Play is the building blocks of what they're going to learn in kindergarten," she said.
The Early Childhood Center also includes Kinder Club, which is a half-day childcare program for kindergartners, and the First Steps Washtenaw Milan program, which supports parents and families in the preparation of their children for school.
In the spring, the older children will be able to visit a kindergarten classroom, said Mellinger, so that come fall, "Kindergarten becomes no big deal."
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