Preschool / Child Care in Los Angeles, CA

Bel Air Presbyterian Preschool:
Located in Bel Air in Western Los Angeles, CA, Bel Air Presbyterian Preschool provides a primarily full-day, Christian-oriented Preschool program (with limited part-time availability) for children aged between 2.5 and 5 years of age. We offer an NAEYC accredited early-childhood developmental program that provides a quality curriculum that fosters the spiritual, social, emotional, physical and cognitive growth of each child in a safe, loving, nurturing environment. It meets the needs of the individual child and allows children to learn through experience and play.

Preschool Programs:
Bel Air Presbyterian Preschool has five morning classrooms and three afternoon classes with two teachers in each classroom, which leaves us with an adult / child ratio of between 1:6 and 1:8. That ratio is even lower when we have additional adult volunteers (parents) or college interns working with us.

- Preschool programs for 2.5 - 5 year olds
- Full time and part-time programs available
- Middle and Transitional Kindergarten program
- Mommy & Me program
- Early Morning Care program
- Summer Sessions

Morning Classes:
- Youngest Class (ages 2.5-3.5)
- Middle A Class (ages 3-4)
- Middle B Class (ages 3-4)
- Oldest A Class (ages 4-5)
- Oldest B Class (ages 4-5)

The most important goal of our early childhood curriculum is to help children become enthusiastic learners. This means encouraging children to be active, creative explorers who are not afraid to try out their ideas and to think their own thoughts.

Curriculum:
Preschool curriculum activities begin usually with a “Good Morning Circle Time” or a time of choice in working between many different activities or learning centers. The learning centers we most regularly use are: the Art Area, Blocks, Dramatic Play, Manipulatives & Science Area, Reading and Sensory. Children will have the opportunity to go to Chapel weekly for a short time of prayer, singing and a story. It is exciting to observe children immerse themselves in the aspects of their environment with a teacher or peer.

At a time in every morning, children are able to go outdoors. Children experience a variety of activities when participating in the Outdoor Classroom: sand play, water play, building, wood working, climbing, swinging, ball play, tricycling, sliding and more.

Afternoon Classes (Additional Program For Children Enrolled In The Morning):
- Afternoon Enrichment Dragonflies (Middle Class Children)
- Afternoon Enrichment Ladybugs (Oldest Class Children)
- Afternoon Enrichment Grasshoppers (Oldest Class Children)

A child is eligible for Afternoon Enrichment if he or she is currently enrolled in the Morning Program, is in one of the Middle or Oldest classes, and is between the ages of three and five years old. Parents must provide a lunch for their child, and a 30-minute rest period will be given daily. Afternoon Enrichment is a program that is available the entire school year, beginning in September and ending in June; therefore a yearly commitment is required.

The Afternoon Enrichment Program at Bel Air Presbyterian Preschool is designed to provide extended opportunities for children to strengthen their natural dispositions to learn when they are interacting with adults, peers, materials and their surroundings in ways that help them to make better and deeper sense of their own experience and environment.

Thematic Units:
Through the course of a year the children will explore several thematic units that are different and distinct from the units and activities that encompass the morning program. Although each unit has certain objectives, the units are created with the whole child in mind, and will be taught in a way that allows for individual development and diversity. As children immerse themselves in each unit, they will investigate and purposefully observe aspects of their environment, recording and representing their findings and observations through various activities.

Since we know that children learn best by seeing and doing, a large aspect of Afternoon Enrichment is in the guest speakers and field trips that will happen periodically through each unit.