Primary Program
Primary Program
This schedule should give you an idea of the general schedule and flow of the day in the Primary class. Factors such as weather, special lessons or visitors, and time of sunset can change this schedule.
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Our preschool program in our school in Gaithersburg, Maryland is a three year progression in a mixed-age classroom, which we call Primary. Children enter the class when they are three years old, and stay in the same class through Kindergarten. In the early afternoon, while younger children are napping, our Pre-K and Kindergarten students receive advanced lessons. Children leave the program well prepared for elementary school, no matter where they go next. Primary students who are 3 or 4 years old may attend for the morning, or for the whole day.
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Our highly skilled teachers track each individual child’s developmental needs. Children choose from specially designed work to develop their practical life capabilities, stimulate their senses, build their pre-reading and early math skills, and expose them to geography, cultures, science, art, music, yoga, and Spanish language. Optional sports programs are available as well, for interested families.
Daily Schedule
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If you have never experienced a Primary class, please come for a visit. These young children are able to work independently for several hours. They choose their work, prepare their snack, water plants, read books in the library, create art, all while learning social skills and to follow the ground rules of the classroom.
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At the end of a busy morning, Primary children play outside before lunch, followed by naps or afternoon academics, depending on their age. After naps everyone returns to the classroom and continues their work, with an afternoon snack. After this work period, the children are ready to play outside again, on the playground or with one of our optional sports programs. Other afternoon options include art and music.
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Children are excited to arrive in the morning, changing into their slippers, hanging up their coats, and greeting their teachers and fellow students. Having this opportunity to work independently is excellent preparation for elementary school. They build confidence in their ability to work through mistakes until they understand a new concept. Concentration and persistence are critical skills for success in school, and are key skills learned in our program.
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Many children learn to read, write, add, and subtract early. This is not due to any push from the teachers, but from allowing children to move at their own individual speed through work designed and tested over many years to be effective for children this age. Fears of pushing academics too early are based on the use of methods more appropriate for older children, such as pencil and paper drills.
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Given developmentally appropriate tools, children can build their skills at their own pace, in a way that meets with their developmental needs.
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Coming on a weekday morning will give you the best opportunity to see the children at work. You will see smiles, concentration, relaxation, in a productive community of very young learners.
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What Parents are Saying
Akuto Van Mensvoort
My daughter has started going to Top Hat Childcare before she started walking and she’s now almost 5. I have to be honest, when it comes to small children, it’s very delicate, you either feel strongly about what you want for them or you’re ok with giving it a try and see how things go. The later approach worked for us, just like many other things in life. There were times were I would bring up concerns and I may have felt like my concerns were not taken into consideration the way I’d like, however eventually everything always worked out. The teachers and school members always did take note of our concerns. The staff is very friendly and polite.
Hee Kang Ho
“Nice teachers, Good facilities, Good programs for babies and kids”
Olga Burnham
“Our son has been at Top Hat Childcare for over 5 years. He’s had wonderfully caring teachers and administrators since he was enrolled. We highly recommend the peaceful environment and thoughtful approach to learning within the structure of the curriculum. Willing to answer any questions!”
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Our Enrichment Programs
Your child’s inner potential converted to lifelong skills.
Arts and Crafts
Our Arts and Crafts classes helps the children to express themselves while learning how to mix colors and make tall buildings out of materials around them.
Music & Dance Enrichment
Our music and dance classes is a great way for the children to express themselves while exploring different instruments and culture rythms and movements
Language classes
We offer language classes every Friday where your child will learn Spanish from highly qualified teacher. We also teach sign-language as part of our daily curriculum.
Yoga
We are proud to introduce Yoga with Stella on Fridays. Another one of our amazing teachers will be teaching yoga for 30 minutes per class. They will be learning how to stretch and relax themselves at all ages.
Best-in-Class Childcare
Safe and Healthy Environment
We have well appointed monitoring system and security guards to ensure the safety of your children. The facilities are well maintained for healthy and safe environment. For play, we have 2 secure playgrounds so that children have entertainment and security.
Daily Engagement
Staff/Student Ratio of 1/3 for children under 2 years old, 1/6 for children 2-3 years old, and 1/10 for children 3-6 years old – We have more teachers on hand to fit over the ratio so that each child is given a fair chance. We also offer a learning curriculum that is centered around weekly themes.
Home away from Home
We have two nurseries that hold a lot of love, nurture and care. We never seem to shine light on this as if it wasn’t important. Teacher and children relationships set off to shape the way they see the world.