Building Blocks Preschool

Angelfish      Register Now

AGES: 2.5-3 years old

GOALS: Independence in a classroom setting

TYPICAL DAY: Free play, circle time (songs, rhymes, fingerplays, books, shapes, colors), restroom/snack/puzzles, centers (fine motor art/craft activities and small group-focused activities), group movement (gross motor, music, and movement), prepare to go home with goodbye song, dismissal.

SWIM LESSONS: No Swim

• A one-time, non-refundable $50/child registration fee due at time of registration
• Enrollment is on a full-time basis with payments due monthly
• Fees draft on the 19th of each month and cover the month following
• If registering after August 19, 2024, deposit and first month's fees will be due at registration
• Building Blocks Preschool is a licensed child care program. Please fill out and return the necessary forms after completing online registration. Forms can be found here.

Butterflies      Register Now

AGES: 3-3.5 years old.

GOALS: Social skills, color and shape recognition, fine & large motor skills development

TYPICAL DAY: Free play, circle time (pledge, greeting, calendar, show and tell, story), movement break (large motor activity, yoga, etc), phonics (rhyming, letter introductions, and sounds through play), snack and storytime, literary centers (writing, tracing their names, letters, shapes, etc), movement break, math centers, free choice.

SWIM LESSONS: Weekly 30-minute swim lessons are built into our curriculum! Students will learn important swimming and water safety skills with our caring and certified instructors.

• A one-time, non-refundable $50/child registration fee due at time of registration
• Enrollment is on a full-time basis with payments due monthly
• Fees draft on the 19th of each month and cover the month following
• If registering after August 19, 2024, deposit and first month's fees will be due at registration
• Building Blocks Preschool is a licensed child care program. Please fill out and return the necessary forms after completing online registration. Forms can be found here.

Extended Care      Register Now

We are here to support you with extended care! Building Blocks Preschool offers extended care for 3 hours each day after dismissal. 

• A one-time, non-refundable $50/child registration fee due at time of registration
• Enrollment is on a full-time basis with payments due monthly
• Fees draft on the 19th of each month and cover the month following
• If registering after August 19, 2024, deposit and first month's fees will be due at registration

Preschool Swim Lessons

These are an optional companion program to our preschool classes. Participants swim one day each week. Lessons are given by YMCA swim instructors and follow the YMCA progressive swim programs. There is an additional fee for the lessons. If a child does not want to participate, they will accompany the teachers on the pool deck or be checked into Childwatch.

Our Preschool Program

CURRICULUM

We base our educational and guidance decisions for children on our knowledge of child development. Our number one goal is to provide the kind of environment that encourages all children to become creative, independent, and responsible students who can make positive choices for themselves.

We use a building blocks approach to our curriculum. Starting in our youngest classes, we continue to build, adding new concepts throughout our other classes so that your child is Kindergarten ready! Students will gain confidence through play, exploration, and social interactions, and will develop skills to successfully communicate with others and discover different ways to be creative and expressive about their feelings and thoughts. They will have the opportunity to interact with other students in group activities; stations and free play will help children grow socially and emotionally. They will also have the opportunity to develop fine and large motor skills every day through active games and activities.

DAILY LESSONS

Your child will participate in rotating centers that focus on small group learning for a more individualized learning environment. In these centers, your child will be working on alphabet activities, number skills, math, science, fine motor skills, and on their creative side with arts and crafts. We strive to make lessons open-ended and use a whole language approach to learning with developmentally appropriate practices.

STORYTIME

Storytime is an important time in our program, as we hope to instill the love of reading and learning in ours students. We have themed books that will be read each month that go along with other activities for the month or week. We will encourage them as they develop the necessary skills to read, and hope that you will read to them as much as possible.

CIRCLE TIME

This time is used for instruction and sharing. Activities include songs, show and tell, counting games, magnet board activities, calendar, musical instruments, story, and introduction to letters, numbers, and shapes.

BOOK CLUBS

We subscribe to Scholastic Book Clubs which allows you to purchase quality children’s books and ebooks at a relatively low cost. Our program receives bonus points for each dollar spent for book clubs selections. We then use those points to purchase new books and other needed materials for our program.

GYM / ACTIVE AREA TIME

Students will have the opportunity each day to use our active play area, right outside our classrooms, to participate in large motor skill activities.

LIBRARY DAY

Every week, your child will bring home a book in a bag with their name on it. Please send the book back in the bag.

SNACK TIME

In addition to providing an energy boost for your child, snack time is also an opportunity to refine social skills such as listening, sharing, and practicing manners. Each month your child’s teacher will provide a snack schedule with assigned days for your child to bring the class snack. 

HEALTHY U

Our Healthy U teachers come in once a month and will spend time teaching students about living healthy lifestyles and getting them active with fun large motor skills activities.

FIELD TRIPS

We hope to have either field trips or in-house visitations throughout the school year. Parent permission letters will go home and must be signed in order for your child to participate.

Payment

• A one-time, non-refundable $50/child registration fee due at time of registration
• Enrollment is on a full-time basis with payments due monthly
• Fees draft on the 19th of each month and cover the month following
• If registering after August 19, 2024, deposit and first month's fees will be due at registration

Financial Assistance

As a leading non-profit organization, the YMCA of Greater Michiana will not turn away students and families who cannot afford tuition. We recognize that access and affordability to child care can be challenging. Please see your options below for financial assistance.

• MI Bridges can help you to access our state-licensed programs, like Building Blocks Preschool, through financial assistance for those who qualify. Learn more on their website or download a PDF. Program will be listed under "Building Blocks Preschool."
• The Y offers financial assistance to those who qualify. Please fill out our financial assistance application, found here, and email Natalie Cooper, Member Administrator, at ncooper@ymcagm.org.
• In order to qualify for a scholarship from the YMCA, you must first apply to MI Bridges.