Saint John's Lutheran Church

Our Philosophy

At OPEN ARMS we believe that every child is a special gift from God. Parents and teachers can partner together to help children understand the unconditional love that God has for them and for all people, and to help nurture each child in mind, body and soul.

At OPEN ARMS each individual is guided to develop his or her potential in every aspect of life. Programs are planned each week to encourage and develop individual strengths and abilities, while helping each child to understand the value of cooperation and interaction with others. Children are given the opportunities to work, learn, play and share with other children as well as adults.

Play is the child’s work. By taking advantage of this fact and the many facets of early childhood development, a happy and strong foundation can be built. By balancing active time with quiet time, structured learning with fun-time, teacher-directed activities with child-selected ones, OPEN ARMS will encourage the child’s natural curiosity and eagerness to learn about the Lord’s creation and grow spiritually, emotionally, socially, and intellectually.

Mission

As a ministry of Saint John’s Lutheran Church, OPEN ARMS Christian Preschool serves as a means through which the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ is effectively communicated to children and families, and where relationships with God and with others are nurtured.

• Open Arms is centrally located in Fort Collins and convenient to get to from any direction
• Program is Christian based and non denominational
• Small class size with one to six ratio in the preschool class and one to nine ratio in the Pre K class
• Teachers have college degrees with emphasis in speech pathology, deaf education, and family studies and both have many years experience with young children
• Tuition is at an affordable level for most families
• Program is developmentally appropriate with emphasis on social and emotional growth
• Teacher created curriculum based on themes appropriate for preschool level of interest
• Program includes language, reading readiness, math, science, music, gross motor, fine motor, and social and emotional skills
• Introduction to academic concepts are included in the Pre K program
• Curriculum is planned to be a base for core knowledge, IB, and other programs in the Poudre School District
• Pre K class learns about the world with pretend travel to all the continents
• Field trips for Pre K class to many fun, educational, and interesting locations
• Classroom guests from fire and police departments for both classes
• Feedback from kindergarten teachers in the district and former parents praising how the children are prepared after attending the Open Arms program
• Parents are not required to help but are welcome to help in the classroom if they wish
• Scholastic book orders are available every month
• Open Arms is a happy place with enthusiastic teachers, children, and parents

• a Preschool of the highest quality, where children can learn and develop in a loving, caring, Christian setting;
• a positive first-school/first-teacher experience;
• a structured balance of active and quiet, individual and group activities;
• an educational program that will help prepare each child for school through development of basic academic skills;
• an opportunity for enhancement of creativity through music and the visual arts;
• an environment designed to establish and sustain each child in a relationship with Jesus Christ, which provides a basis for the development of healthy self-esteem.

• We greet children as they arrive; parents may stay for a few minutes to help with nametags and play.

• Children first engage in play and visit activity centers which may include play dough, housekeeping, art, games, blocks, science discovery, sensory table, computers, puzzles, peg boards, doll house, puppet theater, felt boards, and a variety of toys. Children freely move from one area to another as they create, discover, explore, work puzzles, problem-solve, pretend, and socialize.
• Five minutes before cleanup time, children are told playtime will be ending. At cleanup, the children “freeze,” sing a cleanup song, and music plays while toys are put away.

• Next, the children sit on small circles, each of which has the child’s name on it so they can learn the letters of their names and meet new friends as the circles are moved around each day.
• We talk about the calendar (patterns to work on beginning math skills), weather, seasons, count girls and boys, learn the letter or number of the week (Pre-K only), and do a story or music as time permits.
• Then we take a bathroom break, wash our hands, and return to the classroom.

• Parents provide the snack and drink each day.
• Name boards with photos help children learn to recognize their name and to know where to sit.
• Grace is said before snack and we practice table manners, courtesies, and enjoy lively conversation.
• Children clean up their own space and return to their circle for quiet reading time.

• Time to run, jump, climb, ride tricycles and bicycles, play, and laugh.
• If weather does not permit outside play, we to active adventure songs in the classroom or use the fellowship hall in the church.

• We have circle time and activities about the theme of the day. Activities include stories, pictures, music, finger plays, or other appropriate theme-related materials.
• Group skills, language skills, and discovering new information are developed at this time.
• After theme circle, children return to the tables to create a theme-related project. Age appropriate projects may include coloring, cutting, drawing, painting, gluing, creating, listening, following directions, and development of fine motor skills.

• A short Bible story and learning how Jesus loves us, is our Friend, and that we are all part of God’s family follows. Occasionally we spend time in the chapel with the pastor.
• The child whose parent supplied the day’s snack has show and tell. Items are brought in a backpack/bag to practice questions, listening to answers, and problem solving to guess the object.

• Preschool has now come to an end as the door opens for parents to come in and sign out their child as we give our good-bye hugs and look forward to the next preschool day when the child returns.

• Registration fee, Yearly $60.00
• Preschool 2 day class Tuition, Monthly $129.00
• Pre K 3 day class Tuition, Monthly $169.00

• Both Pre K and Preschool operate 8:45–11:30 a.m.
• Afternoon Pre K class (minimum of 6 enrolled) operates 12:15¬–3:00 p.m.
• We follow the Poudre R1 calendar for major holidays, vacations, conferences, and snow days, but begin the day after Labor Day and end the middle of May.

• All children attending the Preschool must be three years of age by September 15th. Placement is based on the child’s age.

• The preschool class of 3 and 4 year olds is limited to 14 children with 2 teachers (prefer 12)
• The Pre K class of 4 and 5 year olds is limited to 18 children with 2 teachers (prefer 16)

• Children are redirected to other areas or to more appropriate interactions with others.
• We encourage children to speak to another child who may be bothering them with “Stop, I don’t like that” or other similar phrases which empowers children to control their environment without tattling or being bullied and often prevents behaviors from getting out of control. It also alerts the teacher to inappropriate behaviors.
• If issues continue, the child will be taken to the thinking circle (a small rubber circle) apart from the others, but within the classroom to stand or sit. The child is given time to calm and then the teacher talks about what happened and what the child could do differently in the future to make things better. If other children are involved, they will be included in the conversation so together we can keep ourselves safe, each other safe, and our things safe.
• Parents are always informed at closing if their child needed the thinking circle so we can work together to help the child learn how to solve problems in an age appropriate way.

• Unless there is a church activity, only the outside door by the church office and the south door where parents and children of the preschool enter are unlocked.
• Once the children are in the classroom, classroom doors are closed and remain locked unless someone has a key or knocks.
• Children are not allowed to leave the classroom without a parent or teacher and are escorted to and from the bathrooms.
• Children must be signed in and out each day and only persons designated by the parents are allowed to pick up the children.

• A theme-based, teacher-created curriculum emphasizes social and emotional growth, as well as age appropriate academic skills. We recognize that children do not learn the same things at the same time. This curriculum helps each child learn most effectively.
• Research supports the importance of the social skills based curriculum to school success.
• Students from Open Arms have been successful in all Poudre R1 school including the Core Knowledge and IB curriculums.