Blog

We collected 22 pairs of pajamas this year!

Annual Christmas Party Monday December 12 5:30-7pm

Play Smart and Simply Therapy to host Dyslexia Halloween Carnival

Occupational Therapy in the Preschool Classroom

We do now!

Hours Education Philosophy Teachers Perks While daycares are typically open from 6 am to 6 pm, most preschools are only open half days. At Play Smart, we provide your child with a quality full day preschool program. Our hours are 7:45-5:15. The main goal of daycare is to "care" for your child while you're away. The main goal of preschool is to educate your child. At Play Smart, our goal is two fold- we want your child to feel safe and loved while in our "care," while providing developmentally appropriate activities that stimulate their minds through play. Your child will learn not only academic concepts, but also a strong foundation of social emotional skills. Our curriculum, Experience Early Learning, is theme based which means the concepts each month are organized so that children can learn in a meaningful and playful way. As speech-language pathologists and founders of Play Smart, our philosophy has always been to provide parents a high quality full day preschool program where learning occurs through play. Our teachers at Play Smart are professionals who truly have a passion for early childhood education. They hold a variety of degrees, from Masters to Associates and several hold child development certificates. They educate the whole child and understand the importance of having patience, creativity, and flexibility with children. Finally, we offer several perks that traditional daycares do not. We have a professional security system with mag-lock entry doors, provide automatic tuition withdrawal (because who carries checks anymore), and provide our parents with an app called Procare where they can view pictures of their children, and receive notifications with messages from teachers or updates throughout the day. We also provide two nutritious snacks per day, and we understand the importance of developing gross motor skills and have a gymnasium. Our students receive two recreational periods per day! We are so proud of our school, and know that when it comes to making a decision about preschool for your child, there are many options in Owensboro. We hope that you will consider Play Smart Preschool as an option for your child. Please reach out to us with any questions you may have!

Over the course of her career and life, children have always been at the heart of everything Jennifer Stauffer, our new kindergarten teacher, is passionate about. Her professional life began as the owner and Artistic Director of The Children’s Ballet Theatre for a decade, producing Owensboro’s first children-only production of The Nutcracker, and offering free admission to the public with a donation to the local help office. Later, she was a parent volunteer at The Triplett School, a Montessori school, and when her son was diagnosed with dyslexia, she turned her focus to ensuring he had the responsive, engaging education he needed to thrive. Later, she worked extensively in facilitating online classical education for her own children. Ms. Jennifer has worked with reading programs including Orton Gillingham and Lindamood-Bell LiPS, among others. Now, Ms. Jennifer holds certificates from The National Association for the Education of Young Children in Focus on Kindergarteners, the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators Subscriber Course, and is pursuing continuing Professional Education with the Harvard Graduate School of Education, including in the Question Formulation Technique, focusing on how young students can make their voices heard while listening to others and feel greater self-efficacy at school. Later, Ms. Jennifer plans to pursue Master’s work with the Erikson Institute, focusing on child development and social-emotional learning. Ms. Jennifer considers herself a life-long learner, and that’s something she hopes to share with her kindergarteners and their families, too. She holds a BA from Kentucky Wesleyan College. In her spare time, Ms. Jennifer can be found doing yoga, teaching herself to play the piano (mostly Taylor Swift songs), and being a coffee enthusiast. She’s the mother of four twenty-something children, and one rescue cat, Tom Hanks. WHAT KINDERGARTEN SHOULD BE According to the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, 16% of students not reading proficiently by the end of 3rd grade don’t graduate high school on time. What happens in kindergarten is critical to success later in life, and too many Kentucky students begin school underprepared. We envision a kindergarten opportunity for children that’s responsive, attuned to social-emotional needs, and helps each student develop curiosity and a love for learning that will stay with them throughout their lives and education. Play-based, phonics-focused, and with an emphasis on small class sizes and community-building, the goal of kindergarten is twofold: Academically, young people need a solid foundation of reading, reading comprehension, and mathematics that prepares them to enter elementary school with understanding and confidence. Personally, young people develop friendships, respect for each other, how to problem-solve, think creatively, and engage with others in a supportive environment. At the heart of it all, students learn through everything they do: From reading and being reading to, to building and creating and counting, to playing.

Ms. Leigha set up a voting booth on Monday and taught her students the importance of voting. The kids voted on their favorite pet. Vocabulary such as "booth, ballot, vote, choice, tally, election" was discussed. "Cat" and "dog" were the options on the ballot. Once the voting was complete, they tallied their votes and declared their winner. The clear winner of the election was cat by 2 votes. We love learning through play!

I'm all for easy things to do at home with the kids! Sensory bins are always fun, but so the process for creating them can be too! We dyed rice for our sensory bin today and it was simple, easy, and fun! My three favorites! Here are the things you will need: Rice (I bought a 10 lb bag) Food coloring Gallon size baggies Vinegar