Early Years
Preschool - Kindergarten
- What Is The Schedule?
- The Early Years Learner
- How Much Does It Cost?
- Do Early Years Students Participate In Specials?
- What Is The Teacher: Student Ratio?
- Does My Child Have To Be Toilet Trained?
- Progress Reports
- Developmental Domains
What Is The Schedule?
Our Early Years program follows a five-days-a-week schedule, the same as the rest of SPS. Our school year runs September-June, consistent with Bend-LaPine Schools. You can find our school calendar here.
The school day runs from 8:00 am - 3:00 pm, Monday through Thursday, and 8:00 am - 1:30 pm on Fridays. Each day begins with a "soft start" of free play time from 8:00 - 9:00 am, to accommodate student drop-off at staggered times. Planned activities begin at 9:00 am. Each day includes time for structured learning activities, free play, outdoor play, a school-provided morning snack, and rest time.
After school care is available for an extra fee. Seven Peaks does not offer a summer preschool program.
The Early Years Learner
At Seven Peaks, children participate in an IB-PYP inquiry-based program that responds to their academic and developmental needs. We allow a balance for children to explore, investigate, and play through freely-chosen activities as well as adult-initiated activities. We call this “planning for possibilities.” We have four core areas of belief:
#1 High Image Of The Child
We believe that children are naturally curious and full of wonder, with an innate ability to question and pursue their own learning. Our teachers view children as competent partners in the learning experience, and understand that each child has a unique pattern of growth and development. We encourage students to develop independence by taking initiative with their own self-care and organization.
#2 LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Our values are communicated and supported by thoughtfully planned learning environments. The physical learning environment is designed to support learning objectives, as well as the unique needs of young children. The arrangement of materials and activities encourages children to make choices, manipulate, create, and represent their ideas and understandings.
#3 Relationships
Our safe and nurturing atmosphere encourages children to build confidence and take risks. We believe that children feel safe and supported when their sense of shared ownership and belonging is emphasized. Connections to home and family are viewed as integral to learning, and are a visible part of curriculum planning and the environment. Children work together as a learning group to foster their individual understanding. as well as make collaborative discoveries.
#4 Play And Exploration
We believe play is essential for young children’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. Through play, children express, consolidate, and extend what they know about the world around them, incorporating their knowledge and skills. Children regularly participate in various kinds of play, which can be either child-led or teacher-initiated.
How Much Does It Cost?
View our tuition and fees on the 'Tuition and Financial Aid' page this site.
Do Early Years Students Participate In Specials?
What Is The Teacher: Student Ratio?
Does My Child Have To Be Toilet Trained?
Progress Reports
In the Early Years, our progress reports read as narratives created from structured observations, designed to provide a holistic picture of your child’s learning. A majority of the monitoring and documenting of students’ learning and development happens during play, telling a story of what the educator sees a child seeing, saying, and doing.
Early Years progress reports serve to highlight the unique journey of every child and provide a holistic view of growth, as opposed to a specific letter or number grade.
Using anecdotal and narrative records as the main form of reporting allows us to show the development of knowledge, ATLs and Learner Profile attributes across time, providing insight into your child’s behavior and progress.
Reporting on learning takes many forms – student portfolios, parent-teacher conferences, and progress reports.
Developmental Domains
Our Early Years program provides ample opportunities for growth in every developmental domain throughout the course of the year relying on play, observations, and activities.
In the Approaches to Learning (ATL) domain, children will develop emotional and behavioral self-regulation skills, cognitive self-regulation skills, initiative and curiosity skills, and creative skills.
In the social-emotional developmental domain, children will enhance their understanding of emotional functioning, sense of identity and belonging, and relationships with trusted adults and other children.
In the language and communication domain, children will be focusing on attending and understanding, communicating and speaking, and vocabulary development.
In the domain of mathematics, children will be developing basic understanding of counting and cardinality, operations and algebraic thinking, measurement and data, and geometry and spatial sense.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY IN EARLY YEARS
In the early years, play is the primary driver for inquiry. Our early years teachers create stimulating learning environments and experiences, listen deeply to students and craft opportunities for inquiry.
Benefits of Play
Play involves choice, promotes agency and provides opportunities to inquire into important concepts and personal interests. Through play, young children develop approaches to learning skills and connect with key domains of their development:
- Receptive and cognitive abilities (for example, listening, remembering, thinking, analyzing, generating theories, the control of attention and working memory).
- Representational abilities (for example, using symbolic systems—such as oral and written language, drawing and mathematical symbols—to construct and represent meaning).
- Relational abilities (for example, the ability to play with peers, sharing and taking turns, and respecting others).
The development of understandings in language and mathematics are interwoven and intentionally explored through strategies such as games, rhymes, poems, stories, play, conversations, drawing, problem-solving, reasoning, counting, patterning and sequencing. These intentional experiences support and influence later formal learning in language and mathematics.
Units of Inquiry
The PYP is a transdisciplinary framework that focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both at school and beyond.
In the Early Years, it is underpinned by four transdisciplinary themes around which learning within our units of inquiry is planned. A unit of inquiry is an approximately 8 week in-depth exploration of a concept. Students inquire into the concept through an overarching central idea and are guided through the transdisciplinary unit by three student-driven lines of inquiry.
While exploring the unit’s central idea, students learn specific elements through various subjects and form their own connections between what they are learning and how it relates to the world around them.
Rather than learning topics, we see our units through a conceptual lens to give us a broader understanding. Inquiry based learning, focusing on our Approaches to Learning Skills, developing our Learner Profile Attributes and allowing students to be agents of their own learning lies at the heart of all our learning in all subjects.
Meet our PYP Coordinator
Samantha Lyke
Samantha Lyke, affectionately known as Sammy, is not just a PYP Coordinator at Seven Peaks School; she is a supportive force behind the school's continued IB program growth. Born in the picturesque landscapes of Austria, Sammy's journey in international education has been nothing short of extraordinary.
For over a decade, Sammy has been an unwavering advocate for the IB philosophy. Her passion for fostering inquiry-based learning and global citizenship has left an indelible mark on the educational landscape.
A serendipitous turn of fate led Sammy to her now-husband, Chris Lyke, who serves as the 3rd-grade teacher at Seven Peaks this year. Together, they form a dynamic duo, weaving a tapestry of educational excellence within the school community.
In their second year of living in Bend, Sammy's influence on Seven Peaks' PYP program is unmistakable. From the meticulously crafted Programme of Inquiry (POI) wall to the vibrant integration of IB Learner Traits, Sammy's commitment to holistic education is evident in every corner of the school.
Collaborating closely with Hope Royes, the MYP Coordinator, Sammy has co-taught numerous workshops and educational offerings, creating a seamless bridge between the Primary and Middle Years Programmes.
As an IB Coordinator, Sammy wears many hats. She's a curriculum guru, ensuring the alignment of the school's curriculum with IB standards. She's a mentor, guiding teachers in the implementation of inquiry-based teaching methodologies. Additionally, Sammy is a visionary, consistently seeking innovative ways to enhance the IB experience for students.
In essence, IB Coordinators like Sammy are the architects of an enriched educational experience. They breathe life into the IB framework, infusing schools with a spirit of inquiry, international-mindedness, and a commitment to nurturing well-rounded, globally aware learners.
At Seven Peaks School, Sammy's dedication to IB education creates a learning environment where curiosity knows no bounds, and students are empowered to become lifelong learners and compassionate citizens of the world.
Contact Sammy.