About Bethany Preschool

Mission Statement

With God at our center and parents as our partners, we will work to nurture the total child: emotionally, physically and spiritually.

Our Goal

We believe that the preschool years are a wonderful and unique time in a child’s life and should be filled with exciting and appropriate activities to stimulate growth and development. Play is the primary learning vehicle for the preschool child. Therefore, each day must contain a variety of opportunities for manipulative and spontaneous play. Bethany Preschool is an accepting environment where each child is valued for his/her uniqueness and arbitrary standards are not applied to any child.

We approach all activities and lesson plans keeping in mind our goal to seek ways to teach the following values for Christian living:

• Self-esteem – Each person is created in the image of God and that is good.
• Love- Love for self, for others and for God is a major part of value-based education.
• Faith – Faith is nurtured as the child has positive experiences with trusted adults in a safe and secure environment.
• Hope – Hope embraces trust in God, a positive attitude toward life, and joyful attitudes toward learning.
• Care – Showing kindness towards others.
• Sharing – When children are confident that their rights will be recognized they can begin to think of others.
• Forgiveness – Forgiveness must be learned and experienced. We seek to model both, in the classroom.
• Creation is good – We emphasize this as we notice the wonders of the world, the dependability of day and night, the care for pets and plants.
• Honesty and Truthfulness – Learning the importance of honesty and truth leads to successful living in the larger world.
• Obedience – To obey is to show trust in the person in authority and in oneself. As we teach the rules of living and working together, we establish an environment where individual rights are honored, and the group is safe.
• Responsibility – All students have jobs caring for one another and for their classroom. As we strive to help each child do his part in the classroom, we reinforce the value of responsibility and build self-esteem.

Our History

Bethany Preschool is a ministry of Bethany United Methodist Church. The preschool began its program over 30 years ago, with the intention of sharing Christ's love with the youngest in our community. We are a non-profit program offering children ages 2 and up an age appropriate and affordable education, with God at our center. Together, Bethany United Methodist Church and Bethany Preschool strive to make a positive and lasting impact on the families who walk through our doors.

Our Purpose

• To help a child develop a healthy personality; form strong values; and develop the conscience, feelings and attitudes which form the foundation for a positive self-image and good relationships.
• To encourage the child in self-confidence, concern for others, cooperation in work and play and a spirit of sharing.
• To increase skills in listening, self-discipline, conversation, creative self-expression, independent work, play and decision-making.
• To offer developmentally appropriate preschool learning experiences in the context of a caring community.

Our Strategy

Bethany Preschool incorporates a developmental curriculum that allows each child many opportunities each day to participate in exciting learning activities. These should encourage development in the following areas:

• Ability to use and understand language
• Auditory and visual discrimination
• Quantitative awareness
• Memory
• Gross and fine motor ability
• Sequencing