PRE SCHOOL ARTS

The Preschool Arts Program is a FREE program for kids ages 3-5 and their families. The sessions run for ten weeks on Wednesday mornings from 9:45-12:00 pm. The morning includes music, dance, and visual arts classes. Parents and caregivers are invited to participate with their child in the visual arts class and siblings are welcome to attend. A free and healthy snack will be provided between classes. 

Winter/Spring 2011 Preschool Arts Program Schedule:
Wednesdays from 9:45am-12:00
Winter: Jan 12 - March 16, 2011
Location: Coronado YMCA, 263 South 20th St., Richmond, CA 94804
Spring: April 6 - June 8, 2011
Location: Davis Park Sr. Center, 1661 Folsom Ave, San Pablo, CA 94806
Goals

Thanks to the primary support of The First 5 Contra Costa Children and Families Commission; The East Bay Center for the Performing Arts has come to provide fun and engaging learning experiences that will help your child prepare for preschool and/or kindergarten.

The arts classes have been designed to develop and promote a variety of skills. They will incorporate age-appropriate, stimulating and fun tasks such as singing to encourage speech development, making up and telling stories to promote early literacy skills and verbal communication, dancing to strengthen large motor skills, and painting and other visual art tasks to develop fine motor skills.

Your child will also practice effective communication and cooperation skills in a group setting through tasks like taking turns and following directions. The experience of interacting with peers in a structured and supported environment will increase your child's ability to thrive in a school setting and will encourage healthy social and emotional development.

The classes will serve as a two-fold experience. First, we will provide you with art and other school readiness activities you can work on with your children at home. And second, we offer the opportunity for you to socialize with other parents in a fun hands-on environment. You are your child's first and most important teacher. Children who receive early educational experiences at home enter school ready to learn. Children whose parents support them before and during their school years have a better chance of succeeding in school and throughout their lives.

Perhaps our most important goal for the program is to instill in your child a great sense of accomplishment and the immeasurable feeling of self-confidence. We hope you enjoy the workshops as much as we do!

Rules and Regulations

• Parents and Guardians must be on-site for all workshops.
• If you are unable to attend a workshop for any reason, please contact site coordinator Michelle Flynn at 510 234-5624 x27 to inform the program of your absence.
• We ask that you keep your child home if (s)he has a fever or has vomited within 24 hours of the workshops.
• If you miss a series of two workshops without contacting us, we will assume that you do not wish to continue participating in the program and your spot will be given to a waitlisted family.
• Younger siblings of registered children must remain with their parents/guardians during the entire program.
• Parents/Guardians may bring elder children on school holidays when the workshops are in session.
• If a child is having a difficult time in a class due to behavioral challenges we will assist the child to the best of our abilities and communicate with the parent/caregiver about the child's challenges in class. If we feel that the child's behavior is negatively impacting the wellbeing and/or safety of the rest of the group, we may ask the parent to remove the child from the class and/or program. If this should occur, we will attempt to provide information on alternate community activities and support resources for the individual child and family members.

For more information about the Preschool Arts Program please contact:

Michelle Flynn
Preschool Arts Coordinator
(510) 323-2493

michelle.flynn@eastbaycenter.org