St. Catherine's Preschool 

St. Catherine's Preschool is a ministry of St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church. Our program serves families of children 2 – 5 years old.  All preschool classes have two teachers. Our small classes use an emergent curriculum based on developmentally appropriate activities. Our teacher to student ration is smaller than the Texas standards.  Our program also includes weekly Chapel. We welcome diversity in race, religion, and socio-economic status.

We would love to show you around our wonderful preschool! However, at this time we are not doing in person tours. If you would like to see a prerecorded Virtual Tour , email Camille Parker for more information.

Our mission at St. Catherine of Siena Preschool is to take advantage of the teachable moments that happen every day by fostering the intellectual, creative, social, emotional, and physical growth and development of our children to inspire a lifelong commitment to learning.  We believe all children can learn and thrive in a stimulating, encouraging, comforting, and developmentally appropriate learning environment.  We provide a loving, safe, and spiritual environment of belonging, self-worth, and self-confidence.

We believe in the value of children learning to be part of a community. This means that being a part of the classroom community involves meeting for large group at points during the day, such as story time. Special classroom activities and rituals help children feel included and create a special bond from child-to-child and child-to-teacher.

We believe children learn best through self-directed play. Therefore large parts of our day will involve child-directed play, both outdoors and inside the classroom. Children wonder better, move easier, and learn to be better stewards of God's kingdom when they spend a good part of their day outdoors. Extended play, facilitated by caring, compassionate, and curious teachers leads to children's cognitive and social development.

We believe that quality early childhood education can be a little messy and a little noisy. If you walk into one of our classrooms on any given morning, you will see children actively guiding their own play with toys and open-ended materials. Teachers sit with and near children, observing, asking questions, and supporting their play by setting the stage and creating a safe and inviting environment ready for exploration and fun. 

What is Play-Based Learning?
In a play-based program, children choose activities based on their current interests.  The term "play-based" is often interchanged with "child-centered," which could be used to describe the majority of available preschool programs.  The play-based classroom is broken up into sections, such as dramatic play, sensory table, library, building, blocks, other toys, or other areas.  Teachers encourage the kids to play, facilitating social skills along the way.  "Even though it seems like they are just playing, they are learning valuable skills, including important social skills and cooperation with others, learning about signs (as most items are labeled), and early math," says Jenifer Wana, author of "How to Choose the Best Preschool for Your Child." 

"Chaos doesn't necessarily reign in a play-based preschool, but there will be play and there will not be silence.  Discussion between teachers and students is ongoing. Teachers will encourage kids to play and facilitate ongoing opportunities for learning along the way while teaching concepts through songs and games.  You can likely expect a few structured learning times, but teacher-supervised free play is the name of the game."

If you are interested in making a donation to St. Catherine's Preschool, please visit our Amazon Wish List at http://a.co/0qNMLXp.  

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St. Catherine of Siena Preschool Austin