The Sage Informer

Each year, Monticello High School’s Child Growth and Development class offers a program called “Little Sages Preschool” that teaches high school students about the learning processes of children. This hour of play four days a week provides high school students the chance to implement what they’ve been learning all year, through the observation and teaching of kids ages 2 to 5 from February through May.

Laura McCleary, teacher of Family and Consumer Sciences classes at Monticello High School and head of the program, explained how her students prepare for teaching and watching kids in her class, saying, “Students learn about the physical, intellectual, emotional, and social development of preschool aged children. We then put that learning into preparing lessons that fit the preschool children’s development.”

Regarding how the Little Sages Preschool got started, McCleary said, “The preschool is actually something that has been done since the 90s! The classroom space was even designed for it before I came. However, this is something that the students and I have grown into something bigger than I could have imagined! My very first year, we started with SEVEN preschoolers. Little Sages has now grown to an enrollment of 30 preschoolers!”

For only $25, Little Sages Preschool provides parents the opportunity to introduce their children into a preschool environment and practice for separation. McCleary and her students have created a trusting and nurturing environment to introduce the next generation of Sages to school just a bit early, while allowing high school Sages a valuable learning opportunity.

Kendall Eades, Staff Writer
eadke24@sages.us