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At Morning Explorers, we understand that you want your child to have the best start to their educational journey, and that starts with a safe and caring environment. Our preschool classrooms are designed to create a nurturing and stimulating space, where children will be engaged and grow socially and emotionally. Through positive reinforcement, our teachers encourage each student’s self-expression and confidence as they foster relationships with one another. We provide activities and experiences through play that build problem-solving skills, physical abilities, and creativity. Our curriculum is designed to challenge each child’s skills in the areas of, math, science, language arts, social studies, music, art, and drama. And with our intimate classroom, we have the ability to discover the learning needs of each individual child and adapt our curriculum and teaching style to meet their needs.
Morning Explorers is led by compassionate teachers eager to share their wealth of experience to guide your child joyfully through preschool and prepare them for kindergarten.
Children are dropped off between 8:45-9:00 am. They go to their designated classroom and have Table Time, which includes choices of drawing, puzzles, playdough, and other manipulatives to play with.
Next, we move onto our Weekly Lesson, where the children practice our letter, number for the week. We also work on tracing and eventually writing their names. After the lesson, we have Free Play and then snack. We then head outside for playground time.
When returning inside we have our Specials, which changes daily. They consist of phonics and writing, math, music, science and story time. After specials the children have Movement time, this allows them to get some wiggles out and have fun with all the different “Brain Breaks” we play.
Next, the children have Center Time where they get to move around the classroom to 3-4 different stations. Examples of the centers we have are, toys, building blocks, crafts, games, sensory, book corner and dramatic play. Finally, the children will eat their lunch and then go back outside for playtime prior to dismissal at 12:45-1:00pm.
Our Summer Camp will run from 9:30-1:30, Monday through Thursday. For children 3-5 years of age. We will provide the snack for our campers and families will need to pack and send a lunch for their child daily.
Our theme for the campers is the Great Outdoors! Our camp setting is located on our half acre fenced in property, under tall spruce trees with a mountain view, yet still being conveniently located in Black Mountain. We have an outdoor structure to provide protection from the weather and this is where we will create fun arts and crafts using supplies from nature! Our adventurous activities for the campers will be building forts, feeding chickens, harvesting vegetables and riding the zip line! We will also have lots of free time for the campers to play with toys, color or just run around and have fun.
Director
Erin has been teaching Pre Kindergarten for over 5 years and is excited with the development of Morning Explorers Preschool. She is currently the school’s director and lead teacher for the pre-k classroom. With a strong passion for caring and educating others, her career experience has spanned the fields of veterinary care to becoming a Registered Nurse after completing her Bachelor’s in Nursing from the Medical University of South Carolina. Erin’s focus shifted to the care and education of children once her son, Giuseppe started attending school. Once she was in the classroom with young children, she gained clarity of her true passion, which is teaching, growing and creating with preschool age children. Upon this insight, she then completed the NC Early Childhood Education coursework to obtain her Credential Certificate and began her teaching career as a Lead Pre-K teacher. She was then presented the opportunity to design and start a preschool herself and this was the beginning of Morning Explorers.
Erin and her husband Dominic moved to Black Mountain from Charleston in 2015 and are so pleased with their decision. They love being in the mountains and having the ability to raise their son in such a beautiful and spiritual place. She feels so privileged to be giving back to the community of Black Mountain, which she loves, by running Morning Explorers Preschool.
Teacher
Sarah is an almost born and-raised North Carolina native. After graduating college, her one goal was to ‘move to Asheville’. Four years passed, and she shifted from being a nanny, to working at a local brewery, to an after-school teacher, and now is the lead teacher for the 3 year old classroom with Morning Explorers. Sarah appreciates the exchange of learning from children as she teaches. They inspire her with their kindness, creativity, and intuition. Getting to know their interests, personalities, and learning styles is what helps morph the learning experience and classroom atmosphere.
Sarah is a total house plant nerd and loves being outside on a walk with her dog, Luna, or sitting on the porch, reading a book. Sarah appreciates hearing people speak of their life experiences, and how that has influenced who they are today. She believes in micro-influences. If we treat each other with kindness in as much understanding as possible, we can grow as a community and become better people for it. Sarah has recently picked up tai chi and as brought the practice of awareness (of body and mind) into the classroom.