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Update: Our Thursday group is currently FULL. We have one spot remaining in our Tuesday group 12-2. A guardian will need to remain on premises and be available to assist child as needed.Please email us at [email protected] to be placed on our waiting list for Thursdays 12-2. Thank you.
A Social & Developmental Group for School-Aged Children-A perfect supplement to homeschooling!
September 2025 through May 2025
What you'll get:
- A significantly small group of peers; no more than a 1:4 adult to child ratio
-Children who are able to participate successfully in a small group setting may attend without a caregiver; caregivers may attend if preferred or to assist children requiring more assistance
- A fun and enriching program created and led by occupational therapy professionals that covers many skills, such as fine motor, visual motor, sensory motor, sensory processing, gross motor, executive functioning, social emotional, social interaction, mealtime, social communication, functional communication and more
- Indoor and outdoor activities all-year-long, including movement in our play gym & multisensory outdoor play (e.g., mud kitchen, sensory bins, loose parts, walking fieldtrips to nearby Alum Spring Park), story/ lesson time with an accompanying arts & crafts project relevant to our weekly theme, snack or lunch from home, and plenty of creative and child-led play. We provide a new theme each week!
More about our program:
This program was developed & is facilitated by occupational therapy professionals. It is primarily play-based with a sprinkle of structure to help your child learn skills necessary to participate in social activities, such as remaining with the group, following a group plan, following a schedule or routine, etc. These skills are important in being successful in an array of organized social activities, such as Sunday School, Extracurricular Activities (i.e. Scouts, Gymnastics, Ballet), Homeschool Co-Ops, and School. Having said this, we understand this is difficult for some children and provide understanding, flexibility, and accommodations that come naturally as occupational therapists! We follow a schedule starting with gross motor play in our indoor play gym typically ending with a "proprioceptive" or heavy work activity, such as playdoh, push-in art, dot art, or hole punching to provide calming input to our bodies after all of that stimulating movement! We make it a point to greet one another and learn one another's names as part of our welcoming routine. We then transition to child-led play in our indoor play environment. Toys and activities in this setting change to coincide with our weekly theme, providing a new play experience each week. Children are exposed to developmentally rich and stimulating materials, including, but definitely not limited to, toys, puzzles, dress-up, make-believe, and books, to naturally elicit developmental skills. This includes cognitive, fine motor, social, and communication skills, to name a few! Children practice the important skill of cleaning up and making that sometimes non-preferred transition from playtime, to participate in a restroom break and snack/ lunch time. This time allows us to organically incorporate self-help skills required to use the restroom, wash hands, open snack packages and containers, and feeding. Not to forget to mention that our facility is socks-only, so we also practice donning and doffing shoes! They practice listening skills and enjoy a lesson/ story while eating. Books are carefully chosen to highlight our weekly theme, as well as to encourage some natural group discussion for more learning, communication, and social interaction opportunities. We close this time with a theme-related, age-appropriate project. This gives us an opportunity to practice some visual motor and school skills through cutting, coloring, painting, folding, tracing, writing, etc. Our group ends with some outdoor play and sensory exploration. We feel being outside is so important and beneficial and do our best to go outside all year long, while adhering to any safety recommendations! All of the snow last Winter provided the BEST sensory play! This group is suitable for school-aged children between kindergarten and 3rd grade. This is the perfect program for participants of our Playschool Program to transition to! We also offer a similar program for older School-Aged children! We love working with families to meet children where they are and help them achieve their full potential!
"Play is the work of the child." -M. Montessori
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
1329 Alum Spring Rd., Suite 101, Fredericksburg, VA, United States, Virginia 22401
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.
