Classroom composition, staffing, and activities.

Infants thrive in a caring, accepting, and loving environment. Our infant teachers understand the importance of developing a bond with your child. Infant daily schedules are very individualized and infant teachers develop strong relationships with family members and caregivers in order to provide and maintain a stable, nurturing environment for your child. Many meaningful interactions are conducted while teachers perform routine tasks, such as diapering and feeding. Our teachers celebrate the many milestones children achieve in their first year. They utilize these achievements to plan and implement activities to help your child reach their next level of personal development. As your child learns to trust the adults who provide for their needs, they will be able to acquire their own sense of self-esteem and self-worth.

Classroom composition, staffing, and activities.

The primary focus of the Toddler Room is to provide an environment that is warm, caring, and accepting to each child’s individual needs. Our toddler program is a flexible hands-on program that fosters the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional growth of the children. A consistent routine, with a flexible schedule, provides a balance of activities designed to meet the individual needs of growing toddlers. Our toddler curriculum is guided by the developmental expectations outlined in the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards (WMELS), which support early learning across key developmental domains. Toddler teachers implement WMELS as a means to develop goals and plan individualized activities for the children in their care. These activities are developmentally appropriate, yet can accommodate the varying abilities of busy toddlers.

Our goal is to provide developmentally appropriate opportunities throughout the day based on your child’s individual needs. We strive to develop the foundations for future academic learning, wholesome social relationships and emotional health.

Two-year-old children are highly active as they begin to explore and interact with their surroundings. Within a safe environment, they engage enthusiastically in structured activities. The curriculum implemented by teachers establishes a foundation for the development of essential pre-academic skills. A hands-on approach to learning fosters early readiness skills including color and shape recognition, self-concept, fine and gross motor control, socialization, and creative expression. Responsive caregivers guide children toward developing self-awareness and learning empathy and cooperation with peers. Furthermore, two-year-olds are encouraged to practice self-help tasks independently, many of which are refined prior to transitioning into the preschool program.

During the preschool years, children embark on a journey of learning and exploration.

The Creative Curriculum® is purposefully constructed to provide your child with a variety of academic experiences promoting problem solving, persistence, and a passion for lifelong learning. Preschool teachers structure play activities to teach academic concepts which may include math, language, and fine motor skills. Preschool teachers place a strong emphasis on self-help skills and social interactions with peers. Our teachers modify education experiences based on children’s interests and strengths while recognizing each child as an individual. Your child’s teacher will track his or her progress through our child assessment portfolio system based on Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards. Teachers use this information to plan weekly activities for the children. Our classrooms display a balance between teacher-directed and child-directed activities. Integrated curriculum through themes allows children to investigate areas of interest from multiple perspectives.

Wishing Well 2.0 is a community partner for DASD’s Get Together for Kids (GT4K), a community-based preschool program for 4-year-old children residing within the DeForest Area School District.

Our 4K program is taught by qualified Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction licensed teachers. Children participate in a developmentally appropriate program that provides rich learning experiences through play and active, hands-on exploration of the environment where they gain skills in several areas of development including social-emotional, cognitive, motor, language/communication, creative expression, early literacy, and self-help skills. The GT4K program includes a strong focus on parent-school communication with regular family outreach workshops, activities, and opportunities. The program is tuition free with a $10 activity fee paid to DASD.

A child must be four years old on or before September 1st to participate in the GT4K program. There will be no early admission to the program. A four-year-old who resides outside of the district will be able to apply through the Open Enrollment process if his/her home district offers a DPI-approved four-year-old kindergarten program. The student would need to meet all the criteria for Open Enrollment to be accepted into the program.

All sites offer the same curriculum provided by the DeForest Area School District. The Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards is used as a guide for all curricula. DASD supports Creative Curriculum foundations/framework for our classroom structure and philosophy. Amplify will be utilized at all sites to support our curriculum foundation providing a rich, comprehensive, integrated curriculum that takes advantage of young children’s natural curiosity about the world around them. A strong emphasis on social-emotional development and independence will be a focus of the 4K programming utilizing Second Step Social-Emotional Skills for Early Learning Curriculum.

Learning centers create the foundation of our 4K classrooms. These independent areas are designed to engage the children in open-ended exploration where they can develop cooperative learning, social interaction, real-life problem solving, and autonomous learning. Your child’s day is designed to provide a wide range of activities alternating between quiet and active, indoor and outdoor, yet provide the comfort and securities of a familiar routine.  

For more information about our program, go to www.deforest.k12.wi.us and click on Schools GT4K (4-year-old Kindergarten)

Wishing Well 2.0 is a 5-star Nationally Accredited program committed to providing high-quality care and enrichment for school-age children. We offer a warm, welcoming environment where school-age children thrive before and after school, on early release days, and during school breaks. Our program is designed to foster friendships, encourage teamwork, and provide a fun, safe place for kids to be themselves.

With a focus on social-emotional development, our educators use Conscious Discipline® strategies to help children build self-awareness, solve problems peacefully, and form meaningful connections with others. Whether it’s sharing laughter during group games, creating together in the art area, or teaming up for outdoor challenges, every day is filled with opportunities to build strong relationships.

At Wishing Well 2.0, we’re proud to be a place where children belong, friendships grow, and families feel confident in the care their children receive.