Mission:

Mother's Morning Out, a ministry of Oxford-University United Methodist Church, is designed to provide quality child care in a nurturing environment thus giving mothers and other caregivers a regular block of time to meet personal and family needs. Mother's Morning Out provides opportunities for toddlers eighteen months and older to interact with a small group of children their own age on a regular basis and to enjoy happy learning experiences at church. The Mother's Morning Out program is designed to provide opportunities for children to:

Grow in understanding and love for themselves, their families and others in their world.

Grow in the ability to think, solve problems and develop language skills.

Enjoy creative expression in music, art and play.

Develop age appropriate social skills by playing with the same group of children and adults on an ongoing basis.

Grow in the awareness that God loves them and that Jesus is a special friend.

Discovery Day School, a ministry of Oxford-University United Methodist Church, is designed to provide three-year-old and four-year-old children with a wide variety of experiences that will encourage social, spiritual, emotional, physical, and intellectual development in a nurturing environment. Discovery Day School operates on the belief that by making a child's preschool education a positive and exciting experience, the child will approach future school experiences with positive expectations.

Objectives:

The objectives of the Discovery Day School program include working with each individual child to:

- Develop a positive self-concept.

- Develop natural curiosity and creative potential.

- Increase independence and self-direction.

- Develop large and small muscle skills and increase physical coordination.

- Develop positive relationships with peers and teachers.

- Increase competence in dealing with emotions and social situations.

- Increase communication skills.

- Enlarge the child's understanding of the world through exposure to new experiences, people and ideas.

- Experience the loving care of adults whose lives exemplify commitment to the Christian community.

Our Philosophy:

At OUUMC Preschool Programs, we believe that effective early childhood education must be based on developmentally appropriate practices. Principles guiding our curriculum planning and classroom management include:

- Children learn as total persons - emotionally, socially, physically and intellectually.

- Children learn through their senses - hearing, seeing, touching, tasting and smelling.

- Children learn through active involvement - exploring, playing, manipulating, and problem-solving.

- Children learn through opportunities to make choices and decisions.

- Children learn best when teaching is meaningful, interesting and useful.

- Children learn through attitudes as well as content. Classrooms should provide a positive emotional climate in which a community of learners can learn in a noncompetitive atmosphere.

- Children learn through play to create their own meaning and learning schemes. Play is the work of the child.

- Children learn language through interaction. Opportunities to ask questions, to talk with their peers and to discuss things which of importance to them (their art work, projects, ideas) with interested adults are vital to oral and written language development.

- Children grow and develop at individual rates.