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Schneider is also planning on coordinating field trips, such as a trip out to the pumpkin patch in October. He’s intending to keep the kids excited about coming each day.
Schneider and Moore have exactly what it will take to keep those kids excited, too. Schneider, who originally hails from Harrisburg, grew up surrounded by children, as his mother ran an in-home daycare. He also worked at Children’s Home Society in the intensive residential treatment unit, and was a paraprofessional in the special education department at Harrisburg High School. He’s one semester away from his Bachelor’s in Human Development and Family Studies at SDSU, and is planning to pursue his Master’s in Mental Health while working as Director.
One major idea he’s implementing this year is a progress binder. This will contain samples of the child’s work, and will show how they progress over the year. He will be sitting down with each of the parents in December and May to give updates on their child’s progress, and expects that parents will be excited to see how far their child has come.
Moore, too, has a succinct understanding of children under age 5. Originally from Washington State, where she worked in a daycare setting for three years, she has also done daycare for the past three years in Brandon.
“I like to sing and be goofy,” she said. Her now 14-year old daughter doesn’t appreciate that much anymore, she says, so she’s looking forward to being able to break out into goofy songs with her preschool charges. She’s planning on incorporating some structured subjects, such as math, science, and writing skills, but she also understands the value and importance of free play in the 3-5 age group, so there’s a lot of that built in, as well.
Pastor Phillips believes both Schneider and Moore will be amazing for the program. “They bring such a wonderful, positive energy,” she said. “Brittany is so creative- she has an uber creative spirit.”
Currently there are 15-18 children registered for the program, though there’s room for more. The preschool does offer scholarships for children whose parents may not be able to afford the program, and they also offer transportation to and from each of the Valley Springs daycares.
To register for the First Lutheran Preschool Academy program, contact Dalton Schneider via email at or their Facebook page.
