Mr Turtle’s School Offers A Different Approach

By Laurie Borst

Tucked away in Sandy Hook Center is a delightful little center for tots. Mr Turtle’s School has readied youngsters for nursery school for almost 17 years. Twelve years ago, Carol Cashman joined the staff as a teacher, and then she purchased the business five years ago.

While there are a number of preschool and nursery school choices available in Newtown, Mr Turtle’s offers something a little different. Programs are geared to introducing young children to the school experience.

“This is nursery school with mom along,” Ms Cashman explained. “Many 2-year-olds are ready for the school experience but may not be ready to be dropped off yet. You can see the children gain independence as time goes by.”

Lots of people new to the area join to meet others, some want the introduction to school. There are lots of reasons that people come, Ms Cashman stated. Another aspect of the school is that it gets parents ready for their children to move to the nursery school without them.

“I’m particularly excited about this school,” Ms Cashman shared. “I moved here when my daughter was 3. If something like this had been available then, it would have been wonderful.”

Students come from Newtown, Sandy Hook, Southbury, Bethel, Woodbury, Oxford, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford, Bridgewater, and a few from as far as New York State. Ms Cashman is expecting a new student next session from Naugatuck.

Mr Turtle’s program begins in September, following Newtown’s schools schedule. While they follow the school year, the focus is not on academics. Classes are developed around themes. Shapes, colors, and the alphabet provide the daily themes.

By the end of the year, students learn the alphabet because they are singing songs about it, but it is not drilled into them.

“The kids have fun, they don’t know they’re learning,” Ms Cashman said. “We expose the children to a lot of topics.”

Social skills and group dynamics are part of the experience. The youngsters learn to share, take turns, and to be the focus of attention in a group.

“They learn to be happy for their friends,” Ms Cashman stated. “The teacher may ask ‘whose name starts with M?’ and Matthew becomes the focus. Children need to learn to be comfortable with that.”

The programs are designed for children ages 20 months to 3 years, and even some 4-year-olds attend. The children come with a parent or caregiver. Parents help facilitate the activities.

“We provide a safe, comfortable environment with the same routine each time,” Ms Cashman said. “The children can anticipate it.”

A typical day at Mr Turtle’s begins with 15 minutes of free play for the children and socializing for the parents. There are always two teachers for each class. After settling in, everyone joins in circle time.

During circle time, the theme for the day is introduced and songs the children pick are sung. This is followed by a snack, also based on the theme for the day; if the letter A is the theme, apples and apple products could be the snack for that day.

Following snack, one or two games are played. An art project, also based on theme, is produced by the students and then they return to the circle to review the day. The hand puppet, Mr Turtle, says Good-Bye to each child as they leave for the day. The whole program is done in 75 minutes, an appropriate length of time for that age group, Ms Cashman noted.

“We were initially called ‘Just For 1’s and 2’s,’” Ms Cashman offered. “We changed to Mr Turtle’s School because 1’s and 2’s was something of a misnomer in that many of the tykes are 3 or turning 3, and some even turn 4. Also, we had a few calls from women who thought we were a clothing store for small sizes!

“And since the children always referred to us as Mr Turtle’s anyway...”

Ms Cashman’s love of her work is evident as speaks about each child’s unique personality, the joy of seeing a sense of humor develop. She stated, “If you miss it, you don’t get that period of growth again.

“I love kids. You walk in here and it’s a whole different world,” she said. “ I call it the wonderful world of children.”

Ms Cashman reported that some of the classes really gel and get together over the summer. The children form long-lasting friendships. Children in each class are within six months of age. Each class has a maximum of 12 students.

The school offers three classes each day, at 9:30, 11, and 12:45. Children sign up for a class once a week. Mr Turtle’s offers rolling registration, which allows people to join anytime. The summer program allows parents to pick and choose how often they come, offering great flexibility.

Ms Cashman has three teachers in addition to herself. She holds a degree in psychology and designs the programs. The teachers have lots of experience with youngsters. Between them, the four staff members have 38 years of experience.

“You have it or you don’t to work with little ones,” Ms Cashman stated. “Our teachers enjoy what they do. We strive to instill a love of learning.”

Mr Turtle’s School is at 111 Church Hill Road, behind The Toy Tree and Newtown Computer & Financial Services. Registration is open for the summer program and next September. The school will hold an open house on June 12, from 9:30 am until noon, where parents can meet the teachers, have questions answered, and register. For more information, call 426-0796.