Registration is now open for Bingham High’s preschool.

It’s an opportunity for children who are potty-trained and 4 years old by Sept. 1 to come two mornings per week to start to learn their letters, letter sounds and numbers. The class, which is taught at an almost 1:1 ratio by high school students, typically has 16 students. Those children who are age 5 and can attend kindergarten are not eligible for the preschool.

An online $40 deposit is required to hold a spot for the Mini-Miner preschool. After opening the Bingham Website at binghamminers.org, find the Preschool Mini-Miners under the resource tab. Additional information is there, including the monthly tuition of $85 per month for two days per week. 

Tours of the facility are available by emailing the instructor, Janae Dunn, who has her email listed on the webpage.

The preschool, which serves as a lab for high school students — many of whom want to pursue education as a career ¬¬¬—  has hands-on activities that are developmentally appropriate for the youngsters.

“We’re always practicing our letters and numbers; we always have an art activity, and we always have a science or sensory activity as well,” Dunn said, who said that students may form letters in shaving cream, sand or with dot markers. “This exposes them to different skills that they’re going to learn, like fine motor skills, cognitive skills, social skills. It’s helping them in each of those areas of development.”

She said the daily themes are engaging.

“Each of our themes are tied into a story that we incorporate so that the kids can learn the sound of the letter,” Dunn said.

For example, preschoolers may have a space theme and learn the number 7, so high school students, who are teaching the preschoolers under the supervision of Dunn, will share a story about the moon and space that ties in with the number. Preschoolers may make their own moon rocks or create their own astronaut masks to tie to the theme. 

Themes have ranged from water and ice to jungle animals or dinosaurs and the activities extends to art, science, or sensory, literacy, and math. The lessons are adaptable to fit each preschooler’s ability, she said.

“The high school students really take ownership of the program,” Dunn said. “Every Friday they create their lesson plans and we go through curriculum, but they spend hours on the lessons after school or at home because they really care about the kids and they want my kids to have a great experience.”

The room has multiple stations including a large carpet area where high school students lead beginning activities and story time, and hands-on stations for science or sensory, math and language arts. 

This past summer, new gray tile, LED lighting and other upgrades were made which “makes the room a lot brighter,” Dunn said.

The preschool traditionally offers guest speakers such as a firefighter or a magician. Preschoolers may participate in a carnival where they learn to play games and have their faces painted. They also learn from other Bingham teachers, such as visiting the instructor who teaches agriculture classes, to learn and see baby pigs, chicks and goats. 

“They get to go see and explore the baby farm animals they learn about, right here at Bingham, which is awesome,” Dunn said.

Preschoolers celebrate holidays as well. This year, they made striped cardstock hats, like that of the Cat in the Hat, and created their own storybook characters when they celebrated Dr. Seuss’ birthday and were scheduled to go on a leprechaun hunt around Bingham High.

Bingham High opened its preschool in 1999. Dunn, who has taught a decade at the school, has overseen the education of approximately 300 preschoolers. λ