Our Approach
Mission: To educate and socialize preschoolers with the love of Christ.
Vision: To be the preschool of choice in the Cedar Rapids area.
Purpose: Our purpose is to help your child develop physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually, and cognitively. Our preschool aims to build a solid foundation for Kindergarten and Alternative Kindergarten.
Our Programs
Three Year Olds – 2 and 3 day programs
Some of our main goals for our three year old programs are: Teach each child that they are a special gift from GOD. Teach basic social skills such as body basics, waiting turns, respect for others, and general hygiene. Hygiene includes: covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze, washing your hands after using the bathroom, using a tissue and disposing of it himself/herself and then cleaning hands with soap and water or using hand sanitizer, keeping fingers out of the mouth, etc. We start a basic foundation for name recognition, colors, shapes, counting, and singing ABC’s. We promote self-help skills i.e.; hanging up coat, putting on coat, starting to zip/button, putting on hat/mittens/gloves and bathroom needs. Good social skills are the perfect foundation for building academic skills.
There are two options for 3 year olds:
- 2 DAYS – Tuesday/Thursday, 9am-11:30am
- 3 DAYS – Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 9am-11:30am
Four Year Olds – 3, 4 and 5 day programs
Our four year old program builds on our three year old program. We solidify the social skills, have more of a focus on academic skills such as practice writing his/her name and introducing the letter of the week program. This program includes listening for the sound of the letter and practicing writing the letter. Math is taught through various approaches. The children count each day and play games to develop math skills. Some math games include counting, sorting objects and placing objects in categories. These techniques are very useful and the children learn so quickly. Language Development is extremely important for young children. We always have many discussions about different subjects, flannel board stories, poems, finger plays, and most importantly, books. We read books to the children every day. Dramatic play and music and movement encourage free expression and also allow the children to use their imagination. We give the children many opportunities on a daily basis to use the puppets, dress up clothes, blocks, and many others. We use music to teach the children their alphabet, numbers, shapes, days of the week, and the months of the year. Science experiments help children explore their surroundings. We discuss bugs, animals, rocks, trees, flowers, weather, and much more. Physical Development is also included each day through using large muscle play on our playground or the children will play in the activity room. Our goal is to prepare your child for Kindergarten or Alternative Kindergarten.
- 3 Days: M/W/F, 9am-11:30am
- 4 Days: Monday-Thursday, 9am-11:30pm
- 5 Days: Monday-Friday, 9am-11:30am
Noah’s Ark Staff
All of our staff members have extensive experience working with young children and are dedicated to providing the best care and learning environment. We feel each child is a special gift from GOD and deserves individual attention and care. Every staff member receives ongoing in-service training through staff meetings and workshops held throughout the year. Most of our staff have worked for us for several years. All of our employees have had state and federal background checks. They are trained in CPR, First Aid, Mandatory Abuse Reporting, Essentials Training and Universal Precautions.
Kris Crowther
Director of Noah’s Ark
Kris was born in Kansas and had lived in MO, IL and Mexico City, Mexico all before she was age 8. Going into 6th grade her family decided to settle down and live in one place for a while. This resulted in her receiving a BS degree from the University of Nebraska in Elementary Education. She taught first grade for numerous years in Lincoln and Omaha before moving to Cedar Rapids, where she again found a place to settle in and stay for a while; almost 30 years, actually. Prior to Kris teaching 3-year Preschool and coordinating the Lunch Bunch Program, at Noah’s Ark in 2013, she served the Cedar Hills Community Church as the Director of Children’s ministry for seven years. Faith has always been a part of her life. She was blessed to have loving parents who exposed her to the knowledge and love of the Lord from the earliest age possible. Her mission in life is to let all children know how much they are loved by God. She loves to have interactions with these children; to listen how they describe the world around them. She has a book full of the cutest quotes you could possibly imagine from her experiences here at Noah’s Ark Preschool. Accepting the role of Director in April of 2019 has increased her opportunities to share God’s love. She looks forward to growing the school into everyone’s first choice of preschools in Cedar Rapids.
Next Steps…
Ready to apply? Visit the Enrollment page.