The Pea Pods are our older preschoolers. Children must be at least 3 ½ by August 1 st to start this class.This class provides a nurturing and challenging environment with a stronger academic focus. The Pea Pods class meets Monday- Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. or 3:00 pm Children participating in this class must be enrolled in all five days. Most children graduate from this class and move on to kindergarten. However, some younger Pea Pods miss the kindergarten cut-off and stay with us for an additional year before graduating.

Children come to the Pea Pods class with a strong sense of purpose and enterprise. Most children in the Pea Pods have been at Green Beginning for at least two years and have gained a wide variety of skills that lead to healthy and solid self-confidence. A lot happens at this age, all the learning and time put in the previous classes in the development of character come together here. The children have soaked and thrived with our non-judgmental approach and, thus, become quite skillful at problem-solving and self-sufficiency.

This class introduces the children to social responsibility in a nurturing community guided with love and support. Our educators continue to scaffold and build on the emotional and social skills established in their first years of preschool. Self-help skills and independence continue to be nurtured through individual and communal activities.

The classroom functions as a Developmental Kindergarten. Children participate in daily activities that include teacher-structured centers and self- sustained independent work. The academic curriculum includes numeracy, literacy, and quantitative reasoning to ensure a smooth transition to kindergarten. It is mandatory for children to attend every day until 3pm if in their last year of preschool.