Programs

Infants (birth thru 18 months)

This is the most critical period of development and a period in which children are very impressionable. They are totally dependent on adults to meet their daily needs. When their care is consistent, loving and nurturing, they will flourish. We strive to make their learning environment exciting; where they can learn to trust us, explore the environment we have created, make discoveries and begin to learn.

Our Infant teachers create lessons that are geared towards observing and documenting children’s development in order to plan for each child and help in the child’s social, emotional development

Infants are in the stage of development that includes the integration of sensory, motor, social emotional, language and cognitive systems. Babies at this age need the emotional security that comes from a close relationship with the care giver. Our teachers provide responsive care to these very young children. These include but are not limited to:

• Building a trusting relationship with each child

• Providing individualized care

• Observing and documenting child’s development and progress

• Developing partnership with families

At this age, children who receive high quality care are most likely to become confident, independent, sociable and capable toddlers and pre-schoolers.

Toddlers (18 - 30 months)

Toddler are very active, independent and assertive, but need constant reassurance and support from their care givers and teachers. By providing consistent,responsive care, teachers help toddlers develop secure attachments with the important people in their lives and gain confidence in themselves as active learners.

In order to lay a solid foundation for children's success,, teachers need to know what aspects of development and learning matters most. "The Creative Curriculum" for Toddlers provide this base.

The teachers constantly offer guidance and find ways to engage the toddlers in different interest areas. While planning for these experiences, the teachers are also assessing their skills and knowledge that are most predictive of school success, thus laying the foundation for future development and learning during the early years.

Pre-Schoolers (2.5 - 4 Years)

Our curriculum for pre-school grows and changes based on current research, to give teachers insight into what they need to know in order to teach effectively.

In our pre-school program, strong relationships are built on personal knowledge and interactions with the children. By observing the children, teachers understand their level of learning and find ways to extend that learning, by creating a literacy and language rich enviornment. The teachers verbal directions, physical assistance and probing questions help children figure out how to approach learning tasks, improve skills and acquire knowledge.

The teachers are role models and validate children’s efforts by acknowledging what they did and how they did it. They respect children’s ideas and their efforts to solve problems. Our teachers take the time to learn about and to know each child well, thereby developing a warm, positive relationship, which is critical for optimal learning and development to occur.

Pre-K (4+ Years)

In the Pre-K class, our teachers work to make the students school ready. The teachers integrate learning and make it meaningful to children by engaging them in studying topics of interest. As we prepare the Pre-K students for Kindergarten, emphasis is placed on teaching content areas of language and literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, the arts, health, and technology.

Literacy - Vocabulary and language, phonological awareness, knowledge of print, letters and words, comprehension, auditory and visual memory and discrimination, form and letter recognition, basic reading skills and listening and speaking skills.

Mathematics – Development experiences in pre-number concepts, number recognition as well as other number concepts, geometry and spacial sense, measurements, patterns and data analysis.

Science – observations and comparisons of the physical properties of objects and materials, characteristics and exploration of living things, and the Earth’s environment and energy.

Social Studies – People and how they live, change related to people and places, and simple geography

Health – Body awareness, Nutrition and health habits

The Arts – visual arts, music, dance and movement, and drama

Technology – tools and their basic operations and uses, preparatory computer skills to prepare them for the next level of skills they will acquire in the next grade