Younger Infants - Curriculum

(6 weeks - Approx. 14 months)

     In this room the teachers concentrate on developing your child's gross motor skills: tummy time to strengthen arms and chest muscles, lifting head, rolling from side to side, crawling, cruising, learning to sit up and ultimately walking. The teachers spend time each day on the mats introducing books (hard cover), initiating conversation through basic sign language such as: hungry drink, all done, etc. The children are introduced to all types of music for relaxation and movement.

Older Infants - Curriculum

(Approx. 14 months old - 2 years)

     Physical: Usually by the time a child enters this room they are walking but it is not a requirement. If your child is not walking, don't worry, it will happen within a few weeks. There is nothing like wanting to do what your friends are doing as a strong motivator at this age. In this room the children start using climbers, slides, see saws, tents and riding toys to strengthen and master the tasks of their new found freedom and skills.
     Cognitive: The children are introduced to colors, shapes and counting through circle time and free play.
     Circle Time: Circle time begins in this room and this is where the children begin to increase their attention span. At circle time they sing and read books for up to 3 minutes.
     Language: The children continue with their sign language in this room along with developing their verbal skills. Your child's vocabulary will increase with the recognition of objects and repetition of the names.
     Social/Emotional: This room promotes the concept of self feeding with the introduction of utensils. The children start to practice sharing, taking turns, gentle touches, and a new concept of "group play".
     Art: This is also the first room where the children are introduced to "ART". The staff keeps it simple with the use of chalk, crayons, finger paint, tempura paints and large brushes and markers. All items that are used are non-toxic for the children's safety. We focus on introducing these items to the class not necessarily the "project".

Younger Toddlers - Curriculum

(2 year olds)

     Physical: The two-year-old room is where your child begins his/her journey of independence. By this age your child's stamina has increased so they are able to do extended walks ( walking trails that are available to us) swings, different levels of climbing, playing with various size balls, games ( Duck-Duck-Goose, tag) and group movement with a parachute, etc.
     Cognitive: Our goal in each room is to always bring our children to the next level of learning. Our circle time increases to twice a day - morning and afternoon. It is here that we begin to learn our colors, shapes, numbers and are introduced to the alphabet through fun songs and books.
     Language: Words now lead to sentences. We use them with our friends, teachers, family and anyone who is willing to listen to us. We encourage the children to talk and further their language development through individual and group interactions
     Social/Emotional: In this group we promote independence as well as group interaction. We begin the process of toilet training which is a tremendous step towards independence. All children are on their own schedule, but there is nothing quite like trying to keep up with your friends to jump start the process!
     Art/ Sensory: Art and sensory are combined in this room. The children experiment with different mediums of art: feathers, sand, paint and play dough.

Older Toddlers - Curriculum

(Older two years olds)

     Physical: In this room fine and gross motor skills begin to come together. The children are running, jumping, skipping and hopping. They are capable of grasping small objects like puzzles, cutting with scissors and coloring.
     Cognitive: We reinforce the colors and shapes; introduce them to the letters in the alphabet and numbers. Learning the alphabet in return opens the door to your child beginning to recognize his/her name.
     Language: Everything seems to be falling into place. This is the stage that we become very verbal and your child expresses himself/herself and tells us about their environment, family and friends.
     Social/Emotional: In the older twos room play is guided by the children and is not as structured as the preschool room. This helps to inspire creative play such as: role playing and using their imaginations. It is a fun time for the children. Toilet training continues and the teachers encourage independence and self-help skills, for example; cleaning up after lunch and putting their own lunch boxes away.
     Art/ Sensory: The art process turns into projects which tie in with art supplies of different textures and themes.

Preschool Curriculum

(3 & 4 year olds)

     Physical: The teachers in this class promote extended gross motor skills through games and various sports equipment such as baseball bats, soccer balls, swings, climbers and nature walks on the trails. Our fine motor skills are further developed through the correct use of scissors, holding a pencil correctly, and counting concrete objects to help the children understand why we count in our everyday lives.
     Cognitive: One of our goals with the preschool group is to begin to teach the children task oriented direction. In other words we are building the ladder for higher thinking by mastering one task and then moving on to another. The children are usually very proud of what they have accomplished. The children are now very well acquainted with the alphabet, numbers 1-20 and they can begin to recognize their names consistently.
     Language:Your three year olds have a lot to say; whether they are telling you about their day, answering your questions or asking questions of their own. We know it seems to have happened over night but please encourage them. You want your child/children to be able to express their wants and needs as this is a big part of being independent.
     Social/Emotional: At this age we are still working on sharing and taking turns. This is an ongoing learning experience. There will be good days and bad days, leaps and regressions but it is all normal. This class is usually bigger than the previous room they were in so we teach the children how to interact as a group. Our goal is to let the children work out their problems with one another with supervision and suggestions from the teachers. We try to do things together. However, the group is broken down into smaller groups during cognitive lessons such as writing, counting, and projects. By the end of the school year the children are quite confident and self reliant.
     Art/ Sensory: All aspects of creativity fall into place. The children paint, cut, glue, draw and create all manner of projects. The class cooks often (they make play dough, Jell-O, pudding, ice pops and special projects like Green Eggs & Ham for Dr. Seuss Day) and they make holiday related crafts. We have fun!!!!

Pre-K

(5 year olds)

     This is the last year that we will spend with your child before he/she goes on to Kindergarten; therefore we have a Kindergarten Readiness Program. Our group size in this room drops back down to ten children. We focus on fine tuning the physical and cognitive skills your child has been introduced to.
     Our concentration focuses on the children writing their alphabet letters, numbers 1-20, placing the letters together in order to write their names and introducing them to the basic reading words that they will learn in Kindergarten. Each month has a theme which pulls the physical, cognitive, social/emotional, language, art, music, pre-math and science together.
     The children learn basic pre-math through counting, measuring and guessing (estimating). They are introduced to fun science experiments by keeping charts and mixing different solutions in order to see the results, start flowers/vegetables from seed to see what is needed in order for them to grow, etc.

Miss Cherita - Our Pre-K Teacher

     Miss Cherita has been a Pre-K teacher for 18 years and has almost completed her Bachelor's Degree in early Childhood Education.
     Throughout The Center we are inclusive rather than exclusive and feel the best way for children to learn diversity is to practice it. Therefore in Pre-K we celebrate ALL holidays such as Kwanza, Hanukah, Christmas and St. Lucia Day. If there is a special holiday that a child celebrates and brings it to Miss Cherita's attention we will gladly include it in the curriculum.
     At the end of the year we celebrate all of their accomplishments with a graduation. The children and staff are very proud that they are ready for their Kindergarten adventure. Family and friends are also invited to their graduation.
     Art: The children are introduced to artists with different painting techniques, photography and different mediums which they are then giving the opportunity to try themselves.
     Computer: This is the only class with a computer. The children can use it twice a week for reading and educational applications.