Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum follows the PA Learning Standards for Early Childhood Education.
Our curriculum encourages learning through play, using a variety of activities and techniques to reach particular goals.
Our developmentally appropriate curriculum provides for the whole child; it combines physical, emotional, social, and cognitive learning through an integrated approach. Each of these domains is interconnected and impacts the others. Children learn by doing. Through active involvement with their environment, children attempt to make sense of the world around them. They learn by exploring their environment through hands-on experience. Teaching young children is a creative process. An early childhood curriculum provides the framework for what actually happens in a planned environment where children interact with materials, peers, and adults. The primary teaching goal is to help young children use the environment productively and see themselves as capable learners.
They will acquire the skills and abilities needed for a lifetime of learning through carefully planned, developmentally appropriate activities arranged by the teachers. When a learning environment encourages exploration and discovery, children develop a sense of trust and belonging. They feel important and valued when others listen to them, seek out their ideas, and allow them to express themselves. This type of environment is considered hands-on or learning through play.
Children in our classrooms are encouraged to discover things on their own. They learn by exploring the actual objects we talk about. The teachers inspire the children by asking open- ended questions and finding new ways to teach new things within the subject area.
Lesson plans are weekly lists of activities and goals that make up the curriculum as a whole. Lesson plans can be created by the Director, Assistant Director, or individual classroom teachers.
Lesson plans should be completed the week prior to implementation. A lesson plan dictates the week’s events at a glance. A lesson plan should cover every subject area. Each area should have a new item added every week to teach the classroom objective(s). Please refer to the Curriculum Development Guide for more information about how to create lesson plans and develop a curriculum for your classroom.
The play yard is meant to be an extension of our classroom. The items that are in the classroom are items that can be adapted for outside use. For instance: the easel. Typically, an easel is set up in the classroom, but outside it becomes different experience for the children. The same goes for the discovery table, dress up, dramatic play, blocks, science, etc. Outside we also play games and, best of all, we get to do lots of things that are unacceptable inside, like yelling and running.