Preschool 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.
Classroom Learning Centers:
- Science Center
- Music Center
- Art Center
- Math / Manipulative center
- Dramatic Play Center
- Reading Center
- Play dough Table
- Discovery Table
The Learning Centers are used in the activities developed for the curriculum within each classroom. These are described in greater detail in the Curriculum Development
Guide.
Our teachers use developmentally appropriate practices to nurture the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development of each child. The theories of early childhood education are used to implement the curriculum.
Age Appropriateness Human development research indicates that there are universal, predictable sequences of growth and change that occur in children during the first nine years of life.
These predictable changes occur in all domains of development – physical, cognitive, emotional, and social. Knowledge of the typical development of children within the age span served by our programs provides the framework from which teachers prepare the learning environment and plan appropriate experiences.
Each child is a unique person with an individual pattern and timing of growth, as well as an individual personality, learning style, and family background. Both the curriculum and adults’ interactions with the children should be responsive to those individual differences. Learning in young children is the result of interaction between the child’s thoughts and experiences with materials, ideas, and people.
Each month the entire day care focuses on one general theme or concept (camping, the zoo, etc.). The group activities are themed as well. Individual teachers are encouraged to base their classroom’s appearance and activities on the theme.
Each class has its own goals and objectives, appropriate to that classroom’s age group. The goal is for each child to reach his or her full potential with these goals before moving to the next classroom. Every month, we focus on up to 10 goals and objectives for each classroom.
Each month the entire day care focuses on one general theme or concept (camping, the zoo, etc.). The group activities are themed as well. Individual teachers are encouraged to base their classroom’s appearance and activities on the theme.
Activities are then designed to facilitate learning the objectives. While participating in the activities, each child’s individual discoveries and progress are noted in that child’s file.
Every time a similar activity is done or a comparable objective is desired, this record provides the means by which the child’s overall progress may be assessed against common core standards, where appropriate.
Some goals and objectives will be determined by the curriculum designer. Others may be determined as appropriate by the teacher in each particular classroom. The Curriculum Development Guide provides more detail about these objectives.