Curriculum
Social and Emotional Development
At a young age, the primary emphasis is the social and emotional development of each child. We encourage children to take initiative in order to develop independence and self-confidence. Our intent is to foster the development of self-expression, free choice, self-control, curiosity, and creativity. We encourage the children to establish positive peer relations by learning to be patient, trustworthy, helpful, kind, gentle, and compassionate with one another. The children are learning to create strong and loving relationships and communities by treating one another with dignity and respect.
Mathematics
The mathematical mind of a child is exercised through the order and exactness in everyday activities. The children learn one to one correspondence, identifying patterns, estimation, problem solving, and reasoning skills. The children learn these skills through play and by exploring the materials that attract and stimulate them. Concrete and active experiences in math provide children with a solid foundation that can be helpful as they grow older and they learn how to build an understanding of abstract mathematical ideas.
Reading and Writing
Reading requires an integration of vision, hearing, speech, and sensory-motor skills. The children are exposed to a variety of materials that will refine their senses and help them develop their reading and writing. The children will learn the concept of identifying letters by name and by sound. Children broaden their vocabulary through the spoken word as well as learning patterns of speech and sentence structure. They begin to listen to the spoken word through stories and books. Children will increase their auditory, visual, and articulation skills in conversation, interaction and play. Our curriculum helps the children foster the love for reading, writing, and speaking. We encourage them to explore and learn by exposing them to different types of books and by having a print-rich environment.
Social Studies
Children discover the world around them through exploring different stories, pictures, maps, globes, puzzles, art, and food. The children will be exposed to customs and traditions of people from other countries. They will be introduced to the seven continents and discover the similarities and differences in our world’s cultures, climates, and environments. The goals of multicultural awareness include a respect of differences among traditions and cultures, recognition of the interrelatedness of all cultures and an awareness of one’s personal role in the world. The children will learn to share, work together cooperatively, and resolve conflicts amongst themselves.
Art
A rich and dynamic art curriculum exposes the children to a variety of art mediums, which encourage self-exploration, self-expression, and creativity. The goal is to provide opportunities that will help the children develop a love for the arts as a way of expressing their uniqueness. All activities are developmentally appropriate to give the children the freedom to explore, develop and work at their own pace. The children are exposed to a variety of materials like crayons, pencils, markers, construction paper, collage materials, paint, etc. The children are given the opportunity to explore different activities to help develop their fine motor skills, concentration, independence, and hand-eye coordination. Art is a wonderful sensorial experience, building self-confidence in one’s own creativity. It is never about how the end product looks, we focus on the process on how children
learn and do things.
Outdoor Play
The great outdoors for children is also a very important factor in their process of learning and exploring. Children work on developing their gross motor coordination, self- confidence, social skills, and creativity outside. Outdoor activities help in the development of hand-eye coordination, body awareness, self-control, and perseverance. For instance, running, jumping, and climbing are activities that aid in the development of balance, strength, and general good health. Children experience the world physically as they begin to explore with their senses and get to know what their bodies can do. They will be given opportunities to explore and expand their physical capacities.