Creative Curriculum: We use a thematic approach for teaching preschool concepts, as well as enriching language and social development. This approach gives an immersion into the theme within all developmental domains, providing every child with the best means to achieving at his/her greatest potential. Creative Curriculum is based on five fundamental principles -
Positive interactions and relationships with adults provide a critical foundation for successful learning
Social-emotional competence is a significant factor in school success
Constructive, purposeful play supports essential learning
The physical environment affects the type and quality of learning interactions
Teacher-family partnerships promote development and learning
https://teachingstrategies.com/
Second Step and Social Thinking - Social/Emotional Learning The Second Step program teaches skills in the following four areas:
Skills for Learning: Children gain skills to help them be better learners, including how to focus their attention, listen carefully, and ask for help.
Empathy: Children learn to identify and understand their own and others’ feelings. Children also learn how to show care for others.
Emotion Management: Children learn how to calm down when they have strong feelings, such as worry or anger.
Friendship Skills and Problem Solving: Children learn how to make and keep friends and to solve problems with others in a positive way.
Jolly Phonics and Michael Heggerty - Phonics and Phonemic Awareness Each letter sound is learned with an action to help kids remember the letter it represents. Students are exposed to beginning sounds, ending sounds, rhyming words, blending, segmenting - all skills they will later use when learning to read
Learning without Tears - prewriting and fine motor skills https://www.lwtears.com/gss
Inclusion
“Early childhood inclusion embodies the values, policies, and practices that support the right of every infant and young child and his or her family, regardless of ability, to participate in a broad range of activities and contexts as full members of families, communities, and society. The desired results of inclusive experiences for children with and without disabilities and their families include a sense of belonging and membership, positive social relationships and friendships, and development and learning to reach their full potential.” - The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
EC Full Day Classroom
In the classroom our focus is on developing the play, social, and school skills in a smaller setting. These skills are important to generalize in the general education classroom as they grow. We have a combination of 1:1 teacher-led learning stations and play centers.
Learning through Play
Centers:
Blocks: Here children develop social skills, emotional skills, independence, oral language, imagination, responsibility, and the executive function.
Dramatic Play: Here children develop social skills, emotional skills, independence, oral language, imagination, responsibility, and the executive function in imaginative play.
Writing: Students develop eye-hand coordination, small motor skills, alphabet knowledge, self confidence, vocabulary, and an interest in print
Art: At this center children develop creativity, small motor skills, problem solving, sharing, cooperation, independence and responsibility.
Library: Children develop alphabet knowledge, oral language, print knowledge, listening skills, eye-hand coordination, concepts about the world, and the desire to read.
Toys and games: Children develop eye-hand coordination, creativity, problem solving, and cooperation.
Sensory table: Students develop fine motor skills, experience different textures and materials, and use this to balance their sensory processing systems.
Discovery: exploration of science and math concepts. Children develop concepts about quantity, shape, size, pattern, and an interest in math. Also, they are developing curiosity about the world, sensory skills, problem solving, language skills, and experience with the scientific process (observing, predicting, experimenting, recording, reporting).