Nursery Curriculum
The
nursery curriculum provides children with an opportunity to become
acquainted with the educational routine and social structure of a
classroom as well as explore a variety of cognitive themes such as
family, shapes, colors and seasons in a hands-on environment. Children
are encouraged to become independent. They have classroom jobs and
daily they select their own free choice activity as well as decide
whether or not they would like to share an idea or personal moment with
their friends through our verbal "pass and share" activity at circle
time. The children are read to every day and the classroom is a print
rich environment.
Pre-kindergarten Curriculum
The pre-kindergarten curriculum builds upon the social and cognitive skills put into place during the nursery year. Our goal for children in the program is to encourage them to think creatively while simultaneously exposing them to the skills and information they will need to be successful in their kindergarten year. Because research indicates that young children learn most effectively when they are engaged in interaction rather than in receptive or passive activities, the teachers engage the children in discussions regarding topics they would like to explore. The teachers then integrate into these units of inquiry age appropriate exposure to cognitive skills such as math, science, language arts. Typically, three to four units are explored during the year
Creative Movement and Music
Each week the children participate in a creative movement and music class with a specialist teacher. The nursery children participate in half groups of eight children per group. The session lasts approximately 30 minutes. In pre-kindergarten, the group size increases to 16 children with eight children from each classroom combining to form one group thereby creating friendships between classrooms. The creative movement and music class is designed to explore the world of music and movement through creative dance, singing songs, dramatic play and children's literature. Gross motor and coordination skills are developed in this class as well. Once a month, the class session is devoted to yoga.
Art
Once a week the children meet with art specialists to explore the world of art. During this time, the children are given an introduction to the vocabulary and tools of art. Throughout the year, the children are exposed to such mediums as paint, collage, clay, wood, mosaics, stained glass and sculpture. Projects may take more than one day to complete instilling within the children an understanding that they do not need to rush a project through to completion.
Library
The pre-kindergarten children go to the library in groups of four on their designated library day. During their library session, the children return books and select new books to take home. The library time is also designed to expose children to the different genres of literature including poetry, music, fiction and non-fiction. Within this small group format, the children are encouraged to think about and respond to text. They are encouraged to discuss their ideas about what the book is about, predict what will happen next within the text and discover new words or ideas suggested through the storyline. Most importantly, the children bring to the discussions a tremendous amount of experiential information, which allows them to build upon their current knowledge base.
