Our program philosophy is based on the premise that children learn about the world around them through play – active involvement with other children, adults, and materials.
Children need years of experience with real objects and events before they are ready to understand the meaning of symbols such as letters and numbers. Learning takes place as young children touch, manipulate, and experiment with things and interact with people. The teachers’ role is to create an environment that supports the ideas and experiences of children and invites them to observe, be active, make choices, and experiment. Children engage in activities such as block building, painting, and dramatic play, adding pieces of information to what they already know and thereby generating new understandings. Children learn simple concepts and then use these concepts to grasp more complex ideas.
Infants & Toddlers
- Nurturing individualized infant care
- Teaching staff down on the child’s level
- Teachers engaged with children- talking, reading & singing
- Introduction to a variety of experiences to promote brain development
Preschool
- Providing a variety of activities to promote both independent play as well as small group play
- Hands-on, open-ended activities offered so children can experiment, investigate & explore
- Equipment and materials at child’s level to encourage independence & self-regulation
- Environment arranged to help promote self-help skills
- Individualized assessment of children to determine school readiness
School Age
- Promoting grade level achievement through various activities
- Small group work to encourage teamwork & collaboration
- Focus on citizenship through field trips and community projects
Our child-centered curriculum is designed to maximize individual development and promote developmentally appropriate practices. Because of this, our activities focus on the process of learning. Therefore, the emphasis is on the experiences rather than the results of those experiences. For example, the act of painting is more important than what has been painted; building with blocks is more important than what has been built.
Each child has his or her own set of possibilities and we help those possibilities unfold. Days are flexible and filled with planned and unplanned moments of learning. There is time allowed for active outdoor play, imaginative games, independent discovery, and group activities. As each child uses various materials and interacts with other children, the teachers observe and encourage learning.
Play activities are provided in many areas including art, dramatic play, music, literacy and language, large and small motor development, math and science.
Our classrooms include small child to staff ratios — lower than state requirements — allowing our staff to effectively deliver a curriculum guided by the Environment Rating Scales & the Illinois Early Learning Standards. We attempt to provide opportunities to support your child’s growth and development.