What is our Method?
A childās development is best achieved through a partnership between family and educators. We encourage parental involvement in the childās school experience and parents are welcome to visit the center anytime they wish without any prior notice to the center. Families are regularly informed about the weekly activities and are always welcome to observe. Any concerns can be made freely to our Director.
We believe that every moment in a childās life is a teachable moment and as such classrooms are equipped with multiple learning centers that a child can explore throughout the day. In addition to classroom learning and play, young children are stimulated by change in scenery. We have special rooms assigned as our Enrichment Rooms where each class (except the infants), visit at least once a day for about 45 minutes.
We strongly believe that āa library takes the gift of reading one step further by offering personalized learning opportunities second to none, a powerful antidote to the isolation of the Web.” – Julie Andrews, actress and Honorary Chair of National Library Week 2008. We have an in-center library that is stocked with books on varied topics for all age groups, thereby bringing books into the hands of the children early and often. We also welcome and encourage parents to read to their children in the centerās library at pick up time, subject to library availability.
We strive to find the right balance for childrenās exposure to technology at our center. Our center is equipped with iPads for use by children over 2.5 years of age, for no more than 30 minutes per day. Children are provided online learning activities which are monitored and evaluated by our teachers.
Both indoor and outdoor play areas an integral part of our curriculum. Our center is equipped with a large indoor play area, as well as a fenced-in outdoor play area. Getting fresh air on a regular basis helps children stay healthy and focused. Children can fully and freely use their large motor skills like running, leaping, and jumping. With teachersā guidance and supervision on the playground, children can learn to experience risk taking and develop risk control. In the event of inclement weather, our large indoor play area provides a safe substitute with profile climbers, slides, and crawl tunnels that help develop gross motor skills, test spatial relationships, and build confidence.
Our day to day lesson plans are set by our teachers and are generally in line with the theme of the month that the center follows. We encourage our staffās creative teaching abilities, while providing them specific developmental milestones that each child needs to achieve for their age level. In addition to the developmental goals, which are very important for children in their early years, we aim to equip our children with specific skills like the love of learning, communication, emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, and independence; all of which will help them to become āfuture-readyā.
To achieve our goals and to prepare daily lesson plans, our teachers benefit from our vast pool of resources that include:
ā¢ Music that not only introduces the all time favorite nursery rhymes, but also those that allow our children to learn new concepts and holidays;
ā¢ A vast collection of age appropriate books that are placed within each classroom as well as in our library;
ā¢ Preschool arts and craft ideas that focus more on the process and not the product, Source Preschool Art by MaryAnn Kohl;
ā¢ Suggestions for science experiments prepared by our experienced teachers and supported by books like Bubbles, Rainbows & Worms by Sam Ed Brown;
ā¢ A collection of workbooks by Kumon that focus on creativity, basic pencil and writing skills, introduction to numbers, time, shapes, basic letters, and words;
ā¢ For our Pre-K and Kindergarten children, we introduce the basics of mathematics using the Singapore Math method, which is an innovative approach to teaching elementary math using pictures and diagrams. For our younger children we use Kumon resources focused on introducing numbers and counting.
ā¢ A collection of Phonics Activity books by Jolly Learning;
ā¢ All children over 2.5 years of age will receive an online subscription to ABC Mouse, which they will use during their āTech Timeā at the center. Teachers will be reviewing their work and parents can track their progress as well.