Our curriculum is crafted from years of classroom experience, prioritizes Kindergarten Readiness and aligns with the Ohio Department of Education Birth Through Kindergarten Entry Learning and Development Standards as well as Ohio's Early Learning and Development Standards. This comprehensive curriculum is designed to foster holistic development in young learners, preparing them for a successful transition to kindergarten.
There are five main curricular areas.
1. Practical Life
Just like its name, this area encompasses all things that we do practically, every day; care of self, grace and courtesy, control of movement, and care of the environment.
Care of Self includes things like dressing oneself, personal hygiene, and food preparation. Grace and Courtesy combine respecting oneself and others. This helps to support children’s development of empathy and understanding towards others as well as understanding boundaries. We teach this explicitly through playing, pretending, and role-play. Control of Movement means learning through movement and also becoming aware of appropriate movement and behaviors. Children realize how movement affects them and those around them. Children are able to organize and develop their intelligence through movement. Care of the Environment means taking care of the space and all materials within it. Through these activities, the child develops a sense of connection to and ownership over their world. Activities related to environmental care foster feelings of pride and satisfaction as well as teamwork. This includes “restoring the environment” or cleaning up after oneself, caring for plants and pets, and sweeping or dusting. All of these categories help to support the child's independence, sense of self, autonomy, responsibility, and social skills.
"Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed."
2. Sensorial
Children absorb knowledge through experiences using their five senses. Sensorial materials and exercises support awareness of one’s body and allow us to maintain balance while engaging in activities. These activities also help support fine motor and gross motor skills.
3. Mathematics
Math is all around us and children have a natural drive to organize and count! Words like “more, less, not enough, and share” are part of daily life for children. We will focus on the basic foundations all children need to learn: counting, numeral identification, and basic mathematical operations. Children are able to manipulate math materials and repeat practice often, supporting development of foundational skills.
4. Language
Language is presented to the child in many ways. We use read-alouds, songs, poetry, finger plays, and tactile materials among other things to introduce and practice language. Children are introduced to letters using Sandpaper letters and with phonetic lessons. Children will be exposed to many books and will have at least one read-aloud per day.
5. Cultural
This area covers the sciences and social studies. This is where the world is brought to the child. Children learn about how and where people live, the solar system, biomes, geography, weather, and the list goes on and on! These topics spark the child’s natural curiosity through experiments and exposure. For example, if we are learning about the Jungle, we will learn where there are jungles on Earth. We will learn about the location, climate, animals, life cycles, and how people use and affect the jungle. We will eat food from the areas, read books, have celebrations, and create art inspired by it. We will study nature and the connections that creatures have with each other. The children have access to plants in the outdoor space and will have fun interacting with our pets, too.
“There must be provision for the child to have contact with nature; to understand and appreciate the order, the harmony, and the beauty in nature. That the child may better understand and participate in the marvelous things which civilization creates”.
Work Cycle + Play-Based Learning
We will have a version of work cycle each day. These are times when the children can decide what they would like to do. This will be an uninterrupted time when they can choose what materials or toys they would like to work or play with. Sometimes, lessons will be offered during this time, and children will be invited to join the lesson. Children can choose to join the lesson or not. This allows for concentration and control for the child over their time. Usually, children are interested in lessons and are eager to join, but it’s okay if not, that lesson content will be presented to the child at a later time.
Play-based learning is an educational approach that emphasizes the use of play as a central tool for children's development and learning. Rooted in the belief that play is a natural and essential way for children to make sense of the world around them, this approach encourages exploration, creativity, and problem-solving through various forms of play, such as imaginative play, constructive play, and cooperative play. Play-based learning recognizes that play is not only enjoyable but also a valuable means through which children develop cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills. By engaging in activities that are intrinsically interesting and enjoyable, children are motivated to actively explore and discover, fostering a love for learning while building a strong foundation for lifelong skills and knowledge acquisition.
Clean Up
Children are expected to clean up and join community meeting time each day. Children have the option to save what they are working on to return to at a later time. In that case, we call it “work in progress”. The child is still expected to tidy the area and condense it to one space. During the next work cycle, they can return to their activity.
Group Lessons and Community Meetings
At the end of the work cycle, we will have community meeting. Every day before mealtime, we will gather the children will receive lessons, have discussions, play games, sing songs, have show and tell/share time, and participate in other activities.
Lessons
Children will receive lessons in all of the curricular areas weekly. Children will also receive lessons based on the season or other topics that we are currently covering. Children will also have at least one read-aloud story per day before rest time. Children will receive lessons as a whole group, in small groups, or individually.
1. Practical Life
Just like its name, this area encompasses all things that we do practically, every day; care of self, grace and courtesy, control of movement, and care of the environment.
Care of Self includes things like dressing oneself, personal hygiene, and food preparation. Grace and Courtesy combine respecting oneself and others. This helps to support children’s development of empathy and understanding towards others as well as understanding boundaries. We teach this explicitly through playing, pretending, and role-play. Control of Movement means learning through movement and also becoming aware of appropriate movement and behaviors. Children realize how movement affects them and those around them. Children are able to organize and develop their intelligence through movement. Care of the Environment means taking care of the space and all materials within it. Through these activities, the child develops a sense of connection to and ownership over their world. Activities related to environmental care foster feelings of pride and satisfaction as well as teamwork. This includes “restoring the environment” or cleaning up after oneself, caring for plants and pets, and sweeping or dusting. All of these categories help to support the child's independence, sense of self, autonomy, responsibility, and social skills.
"Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed."
2. Sensorial
Children absorb knowledge through experiences using their five senses. Sensorial materials and exercises support awareness of one’s body and allow us to maintain balance while engaging in activities. These activities also help support fine motor and gross motor skills.
3. Mathematics
Math is all around us and children have a natural drive to organize and count! Words like “more, less, not enough, and share” are part of daily life for children. We will focus on the basic foundations all children need to learn: counting, numeral identification, and basic mathematical operations. Children are able to manipulate math materials and repeat practice often, supporting development of foundational skills.
4. Language
Language is presented to the child in many ways. We use read-alouds, songs, poetry, finger plays, and tactile materials among other things to introduce and practice language. Children are introduced to letters using Sandpaper letters and with phonetic lessons. Children will be exposed to many books and will have at least one read-aloud per day.
5. Cultural
This area covers the sciences and social studies. This is where the world is brought to the child. Children learn about how and where people live, the solar system, biomes, geography, weather, and the list goes on and on! These topics spark the child’s natural curiosity through experiments and exposure. For example, if we are learning about the Jungle, we will learn where there are jungles on Earth. We will learn about the location, climate, animals, life cycles, and how people use and affect the jungle. We will eat food from the areas, read books, have celebrations, and create art inspired by it. We will study nature and the connections that creatures have with each other. The children have access to plants in the outdoor space and will have fun interacting with our pets, too.
“There must be provision for the child to have contact with nature; to understand and appreciate the order, the harmony, and the beauty in nature. That the child may better understand and participate in the marvelous things which civilization creates”.
Work Cycle + Play-Based Learning
We will have a version of work cycle each day. These are times when the children can decide what they would like to do. This will be an uninterrupted time when they can choose what materials or toys they would like to work or play with. Sometimes, lessons will be offered during this time, and children will be invited to join the lesson. Children can choose to join the lesson or not. This allows for concentration and control for the child over their time. Usually, children are interested in lessons and are eager to join, but it’s okay if not, that lesson content will be presented to the child at a later time.
Play-based learning is an educational approach that emphasizes the use of play as a central tool for children's development and learning. Rooted in the belief that play is a natural and essential way for children to make sense of the world around them, this approach encourages exploration, creativity, and problem-solving through various forms of play, such as imaginative play, constructive play, and cooperative play. Play-based learning recognizes that play is not only enjoyable but also a valuable means through which children develop cognitive, social, emotional, and physical skills. By engaging in activities that are intrinsically interesting and enjoyable, children are motivated to actively explore and discover, fostering a love for learning while building a strong foundation for lifelong skills and knowledge acquisition.
Clean Up
Children are expected to clean up and join community meeting time each day. Children have the option to save what they are working on to return to at a later time. In that case, we call it “work in progress”. The child is still expected to tidy the area and condense it to one space. During the next work cycle, they can return to their activity.
Group Lessons and Community Meetings
At the end of the work cycle, we will have community meeting. Every day before mealtime, we will gather the children will receive lessons, have discussions, play games, sing songs, have show and tell/share time, and participate in other activities.
Lessons
Children will receive lessons in all of the curricular areas weekly. Children will also receive lessons based on the season or other topics that we are currently covering. Children will also have at least one read-aloud story per day before rest time. Children will receive lessons as a whole group, in small groups, or individually.