Curriculum

The Creative Curriculum

Our program has chosen a nationally recognized curriculum. Teaching Strategies Inc is a program created in the 1990s and has been working to develop and transform the way the approaches to children’s learning is taught. Through research and theory, the strategies have been formed into a curriculum program known as The Creative Curriculum with additional applications to support teachers and parents.

The Creative Curriculum aligns with the Colorado Early Learning and Development Guidelines using 10 domains of learning. These domains are split into 38 objectives for Development that can be used to individualize the educational approach for each child within a program.
All our classrooms are separated into learning centers that help foster children’s creativity and opportunities for learning. These learning centers are set up in each classroom to support their development in an age-appropriate manner. The curriculum grows with your child from birth – 6 years.

Our Infant Curriculum

The infant program is set up to offer care for children’s individual needs. First and foremost, we are creating a nurturing environment for infants to follow their own daily schedules of bottles and meals, naps, diapers, and time for play. Their play time will include opportunities to grow and advance in their cognitive, language, social-emotional, and physical development. We will also utilize infant sign language for connecting and communicating prior to their ability to verbalize their needs.

The staff will provide access to materials in art, reading, opportunities to crawl / climb, music and movement, science, cause and effect, etc. Children will be provided with opportunities to create connections and nurturing relationships with the staff and the beginning stages of peer relationships with other children in the classroom.

Our Toddler Curriculum

The Toddler program is designed to help move children into a group schedule. The framework of toddler will continue to strengthen the skills the children have learned in the Infant program. Toddlers are growing from the egocentric point on view into understanding and acknowledging that their peers also have emotions. Toddlers focus heavily on social emotional regulation, peer interactions, and working to build their independence.

The main objectives in Toddlers are to build on the children’s skills to accomplish tasks on their own, to listen and follow direction, and to guide their attention to the thoughts and feelings that they themselves as well as their peers have. We will be openly talking about emotions and regularly providing the Toddlers with the words they will need to express themselves accordingly as they grow. Our staff will be supporting each child’s individual needs for using language and will still utilize sign language to scaffold children to using spoken language.

Many of activities in the Toddler program are working to help the children gain independence in completing tasks. We will work to support their ability to wash their hands, fill up their water bottles, clean up their own toys, help make their own cots for naptime, and build friendships, begin letter recognition (especially within their own name).

Many Toddlers will also be transitioning from diapers to using the toilet. Toilet training children is another skill that happens when each child is ready. As they can verbalize their need, their desire to try, and are fully capable of accessing the toilet and pulling up/down their own clothing, our staff will work to support children through this process. We will work alongside parents providing similar timing and techniques between home and school to make this process as easy as possible. This skill can be very sensitive and will be approached with positivity during all successes and accidents. Not all children will show signs of readiness for potty training in the Toddler age group. We will support their individual needs should these signs appear in our Preschool Program.

Preschool Program

Our Preschool Program maintains the same style of group schedule as our Toddler Program and works to build upon the skills learned in that environment. We will continue to focus heavily on social emotional validation, labelling, and regulation so the children have the skills to successfully problem solve and succeed in future relationships. We work to build on the individual strengths that have begun to emerge and support the Preschool children where they are at.

The Creative Curriculum for this age group transitions into "studies”. We will be working on one specific topic at a time and really diving into more about the main theme. For example, one of the studies is "Water”, we will use a KWL (Know, Wonder, Learn) approach for guiding their learning in each topic of study. We will find out what the children Know about water, we will ask what they Wonder about water, and we will use the resources and lesson plans to give them the information we have and then additionally tailor their learning to where their interests on the subject are. At the end of the 6-8 weeks study, we will ask the children what they have Learned about water.

In addition to lesson plans we will be continuing to focus on children’s social emotional skills and work to strengthen their independence even further. We will be preparing them with the tools to problem solve on their own, to create and maintain friendships, how to appropriately hold a pencil and begin on writing their letters (and their name), etc.