Curriculum

We have many activities designed to increase your infant’s communication skills, which include listening to and making sounds. Infants observe themselves in a child-safe mirror as they make a variety of sounds, and they are spoken to constantly by their teachers. Older infants are encouraged to make animal sounds and to say the names of family members.

Infants’ fine motor skills, which include finger and hand movements, need to be stimulated in many different ways in order for them to improve. We offer a wide variety of fine motor skill activities for your infant, from simply shaking a rattle, to scooping up finger foods, to picking up and putting down various toys and objects.

Cognitive skills are the foundation of learning and knowledge. We focus on infants’ explorations of their environment. Your infant will be encouraged to make associations based on prior knowledge and explore the concept of cause and effect by dumping out toys, building and knocking down towers, and manipulating stacking rings.

We begin with the toddlers becoming aware of their classmates and move on to encouraging simple sharing activities. Your child will be encouraged to wave goodbye and take turns stacking blocks. These simple activities are the stepping stones for the later preschool years.

We have a deep understanding of how toddlers communicate and teach toddlers to put their wants and needs into words. Toddlers are encouraged to sing simple songs, recite nursery rhymes, and expand their vocabularies.

Toddlers’ fine motor skills, which include finger and hand movements, need to be encouraged in many different ways in order for them to progress. We offer a wide variety of activities for your child to develop his or her fine motor skills, ranging from finger painting, to using a pincher grasp to pick up finger foods, to making and manipulating play dough objects.

Teachers assist children with the development of all gross motor skills, which include batting at objects, kicking, walking, jumping, running and climbing. Additionally, we strengthen hand/eye coordination through simple activities such as catch.

Cognitive skills include thinking, learning, and investigating the environment. Your toddler will be introduced to concepts such as shapes, colors, and numbers and begin to identify and sort toys and objects by these qualities.

As children become increasingly aware of others in the classroom, we encourage and facilitate group play activities. Children are encouraged to engage in dramatic play activities, such as acting out stories and pretending to shop at the grocery store or other regular tasks that children are familiar with. These simple activities set the stage for the preschool years, when children’s social skills are more developed.

Between the ages of two and three, children’s vocabulary can grow to nearly 300 words. We provide children with the tools they need to communicate within their classroom community by guiding them to put their thoughts and needs into words. Children are encouraged to identify common objects and speak in three-to-five-word sentences.

We provide activities designed to empower two-year-olds. Children’s independence and confidence will increase as they are introduced to fundamentals of hygiene and they accomplish basic independent tasks such as drinking from a cup and putting on jackets and shoes. Teachers provide the children with many opportunities to master these tasks, because repetition is vital when it comes to learning new skills.

We address both gross motor skills, which strengthen the large muscle groups of the body, as well as fine motor skills. Children are active and engaged throughout the day: climbing, jumping, hopping, and running on the playground to strengthen muscles and improve coordination. Additionally children develop their fine motor skills through such activities as finger painting, making collages, coloring with sidewalk chalk, and creating with play dough.

At age two, children’s cognitive skills are expanding quickly. We challenge the children to become more aware of their environment by asking questions and inviting them to solve problems. Teachers provide the children with many activities designed to encourage them to distinguish between textures, to identify shapes and colors, and to begin counting by memory.

As children become preschoolers, their social and emotional skills need the guidance of a nurturing teacher. We provide activities designed to increase children’s independence, allowing them to become more confident in their abilities, and prompting them to play a responsible role in their classroom community.

We focus on all gross motor skills, which strengthen the large muscle groups of the body. Gross motor skills include jumping, kicking, throwing and catching a ball, and demonstrating balance. Children will be encouraged to participate in many favorite childhood games, such as Animal Races, Simon Says, Red Light, Green Light; and Duck, Duck, Goose. Fine motor skills, which include the smaller muscle groups, such as fingers and hands, are also a focus. Three-year-olds will practice strengthening their fine motor skills through finger painting, sculpting with clay, and doing finger plays.

As their cognitive skills develop, three-year-olds are quickly becoming expert problem solvers and logical thinkers. Children will be encouraged to use their creativity and curiosity when they encounter new tasks, such as building a city out of blocks or recognizing anf making patterns. To develop logical-thinking skills, teachers read carefully selected children’s books throughout the day, encouraging the children to answer questions and express opinions about the stories.

Teachers focus on math tasks, which are vital school readiness skills. Children will be introduced to patterning, classifying, and identifying number and shapes.

Our teachers provide many hands-on opportunities for children to explore sound, light, colors, animals, plants, the environment and other important science topics.

We strive to increase the independence of our four-year-olds, further developing their confidence and abilities. Teachers encourage children to play a responsible role in the classroom community. Children will learn to take ownership of their actions and solve problems by using words. In addition to independence, the importance of cooperation and teamwork are stressed.

We address all gross motor skills, which include jumping, running, throwing and catching, and climbing playground equipment. Children will be encouraged to dance and participate in several physical activities including soccer and yoga. Fine motor skills, which include finger and hand movements, are vital to your child’s future writing skills. Four-year-olds will strengthen their fine motor skills by playing in a sand-filled Discovery Table, stacking blocks, painting, and by practicing their developing writing skills.

We engage and challenge our four-year-olds to prepare for elementary school. Children will be encouraged to speak clearly using more complex sentences, count ten or more objects, retell stories in their own words, make comparisons, better understand the concept of time and the order of daily activities (such as breakfast in the morning, lunch in the afternoon, and dinner at night), have a greater attention span, and explore and make discoveries.

Children will practice important math skills, such as classifying, identifying shapes and numbers, counting, and basic addition and subtraction.

Teachers will provide many hands-on opportunities for children to explore weather, plants, animals, sounds, light, ramps, textures, and other essential science topics through Peep and other resources.