Curriculum

MOTHER GOOSE CURRICULUM

Our curriculum is focused on making your child school ready.

Foundational skills
Strong emphasis on math and literacy
Each day's activity focuses on skill development
Our curriculum parallels our beliefs
Creatively connected to diverse cultural needs
Friendly to our environment
Accessible

We leverage this curriculum because it supports our educational philosophy that children learn best when activities are hands-on and engaging. It emphasizes the four core areas (reading, math, science and social studies) to encourage a solid foundation for learning and social-emotional development. This curriculum offers endless possibilities for learning- from helping the teachers develop age appropriate activities and routines to outlining essential assessment procedures that drive instruction, the Mother Goose Time Curriculum is known for getting children ready for school. We have high educational standards for both teachers and students at WONDERFUL CHILDREN. We keep our student to teacher ratios low so that children get more individualized attention and can benefit from small group instruction. Every member of the WONDERFUL CHILDREN Day care team takes pride in knowing that our kids are not only nurtured and cared for in a safe, loving environment but that they are truly learning and growing each day.

THE REGGIO APPROACH

The Reggio approach is all about individualism, is based off the needs and interests of the children. The lessons are planned off the children’s interests to further their knowledge of that topic. The children are encouraged to work in groups but are recognized for their individual thoughts and ideas. The teacher is not the giver of knowledge but a guide and mediator for the students. Children use many methods to show their understanding and express their opinions and creativity. Children can express their learning and understanding through dramatic play, art, building with blocks, dance, etc. These are all part of the child, therefore we stress that learning and play are not separate but are congruent. The Reggio approach allows the child to learn through hands-on experience and permits the children to draw their own conclusions by using their 5 senses and different languages to discover. Art projects are open ended the child is allowed to make their project however they wish. With these open-ended projects, the children express how they perceive the world while mastering their motor skills. The Creative Curriculum fits perfectly with the Reggio Emilia Approach. The Creative Curriculum with infants and toddlers focuses on the individual child. With this young age group, the three main focuses are social-emotional development, physical development, and language development. Social-emotional development is crucial in the first 3 years of life.

THE MONTESSORI CURRICULUM

From birth to 3 years old

The foundations for the child's future development are set during his/her first three years of life. Montessori calls this period the one of a "spiritual embyo", in which the child does in the psychological sphere what the embryo did in the physical sphere. This process is achieved thanks to the child's "absorbent mind", which incorporates experiences, relations, emotions, images, language and culture through his/her senses and by the simple fact of living. These life experiences shape his/her brain, forming networks or neurons that have the potential of staying with the person for all his/her life. In this period from birth to 3 years old, the Montessori education concentrates in the development of speaking, coordinated movement and independence, which gives the child confidence, and allows him/her to discover his/her own potential and his/her place within a community.

From 3 to 6 years old

The classroom curriculum for children from 3 to 6 years old is divided into four working areas:

Practical Life: These are activities that aim to the care of the person, of others and of the physical environment where they live in. These activities include tasks that are familiar to the child: washing, polishing, setting the table, arraging flowers, etc. They also include activities of "grace and courtesy", which are part of all civilized people. Through these and other activities, children achieve coordination and control of movement and exploration of his/her surroundings. Children learn to complete a task from beginning to end, they develop their will, self-discipline, the capacity of concentration and self-confidence.

Sensorial: Children at this age learn through senses more than through their intellect. The sensorial materials are tools for children to refine each of their senses. Each material isolates a specific quality: smell, size, weight, texture, flavour, colour, etc. In this preschool age, when children are "bombarded" with sensorial information, these materials allow them to find order and meaning to the world, raising his/her capacity of perception, favoring observation and a sense of admiration for everything that surrounds him/her.

Language: When the child enters an environment at age 3, they enrich the language that they had already acquired. They are capable of using it intelligently with precision and beauty, slowly realizing its properties. They learn to write, starting with their senses (hearing and touching), and as a natural consequence they learn to read. As an extension of language activities, children learn about geography, history, art and music. These areas help the child to know his/her surroundings and to realize the place the child occupies in this world. They teach him to respect and love for his/her environment, and they create a sense of solidarity with all humanity and his/her habitat.

Mathematics: The materials help the child to learn and understand mathematical concepts when working with concrete materials that lead him/her intuitively to abstract concepts. They offer him/her sensorial impressions of the numbers and set the foundations for algebra and geometry.