Philosophy and Curriculum
At each stage in the development of children there are various key milestones we look for. For example, babies usually smile before they coo & usually roll over before they crawl. Toddlers usually walk before they run and babble before they speak sentences. These milestones continue all through a child’s life even into young adult hood. We’ve adopted some general goals for children and families that span all age groups of children we serve.
Periodically we meet to review our progress in helping children and families meet these goals. We set our center’s work based on our reflection and feedback from our customers. Please take a moment to read our goals. We encourage feedback on our work. We provide yearly opportunities for formal comments on our work through surveys; however our doors are always open to your suggestions and comments on our work towards our goals. Please contact the administrator and/or administrative assistant at any time. We welcome your partnership in our work with your children.
Goals &
Objectives for Children
Goal 1: To learn about
themselves
- To feel valued and secure in their relationships
- To feel competent and proud about what they can
do
- To feel supported as they express their
independence
Goal 2: To learn about their feelings
- To communicate a broad range of emotions through
gestures, sounds & as they grow, use words
- To express their feelings in appropriate ways
Goal 3: To learn about others
- To develop trusting relationships with nurturing
adults.
- To show interest in peers
- To demonstrate caring & cooperation
- To try roles and relationships through imitation
and pretend play
Goal 4: To learn about
communicating
- To express needs and thoughts without using
words
- To identify with a home language
- To respond to verbal and nonverbal commands
- To communicate through language
Goal 5: To learn about moving
and doing
- To develop gross motor skills
- To develop fine motor skills
- To coordinate eye and hand movements
- To develop self-help skills
Goal 6: To acquire thinking
skills
- To gain understanding of basic concepts and
relationships
- To apply knowledge to new situations
- To develop strategies for problem solving
Goals &
Objectives for Working with Families
Goal 1: To build a partnership with families
- To involve families in the program’s planning and evaluation process
- To listen to and discuss families’ questions, concerns, observations and insights about their children
- To communicate regularly with families at
arrival and departure times about how things are going for their child at home
and at the center
- To schedule regular conferences
- To discuss with families ways to handle children’s challenging behaviors
- To resolve differences with families in a
respectful way
- To help families gain access to community
resources
Goal 2: To support families in
their parenting role
- To demonstrate respect for a family’s approach to childrearing and their feelings about sharing the care of their child
- To celebrate with families new milestones in their child’s development
- To incorporate family rituals and preferences
into the daily life of the program
- To offer workshops/training on child development and other topics of interest to families
- To help families network with one another for
information and support
Goal 3: To support families in
their role as primary educators of their child
- To encourage family involvement and
participation in program activities
- To provide families with strategies to support children’s learning at home
Goal 4: To ensure that the home cultures of the children’s families are reflected in the program
- To support children’s use of their home language
- To encourage children’s awareness of and interest in home languages spoken at the program
- To seek families’ assistance in learning about the children’s home culture
- To include objects and customs from the children’s home cultures in the program’s environment, routines and activities
- To interact with children in a style that is
respectful of their home culture
Our Curriculum
Our teaching staff has adopted a curriculum that uses the Wisconsin Model Early Learning Standards as a foundation. In conjunction with National Accreditation Commission standards, these two sets of standards help our staff to maintain focus on age appropriate child development. They choose “Themes” for each week of a month. These rotate with the seasons as well. These themes are then their basis for planning each classroom’s activities. A week designated as Teddy Bear Week may include books about teddy bears, songs at circle time about bears, art work about bears, discussions about hibernation, counting teddy bears or other such activities talking about teddy bears. Teachers plan activities age appropriate to the children they are serving.