Our Curriculum Areas
 

Social and Emotional Development
Goals for social and emotional development include helping the children learn self discipline, which includes controlling their own behavior and acting responsibly, showing respect for themselves and others. We see evidence that these skills are emerging when children show a growing self confidence in their abilities, develop increasing self-control, and are able to develop and maintain friendships with other children, including children who are different from them.

Cognitive Development
Research has shown that movement is critical to brain activity. When the hands are active, the brain is more engaged. Therefore, “hands-on” learning, building with blocks, drawing and painting, fitting puzzles together, exploring materials, acting out an experience, actually activates the brain. We can evaluate when the child’s understanding of the world, its objects, and its people is increasing by their increasingly complex use of materials and by their style of interaction. Development is indicated by observation of children’s play, language, and increasing abilities to use literacy and mathematical skills.

Physical Development
By providing increasingly challenging experiences to build and expand physical skills, the child is gaining coordination and becoming increasingly agile which is needed for sports, for writing, and for manipulating materials and equipment.

Language Development
When it comes to learning to read and write, children must be familiar with language and use it to communicate ideas, desires, and feelings with other people. Children are encouraged to think about the meaning of words, to manipulate sounds in words (rhymes), and to pay attention to stories and talk about them. Over time, children realize that printed letters represent specific words, and that writing involves symbols for speech.

Spiritual Development
Through stories from the Bible, we learn about God and how God wants us to live. By creating an atmosphere where the child is loved, respected, and valued as a unique person, we strive to model how God loves each one of us, and how we are to demonstrate that love to others.