Curriculum

We develop our curriculum using the State of Connecticut Early Learning and Development Standards (CT ELDS) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Accreditation Standards.

The NAEYC Curriculum Standard recommends that early learning programs “implement curriculum that is thoughtfully planned, challenging, engaging, developmentally appropriate, culturally and linguistically responsive, comprehensive and likely to promote positive outcomes for all children.”

“The CT ELDS were developed to help families, communities and schools work together to support children’s early learning and growth.”

The CT ELDS are designed to support children’s learning in all domains of development including Social & Emotional Development, Physical Health & Development, Cognition, Language & Literacy, Creative Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies.

Preschool children learn best through play and hands-on activities within a flexible daily schedule. Guided by that knowledge and the above standards and recommendations, our teachers use curriculum to intentionally plan ways for children to explore and make sense of their experiences and to foster growth across a broad range of developmental areas.

• Cognition

  Making sense of the world, staying with something and working hard to solve problems. Skills in this domain include demonstrating the ability to think, reason, question and remember, engage in problem solving, use language to communicate, convey, and interpret meaning, and establish social contacts as they begin to understand the physical and social world.

• Social and Emotional Development

  Understanding yourself, your feelings and how to play with other people. Skills in this domain include demonstrating a sense of self as a learner, demonstrating a sense of responsibility to oneself and others, and demonstrating effective functioning, individually and as a member of a group.

• Physical Health and Development

  Learning to take care of yourself and to do things with your body and hands so that you grow strong and healthy. Skills in this domain include demonstrate control, balance, strength and coordination in gross-motor tasks, demonstrate coordination and strength in fine- motor tasks, participate in healthy physical activity and practice appropriate eating habits, hygiene and self-help skills.

• Language and Literacy

  Communicating using your body, language, signs, and written communication
  Skills in this domain include speaking clearly including use of appropriate tone and inflection, use multiple word sentences or phrases to describe ideas, feelings and actions, speak to initiate a conversation, retell information from a story, demonstrate book awareness, recognize matching sounds and printed letters, recognize several printed words.

• Creative Arts

  Enjoying music, dance and art and expressing yourself in these ways Skills in this domain include using different art forms as a vehicle for creative expression and representation and developing an appreciation of the arts.

• Mathematics

  Understanding numbers and how to use them, counting, patterns, measuring and shapes Skills in this domain include count objects using one-to-one correspondence, recognize written numerals, compare sets of objects, use relational vocabulary.

• Science

  Understanding the world around us, including living things, the earth and space and energy Skills in this domain include make and verify predictions, use language that shows understanding of scientific principles to explain why things happen, use equipment for investigation, group and classify living things, determine cause and effect.

• Social Studies

  Understanding the world and knowing about the people in it. This starts with knowing about your family, then the community and world. Skills in this domain include demonstrate an understanding of similarities and differences among people, families and the community, demonstrate awareness of people and the environment, begin to develop an awareness of economic systems and resources, and demonstrate a beginning understanding of change over time.