Our curriculum style doesn’t just check one box, but rather uses a blend of different curriculum styles to best fit the students interests, the unique program we offer, and our school’s philosophy as a whole. A play based, hands on philosophy is the very foundation of our education environment and philosophy. The natural world is intertwined throughout our curriculum and classrooms with a heavy influence from Reggio Emilia. We also have elements of emergent curriculum, as our teachers are given the freedom to deviate from our planned themes and focus their lessons around the children’s interest in the moment. Our goal is to provide a rich curriculum that spreads throughout all developmental areas while providing our students with a warm, nurturing, and safe space to explore and grow.
The developmental standards we use in our lessons align directly with Illinois Early Learning Standards and are reflected on our assessment tools. You may find a full explanation of the Illinois Early Learning and Development
Standards by clicking here. You can also view the Illinois Early Learning Standards for Kindergarten by clicking here.
While we do focus our lessons on developing the whole child, our main focus is on helping your student and our families to become school ready. We will spend a majority of our days focusing on social and emotional development, self help skills, following directions, building attention spans, being part of a community, and other critical skills that will best prepare them for the next step in their educational experiences.
We also hope to prepare families for their educational journey with their student by bridging the gap between home and school. We welcome our students families to be involved with our school in any capacity they are comfortable. Parents can volunteer in the classroom, get involved with The Center’s variety of programs, host an activity, and even substitute in their child’s class if they are qualified to do so! Families are a huge part of our curriculum and are a vital part of our school community.
