At Creative Beginnings we believe that young children learn by a hands-on active engagement with their environment. They learn by touching, observing, moving , experimenting, creating, pretending and interacting with others.
Each day the children follow a predictable schedule which includes: periods of active indoor and outdoor play (two large playgrounds), music and movement, creative art experiences, whole language activities, group meeting time, story time, quiet rest time, lunch and snacks.
Each classroom is set up with similar learning areas: the block area, the book area, housekeeping pretend area, manipulative area, art area, sand and water table, and the music and listening area. All three and four year old classes have use of a computer.
The focus of activities in each classroom is pre-planned by the classroom teachers according to the weekly theme, seasons, holiday, or the interests and abilities of the children in that particular classroom. The activities are designed to help build a strong foundation for the development of all future learning.
Our daily classroom activities are centered around a theme-based curriculum. Some of the subject area activities include:
- Art: Varied materials are readily available for each child to express themselves creatively in art, with the emphasis being on the process as opposed to a (partial teacher-made) finished product.
- Music: Our children enjoy learning new songs each week and also have fun participating in musical movement activities. We utilize a variety of musical instruments and other props for involvement and enjoyment. At the same time the children are also developing a musical rhythm through dance and marching. Children’s listening music is played in each classroom through the day to help create a pleasing classroom atmosphere.
- Science and Technology: We integrate science and technology into our classes daily with our hands-on exploration. This exploration and direct interaction with our environment helps create an awareness of a child’s world. Our three acre property and our organic children’s garden is a logical place for science to start. Our school pets are fish and frogs. We investigate all kinds of insects and reptiles. We also hatch chicken and duck eggs. The children enjoy frequent visits from the nature centers. Some of our science investigations include units on magnets, air, tools and machines, and parts of the world such as the seashore.
- Language and Reading: We use a whole language approach at Creative Beginnings. Whole language relates skills such as listening, speaking, reading , and writing to the child’s natural abilities, interests, and knowledge of the child’s world. Whole language incorporates a print rich environment into all areas of our curriculum and is an integral part of the children’s daily experiences. Children have complete access to a variety of books and many stories are read to the children each day.
- Math: Math is another subject area that the children experience in many ways throughout our program. A full variety of math tools are out for the children’s use each day; with wooden unit blocks being the most important. We also do cooking, weighing, measuring, sorting, counting, and working with shapes.
- Outdoor Play: Weather permitting, all the children go outside each day to one of our outdoor playspaces. There are plenty of opportunities to run, jump, swing, peddle, balance, climb and dig. The children play with bicycles, balls, parachutes, sand and water play, and many other fun group games.
As you can see, there are many varied activities for the children to experience and explore. The teachers set the classroom learning environment and the children have many opportunities for uninterrupted free choice of play activities. Most importantly, children’s learning activities are fun, enjoyable and also challenging to each child.
