Duncan Child Care Curriculum
My Curriculum
Children learn by doing. They learn by playing, experimenting, exploring and testing themselves. Learning is meant to be a natural and joyful experience. Children flourish when the process of discovery is lovingly encouraged and gently reinforced. This is the heart of the philosophy behind my curriculum. My curriculum fosters individual growth by providing numerous opportunities for exploration, manipulation and child-initiated choices. Through my Day Care program, children will learn and develop critical cognitive skills such as conversation, classification, cause-and-effect, sequencing and logical thinking. My curriculum is both age-appropriate and flexible enough to accommodate individual differences in needs, abilities and interests.
Opportunities For Learning
LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION - I believe in the whole language approach. This is one in which children are exposed to integrated print and language in everyday activities.
SCIENCE - Open-ended questions help the children to question... How to be thinkers. Hands-on activities include using simple machines, sensory table play, and learning about plants and animal life. Nutritional awareness and periodic cooking activites are offered.
MATH - Activities include concepts of introductory classification, sets, quantity, length, weight, simple addition/subtraction (more/less) and eventually money.
SOCIAL STUDIES - Learning about the "world around us" is the focus of this curriculum area. Learning about other people and cultures.
MUSIC - Exposure to and involvement with simple rhythm instruments is part of our music program. Rhythms are also practiced by the learning of songs and finger plays.
ART - Exploratory, sensory art activities help the child experience a variety of new beginnings. Paints, chalk, pencils, paper, glue, paste and play-dough are all here to be explored.
LARGE MOTOR - Movement activities including free dance, climbing, crawling, running and balancing are just a small part of the large motor experiences. Most of our large motor activities are done outside in our outside play area.
SMALL MOTOR - From the handling of simple tools to completing pegboards, children are continually offered opportunities to develop their smaller muscles. This is an important prerequisite to writing.
DRAMATIC PLAY - From playing house, to being a cashier in a pretend grocery store, or to simply cooking a big meal, the children are able to practice roles that productive adults hold.