CURRICULUM

The rhythm of the day is a natural balance between imaginative play and more focused activities. We believe IMAGINATIVE PLAY is the heart of learning for the young child. Our physical environment is home-like and set up to encourage imaginative play. Toys are primarily made of natural materials and are open ended. Play is intended to nourish and inspire imagination and creative thinking. There are quiet spaces as well as room for group activities. Play takes many forms and is the means by which young children build a body of knowledge for interacting with the world. Play allows the young child to move, explore, experiment and learn from their experience. Additionally, social skills are built when children play together. Play requires children to make choices and often involves negotiation and planning to reach a goal. It enables them to make sense of the many aspects of the world that surrounds them. A large portion of our day is dedicated to providing time and space for uninterrupted imaginative play both indoors and outdoors.

 

Open-ended imaginative play is balanced with more focused activities such as circle time and art. We ask parents to drop off children before morning CIRCLE, so that all the children are given the chance to begin the day together. We come together in a focused way. During circle songs, stories, puppet plays, finger plays and games provide rich opportunities for growth and learning. Physical development both gross and fine motor skills are gained through big movements such as jumping, skipping and spinning and small movements such as clapping and finger plays. Circle is an opportunity to develop attention span and patience which are keys for later academic success. Children are asked to sit and listen to a spoken story or puppet play. Listening to a story or puppet play develops an ability to visualize the spoken word which is one of the building blocks to reading comprehension. The rich language used during circle allows children to learn rhyming, grammar and expands their vocabulary.

 

In addition to circle, ART is another focused activity that is balanced with open-ended imaginative play. Art takes place daily and has many forms at Garden Blossom including visual, performing and domestic art. Visual arts include wet-wash watercolor painting and beeswax modeling which are always done as whole group activities and coloring, drawing and a multitude of crafts which are often done in small groups or individually. Visual art develops both fine motor skills and also requires decision making and sharing. Performing art includes singing, movement, play acting and playing instruments. Singing takes place throughout the day. Teachers and children sing during transitions, while preparing for and cleaning up activities; teachers also sing gentle reminders to the children. Performing art is an opportunity to gain pre-literacy skills such as memorization and rhyming through singing and play acting and also develops fine and gross motor skills. Domestic art includes cooking and handwork. Children participate in bread and soup making in the fall and winter. Baking not only develops fine and gross motor skills as the child measures, pours, stirs and kneads but is also a wonderful way for teaching math and science concepts. At Garden Blossom children are given the opportunity to learn to sew which develops the same muscles necessary to write and draw. Sewing also takes concentration and patience.

 

SOCIAL and SELF-HELP SKILLS are also a large part of our curriculum. The children learn how to interact socially throughout their daily activities and imaginative play, learning how to share, take turns, negotiate and resolve conflict, how to treat friends and caregivers with respect, control impulses and resolve conflicts. These social skills require young children to learn a balance of EMPATHY, learning how to recognize and understand how others are feeling and SELF EXPRESSION, being able to express how you feel in an effective way. These skills are the foundation of building healthy relationships throughout their lives.

 

Learning SELF-HELP skills fosters INDEPENDENCE and CONFIDENCE. At Garden Blossom, the children are encouraged to help themselves whenever possible.  The children learn to care for their own belongings including shoes, clothing, lunch boxes, and water bottles. One of the most important self help skills, dressing themselves, occurs throughout the day as they take potty breaks, transition inside and out, putting on and taking off shoes and jackets, and during imaginative play as they use classroom dress ups and play clothes. At snack, they learn to pour water into their cups to drink and how to carefully scrape and clean their dishes as well as help set and clear the community table.  Navigating the terrain of the  play yard and learning how to use the play yard equipment is an important skill that leaves the children feeling proud of their ability.