Curricula
Ages 34 months to 5 years
I use several curricula in my programming, as appropriate to the child’s age and development, including:
Themed Units
I provide a wide variety of planned activities that support math, language, literacy, cognitive, social/emotional, and physical development skills while encouraging learning about specific topics. We work our way through monthly themes that encourage learning more about ourselves and the world around us.
We engage in specific units about animals, art, nature, science, health, nutrition, safety, occupations, and more throughout the year. For example, in spring, we explore a unit on gardens, insects, birds, and weather.
I always try to support individual children’s interests, too, and provide opportunities for them to learn more about the topics they show interest.
Handwriting Without Tears
I use components of the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum to support children’s early interest in:
Learning to write
Letter recognition
Letter sounds
HWT is also used by many schools across the nation and I have found this writing curriculum to be very beneficial in encouraging children to write.
Teaching Strategies Gold
I use Teaching Strategies Gold (TSG) as a basis for developmental assessment and planning. TSG is used by many schools and childcare centers across the nation. The TSG Objectives for Development and Learning align with Colorado State standards for kindergarten readiness and beyond.
TSG is a highly-researched program that gives clear indicators for development and learning, along with specific ideas for activities to support children’s development.
TSG allows me to keep an online portfolio for each child, which assists in my ability to create comprehensive parent conference reports (explored in January and May), that show where their child’s development is at and how to support learning for the next higher levels of development.
