Consistency Between our Mission and Philosophy
The curriculum at Kids World Learning Center is written to incorporate the school’s mission and philosophy. Children grow, learn, and flourish in our carefully designed, hands-on, child centered environment made complete through the implementation of lesson plans that emerge from the children.
Short-Range and Long-Range Goals
At Kids World Learning Center, we provide daily planned and emergent activities and experiences that promote age level skill acquisition, a joy for learning, self-help skills, independence, and self control; which prepare children not only for success in our program, but success in their school years ahead. Implementation of our curriculum, daily lesson plans, activities that emerge from the children’s current abilities and interests, and the planned environment are the tools utilized for meeting our short term and long term goals. We prepare children not only for success in school, but provide a strong foundation for success in life through fostering appropriate social skills, self confidence, and independence.
Theory and Research
Child development theory and scientific research are the foundation of our Developmentally Age Appropriate curriculum. These aspects inform decision making, influence our view of children, and are the guides we use to plan our lessons and the environment. Our curriculum is influenced by the works of such theorists as Erik Erikson, Howard Gardner, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and Maria Montessori; and takes into account the beauty and nature of brain development. Our curriculum also reflects modern publications offered by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and other reputable sources.
Developmentally appropriate written lesson plans that are designed to follow the child’s lead, combined with age appropriate learning materials in a carefully designed environment, are the tools that we use to promote each child’s growth, development, and positive behavior. At Kids World Learning Center, children learn age appropriate skills through child directed, hands-on exploration of an open environment. We also view parents as partners in their child’s care, growth, development, and learning.
Engaging The Whole Child
Our curriculum is designed to facilitate all areas of development. Our planned environment, daily schedule, written curriculum, materials, and individualized lesson plans promote development in the following areas.
- Social Development
- Emotional Development
- Physical Development
- Cognitive Intellectual Development
- Language Development
Variety and Meaningful Content
Our classrooms are arranged in the following learning centers
- Creative Art Center
- Dramatic Play Center
- Block Center
- Library
- Manipulatives Center
- Science Center
- Math Center
The learning environment, combined with our curriculum and written lesson plans allow children to participate in a wide variety of experiences each day that range from simple to complex. Materials and lesson plans are evaluated to assure that content and incorporation is meaningful to the lives and interests of children and to the world around them.
Active Engagement of Children
Our curriculum has been developed with respect for how young children learn with Developmentally Appropriate Practices as the foundation. For young children, play is the primary mode of learning. Because lesson plans and the environment are designed around the children, you will find children that are actively engaged in activities and experiences that meet their needs and interests. Extra materials are available for rotation as to maintain interest and promote further skill acquisition.
Opportunities to Make Choices, Explore, and Experiment
Children have daily opportunities to make choices and participate in self-guided activities; which makes their endeavors more successful. Children are provided with open-ended opportunities and materials that promote experimentation and exploration in a safe and secure environment that is built around their development and individual needs.
Foundation for Future Learning
Our implementation of age appropriate techniques, lessons, and emergent experiences pave the way for future learning in the areas of math, science, social studies, language arts/literacy, health, and fine arts.
A Daily Schedule That Works
Our daily schedule provides large blocks of time for children to actively engage in discovery and child initiated learning activities. Our schedule is also designed to provide a balance of active and quiet; individual, small group and large group activities and indoor/outdoor times. Our carefully designed schedule helps to meet the various and changing needs of children in the whole-child approach.
The Value of Social Interaction and Peer Learning on Social Development
Teachers encourage children to interact with their peers, which promotes social development in children. Our curriculum values the importance of multi-age grouping, which provides an opportunity for children to learn from and teach each other.
Staff members view inappropriate behaviors as opportunities to promote more socially acceptable skills. Social emotional development is promoted by staff through consistency, kindness, and modeling of appropriate behavior.
Our Approach to Providing a Psychologically Safe Environment
Brain research has demonstrated that emotions can speed up or inhibit the learning process. Studies have proven that creating a psychologically safe environment fosters intelligence. At Kids World Learning Center, we take child/caregiver attachments created in a psychological safe environment very seriously. We feel these aspects are not a frill to be addressed only after the basics are attended to; for young children, such an environment is essential for learning.
Our carefully designed, child centered approach helps children feel safe, nurtured, and important. Bonding between children and their caregivers happens naturally through enriched interactions and quality attention to each child’s needs. Our caregivers recognize how important it is for children to have a sense of belonging, a feeling of being loved, and a sense of trust in their environment. Warm and caring relationships with adults provide children with the basis for all types of learning. Studies have shown the presence of attentive caregivers encourages children to explore their world. Responsive adult/child interactions children extend their learning and also gives them the confidence needed to reach out to other children and adults.
Our caregivers know that children’s learning occurs in informal activities as much as in formal instruction. Children’s language development, for example, begins with the earliest of human interactions. Attentive caregivers help children learn the words to communicate their needs effectively. They see everyday caring routines as opportunities for expanding children’s language skills.
Working together, parents and caregivers can ensure that children see their educational settings as safe places where adults other than their parents support and care for them.