Our Approach

Creative Curriculum For Preschool:

The philosophy of The Creative Curriculum is that young children learn best by doing. The Creative Curriculum is built on theories of development in young children, that all children learn through active exploration of their environment and therefore the environment plays a critical role in learning. The goal of the Creative Curriculum is to help children become independent, self-confident, inquisitive and enthusiastic learners by actively exploring their environment.  The richer the environments, the more concrete opportunities there are for children to learn by interacting with materials and people. The teacher’s role is to create an environment that invites children to observe, to be active, to make choices, and to experiment.

The Creative Curriculum for Preschool is based on 38 objectives for development and learning. These objectives are fully aligned with the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework and state early learning standards.  

**Social-Emotional Objectives:

1. Regulates own emotions and behaviors

a. Manages feelings

b. Follows limits and expectations

c. Takes care of own needs appropriately

  2. Establishes and sustains positive relationships

a. Forms relationships with adults

b. Responds to emotional cues

c. Interacts with peers

d. Makes friends

3. Participates cooperatively and constructively in group situations

a. Balances needs and rights of self and others

b. Solves social problems

**Physical Objectives:

4. Demonstrates traveling skills

5. Demonstrates balancing skills

6. Demonstrates gross-motor manipulative skills

7. Demonstrates fine-motor strength and coordination

a. Uses fingers and hands

b. Uses writing and drawing tools

**Language Objectives:

8. Listens to and understands increasingly complex language

a. Comprehends language

b. Follows directions

9. Uses language to express thoughts and needs

a. Uses an expanding expressive vocabulary

b. Speaks clearly

c. Uses conventional grammar

d. Tells about another time or place

10. Uses appropriate conversational and other communication skills

a. Engages in conversations

b. Uses social rules of language

**Cognitive Objectives:

11. Demonstrates positive approaches to learning

a. Attends and engages

b. Persists

c. Solves problems

d. Shows curiosity and motivation

e. Shows flexibility and inventiveness in thinking

12. Remembers and connects experiences

a. Recognizes and recalls

b. Makes connections

13. Uses classification skills

14. Uses symbols and images to represent something not present

a. Thinks symbolically

b. Engages in sociodramatic play

**Literacy Objectives:

15. Demonstrates phonological awareness, phonics skills, and word recognition

a. Notices and discriminates rhyme

b. Notices and discriminates alliteration

c. Notices and discriminates discrete units of sound

d. Applies phonics rules and knowledge of word structure to decode text

16. Demonstrates knowledge of the alphabet

a. Identifies and names letters

b. Identifies letter–sound correspondences

17. Demonstrates knowledge of print and its uses

a. Uses and appreciates books and other texts

b. Uses print concepts

18. Comprehends and responds to books and other texts

a. Interacts during reading experiences, book conversations, and text reflections

b. Uses emergent reading skills

c. Retells stories and recounts details from informational texts

d. Uses context clues to read and comprehend texts

e. Reads fluently

19. Demonstrates writing skills

a. Writes name

b. Writes to convey meaning

c. Writes using conventions

**Mathematics Objectives:

20. Uses number concepts and operations

a. Counts

b. Quantifies

c. Connects numerals with their quantities

d. Understands and uses place value and base ten

e. Applies properties of mathematical operations and relationships

f. Applies number combinations and mental number strategies in mathematical operations

21. Explores and describes spatial relationships and shapes

a. Understands spatial relationships

b. Understands shapes

22. Compares and measures

     a. Measures objects

     b. Measures time and money

     c. Represents and analyzes data

23. Demonstrates knowledge of patterns

**Science & Technology Objectives:

24. Uses scientific inquiry skills

25. Demonstrates knowledge of the characteristics of living things

26. Demonstrates knowledge of the physical properties of objects and materials

27. Demonstrates knowledge of Earth’s environment

28. Uses tools and other technology to perform tasks

**Social Studies Objectives:

29. Demonstrates knowledge about self

30. Shows basic understanding of people and how they live

31. Explores change related to familiar people or places

32. Demonstrates simple geographic knowledge

**The Arts Objectives:

33. Explores the visual arts

34. Explores musical concepts and expression

35. Explores dance and movement concepts

36. Explores drama through actions and language

**English Language Acquisition Objectives: (for English language learners)

37. Demonstrates progress in listening to and understanding English

38. Demonstrates progress in speaking English

Teaching Strategies GOLD Assessment:

Teaching Strategies GOLD is an authentic, ongoing observational system for assessing children from birth through kindergarten. It helps teachers to observe children in the context of every day experiences, which is an effective way to learn what they know and can do. Teaching Strategies GOLD is based on the 38 Creative Curriculum objectives for development and learning that include predictors of school success and are based on school readiness standards. These objectives are at the heart of the curriculum; teachers use them to focus their observations as they gather information to make classroom decisions.

Why A-W Preschool does ongoing assessment - Developmentally appropriate, ongoing, observation-based assessment occurs when teachers are observing children during regular, everyday activities on a continuous basis throughout the year. Unlike formal or standardized assessments, which offer a narrow picture of a child’s ability at a given moment, ongoing assessments offer a broad, more meaningful picture of development. 

Teaching Strategies GOLD progressions have color-coded bands that show widely held expectations for children’s development and learning. Based on research literature, the bands show at what levels most children of a particular age or class/grade are likely to be at the beginning and end of a program year. Because development and learning are uneven and overlapping, the color bands also overlap, helping teachers guide their expectations realistically. Teachers see the full spectrum of development at once, enabling them to work with any child at any level of development. 

At A Glance: http://www.smartypantsmd.com/Pages/AboutCreativeCurriculum.aspx

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