Preparing children for elementary school is an important building block in early childhood education. However, school readiness is more than simply ABCs and 123s. Starting preschool is possibly the first time your child is independently venturing into a new environment. I offer a flexible schedule to transition into this new season of life for both parent and child through a play-based exploratory curriculum.
Each day includes an inclusive program with creative, hands-on, developmentally appropriate activities. I teach a curriculum that includes Wisconsin Early Learning and Development Standards. My curriculum address the four areas of development: social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language. These are designed to foster the development of the whole child through teacher-led, small and large group activities.
Children learn through a variety of ways: creative play, art, music, drama, language, early literacy, math, science, building, technology, and exploring our outdoor classroom. Although routines are well-established, our schedules allow for spontaneous learning opportunities. Skills are taught to stimulate each child's natural abilities and creativity, making the most of each child's developing talents.
Cognitive - The process of learning to think, reason, solve problems and engage working memory.
Linguistic - The process of learning to communicate through language, including reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Physical - The process of learning and practicing movement skills, including gross and fine motor skills.
Social-Emotional - The social-emotional learning domain includes a range of mental skills such as working memory, mental flexibility, empathy, impulse control, and executive functioning.
In order to give children real-world experiences, we take multiple field trips around the community. These include, but are not limited to:
Storytime (Chippewa, Altoona, or Eau Claire library)
Family Resource Center (Playgroups)
Riversource Family Center (Moving and Grooving and Play and Learn)
Eau Claire Children's Museum
Local Parks
Govin's Farm
Local County Fairs
Blossom and Root is a curriculum that is designed to focus on the development of the whole child. Each week of lesson includes:
Picture and composer studies
An activity for exploring artistic expression
Nature study
Reading / writing readiness lessons (focusing on letter recognition and sounds)
Read-aloud texts from the best titles in Children's Literature
Math foundation lessons
Hands-On S.T.E.M activities
Playful early science activity
Kindness and connectivity activity
Kitchen classroom
Secular learning (free from any religious perspective)