General Overview
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We support the development of the whole child and of the individuality among children. It is expected, therefore, that the rate and pattern of development in young children will vary as they grow and develop. Our philosophy is to keep parents informed through the use of the Developmental Progress Report and, whenever necessary, through additional notification at conferences regarding their child’s growth and development.
Our beliefs are fundamentally driven by developmentally appropriate practices. Our curriculum is customized to meet each child’s individual needs: socially, emotionally, physically and cognitively. Our daily practices have consistency and incorporate emergent curriculum which stimulates each child’s unique interests, curiosity and sense of discovery. Ultimately, our curriculum strives to enhance the development of social skill relationships, respect for others and oneself, self-help skills, autonomy, peaceful conflict management and the empowerment of one’s own ideas and feelings.
Our teacher to student ratio averages about 1:10. This enables out teaches to spend one-on-one quality time with children. Positive reinforcement and clear consistent guidelines provide a safe nurturing environment for children to explore and grow. It is important to remember that each child develops at his or her own individual pace. The four major domains of childhood development are cognitive, social, emotional and physical. Children will usually develop at different levels in all four areas. Chronological age does not necessarily go hand in hand with developmental stage. Our goal is for your child to experience a level of growth in each of the following areas:
Two & Three Year Old Program
- Physical Development
- Mathematics
- Personal Development
- Health and Safety
- Language Arts
- Spanish
- Music
- Classroom Work & Play Habits
Four Year Old Program
- Personal Development
- Emotional Development
- Language Arts & Literacy
- Mathematics
- Spanish
- Health and Safety
- Music
- Arts
- Social Studies
- STEM
Five Year Old Program
- Language Arts
- Mathematics
- Spanish
- Social Studies
- Music
- STEM
The Abeka Curriculum
Children’s learning styles will vary from time to time as they grow. A well-blended curriculum offers the most for greater development predicated upon the variety of students and their abilities matched with their learning styles. SJPS has found it to be an advantageous approach to implement a modified Abeka curriculum. This approach has afforded SJPS to be responsive to the needs of its diverse student population and also to maintain a high quality instructional program.
The Abeka curriculum is a comprehensive and phonetics-based learning program. Arithmetic, grammar, and spelling are all rule-governed activities. Students use manipulative materials and problem solving techniques that give real meaning to mathematics. The social studies program leads students to be historically informed, globally aware, and responsively active citizens. Children are also encouraged to develop a sense of the processes inherent in scientific study. Reading is given a great deal of importance in the curriculum. Children learn to read through a systematic phonics program. The phonics program is employed as a logical and orderly way to teach children to read English, which is an alphabetical language.
The Creative Curriculum
Curriculum is the knowledge, skill, and concepts that children learn, implicitly as well as explicitly, as a result of direct instruction. Creativity is the use of innovation, enthusiasm, and individuality. So what do creativity and curriculum have to do with one another? Simply put, a creative curriculum is one in which students learn through creative and active teaching strategies. Creative curriculum gets beyond rote learning and focuses on big ideas, interesting projects, and individual students’ passions and needs. Often when we think of creativity, we think about tangible art, such as literature and music. These things can be an important part of a creative curriculum, but just about every element of a curriculum can be approached creatively, from science to math to history.
It addresses four areas of development: social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language. The curriculum is designed to foster development of the whole child through teacher-led small and large group activities centered around several interest areas e.g. blocks, dramatic play, toys and games, art, library, discovery, sand and water, music and movement, computers, and outdoors.
SJPS is excited to introduce this new concept for learning and look forward to sharing with you each child’s progression.
For more information download the Parent Handbook.
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