Prime Time Early Learning Center

In 2003 we chose The Creative Curriculum as our center-wide curriculum, to be used in every classroom. This encourages continuity and predictability between classrooms and gives every class a solid foundation for developing weekly lesson plans.

An excellent curriculum should validate good practices that are already in place and help caregivers/teachers make changes that enhance their skills and knowledge, and ultimately improve the program. It provides the "big picture" of what a quality program looks like and makes the connection between standards of quality - such as developmentally appropriate practice - and how to actually implement the program. (Dodge, Yandian and Bloomer, 1998) After reviewing many different curriculums we felt that The Creative Curriculum best fit this description for us, and would be the best way to fulfill our goals as a center.

The Creative Curriculum is based on the past 75 years of childhood and learning studies. It employs research-based developmentally appropriate practice, which, according to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) "provides children with opportunities to learn and practice newly acquired skills. It offers challenges just beyond the level of their present mastery and it takes place in the context of a community where children are safe and valued, where their physical needs are met, and where they feel psychologically secure." (Bredekamp & Copple 1997, pp. 14-15, The Creative Curriculum for Preschool 2002, p. 1)

An appropriate curriculum for infants and toddlers focuses on what is most essential for their healthy growth and development: building responsive relationships with children and families.  The Creative Curriculum pulls these components together into a concrete framework that looks something like this:

The triangle within a circle emphasizes the importance of building responsive relationships among caregivers, children, families, and the community. It places caregivers/teachers at the foundation and empowers them as decision makers. It also enables the caregiver to create lesson plans that are all inclusive and help the child become well rounded. The Creative Curriculum encourages teachers to include activities throughout the week that cover all of the following areas: playing with toys, dabbling in art, imitating and pretending, enjoying stories and books, tasting and preparing food, exploring sand and water, having fun with musing and movement, and going outdoors.

When our staff adopted The Creative Curriculum in 2003 as a center-wide curriculum, the school-age classroom also adopted parts of the High Scope Curriculum. We still use High Scope's Plan-Do-Review process as a way to help children learn planning and time management.

The core of both curriculums is the importance of play. While we do some "table work" (sitting at tables with pencil and paper) in the school age classroom, we rely mostly on children's innate abilities to learn through play. This does not mean, as some may fear, that children fun around the room all day with no schedule or direction. It does mean that they are given plenty of time to interact with each other, experiment, imagine, and pretend within a challenging, supportive, scheduled and teacher-facilitated environment. Lesson Plans for each week are posted on the classroom bulletin board which is to your left as you enter the School Age classroom.

The primary role of teachers in the OSA classroom is to interact with the children, thus extending play and acting on learning opportunities. In this way, classroom order is also easily maintained. Additionally, we strive to observe the children for assessment and planning purposes. We use the Creative Curriculum Assessment and Planning System; children are observed, not tested, to assess skills and needs. Lesson plans and classroom arrangement are then based on these assessments.

The most important teaching focus is on social skills that will prepare children for decision-making, problem solving, and personal relationships. While many of the children come to us able to get along with others in a variety of situations, others have not acquired those skills yet. All children benefit from learning the social skills that will help them make the most of their later education. As NAEYC states, school readiness focuses on the child's social and emotional well-being for the most success in later school experiences.

Throughout the year, we use the Second Step program at group time and throughout the day to address existing social problems and to work with the children through role play. They learn problem solving, negotiating skills, how to make and keep friends, how to clean up after themselves, how to say what they're feeling and how to respond appropriately to the feelings of classmates, and learn to be responsible for their actions. They also learn how to abide by rules, follow directions, and respect boundaries of classmates and of the room itself.