Curriculum & Activities:
Effie B’s Early Childhood Development Center incorporates The Creative Curriculum® alongside other educational resources to transform your child’s classroom into a dynamic and informative environment. The Creative Curriculum® serves as a framework that prioritizes social and emotional development, equipping children with essential skills for success in both school and life.
Rather than providing a rigid script for teachers to follow, The Creative Curriculum® offers suggestions and instructions, allowing teachers the flexibility to design their own lesson plans based on the unique needs of the children. This approach ensures that, although we may cover similar topics each year, the goals and content vary to accommodate the diverse learning styles of the children.
Our teaching methodology revolves around thematic topics such as All About Me, Boxes, or Dinosaurs, with units lasting from three weeks to several months based on the children’s interests and curiosity. Toddler teachers typically select seasonal and concrete topics, while preschool and pre-kindergarten teachers may engage their children in the theme-selection process. Within each topic, we address three key areas of concentration:
Self-help Skills: Children learn daily life skills, including identifying their belongings, putting on their coats, and tying their shoes. This also encompasses learning self-regulation, persistence, and self-awareness.
Social Skills: Children develop the ability to get along with others, play cooperatively, gain control of physical impulses, and employ problem-solving techniques.
Communication Skills: Both receptive (listening) and expressive (speaking) skills are emphasized. Children learn to express negative emotions without harm, follow directions, give instructions to peers, and become independent thinkers.
Our overarching goal is to foster the development of well-rounded children who are curious, self-confident, and responsible citizens. Achieving this requires a comprehensive curriculum integrating emergent reading, math, and handwriting skills, physical activities, and art & music appreciation through hands-on activities.
Effie B’s teachers leverage the Crown Heights neighborhood to enrich the learning experience. For Instance, when studying transportation, they might take a walk to observe cars, trucks and buses.
Regular communication between parents and teachers is prioritized, with joint goal-setting for each child. Teachers keenly observe children during play and daily activities, crafting lesson plans that challenge them to reach their specified goals. Anecdotal records, work samples, and progress photos are compiled into portfolios, shared with parents during Parent-Teacher Conferences held in November, March, and June.
