Our Curriculum 

Curriculum Statement: Our curriculum is play based, following an organic flow within a softly structured framework. In order to allow for the children’s innate sense of learning to flourish, there will be a healthy balance of leading and being led, structure and freedom, following the natural rhythm of nature and play.

Our curriculum is rooted in play, knowing that play time is how children this age learn the most.  Mother Earth serves as one of our primary teachers and we are outside EVERY day! During the Summer we have up to 3 hours outside a day with some guided activities that include story time and gardening (our gardening includes planting, watering, harvesting and eating and also tending to a worm compost) and plenty of free play and water play time.  During the Fall we have many activities and treasure hunts that support the children’s understanding the changing of the season. In Winter we play outside as much as possible but on days with bad weather we play over in the Great Room at CAC!  We do not have any technology present in the School Rooms. 

Our Daily Flow:
830-915 Indoor Free Play, Welcoming Students and Parents
915 - Morning Circle with Parents and Students
925 - Free Play Outside
1030 - Snack (outside in the Summer Time)
1045 - Story Time (outside)
1100 - Monday: Movement/Song, Tuesday: Queen Bee Music, Wednesday: Movement with Starbird, Thursday: Gardening and Friday: Our time for a Dance Party or a Sensory Project or WaterPlay!
1200 Lunch
1230 - Beginning of Nap time, with Story time and singing the Lullaby Song
2:30 Afternoon Snack 
245 Sensory Project
315 Outside Free Play, Water Play
340 Popsicle Time!  
430 Pickup

Our program emphasizes social skills, emotional awareness, kindness, and self-esteem. We offer age-appropriate art and sensory activities that develop fine motor skills which are preparing the students for handwriting skills. Recognizing the importance of somatic movement, we provide a movement and sound-focused experience for all children no less than twice a week.

We integrate 15 to 20 minute teacher-led sessions throughout the day, including singing, storytelling, art and sensory activities. During these sessions, the teacher will present a song, activity, or interactive story and guide the children through the corresponding movements. We believe children at this age need to engage with their peers while also benefiting from the attentive guidance of their teacher.

We utilize the philosophies of Dr. Terry Brazelton and Dr. Stanley Greenspan who co-authored a book called “The Irreducible Needs of Children. We also utilize the philosophy of Dr. Gabor Mate who wrote the book called “Scattered Minds”.